WWE Confidential

WWE Confidential
Created by Vince McMahon
Presented by Gene Okerlund
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes 83
Production
Running time 60 minutes
Release
Original network Spike TV/TNN
Original release May 25, 2002 (2002-05-25) – April 24, 2004 (2004-04-24)

WWE Confidential is a professional wrestling television program produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It aired on Spike TV late Saturday nights, following Velocity, from 2002 to 2004. It was hosted by Gene Okerlund.[1]

Format

Confidential was a unique program for the company, in that it was not a standard "live event" or "recap" show. Rather, it offered an exclusive, "behind the scenes" look into WWE and its talent, both in-ring and otherwise.[1] The show also periodically broke kayfabe and used professional wrestling slang. Confidential was discontinued in 2004 and was replaced with The WWE Experience, a more traditional weekly summary show.

A similar show to Confidential eventually returned under the name WWE Outside the Ring, but in a shortened version.[2] The new online show debuted February 2012 on WWE's YouTube channel and has since been aired on Thursdays.[3]

Following the launch of the WWE Network on February 2014, selected segments from Confidential episodes have aired as interstitials on the 24/7 live stream.

Notable and typical features

  • An interview with Shawn Michaels about his life and career. This interview, an early highlight of Confidential, featured Michaels's first public admission that he was in on the Montreal Screwjob, after years of denying any involvement in it.
  • An analysis of why Stone Cold Steve Austin abruptly left the company in mid-2002.[1]
  • A history of the World Heavyweight Championship, featuring interviews with past titleholders (and in the process making the disputed-by-many claim that this title shares its lineage with the WCW version).
  • Segments detailing life on the road for WWE stars, including overseas tours.[4]
  • A story on how wrestlers feel when people say "Wrestling's fake." This segment was also notable because the wrestlers being interviewed admitted that wrestling is a "worked" form of entertainment rather than a legitimate athletic competition, the first time this was explicitly stated on a show produced by the WWE.[5]
  • A brief history of the Monday Night Wars.
  • Wrestlers going out of character and using their real names for interviews.
  • A report on the death of Miss Elizabeth.

DVD compilation

A DVD compilation of segments from this show, The Best of WWE Confidential, Vol. 1, was released in early 2003.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. DK. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
  2. ↑ "Full WWE YouTube Schedule, Road Warriors Mentioned on Leno". Wrestlezone. 2012-02-11. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
  3. ↑ Archived February 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Sutton, David. "Full WWE Confidential Report – 12/20/03 – Eddie Guerrero, Jericho & more". Wrestleview.com. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  5. ↑ Dismuke, Lee. "Full WWE Confidential Results – 10/12/02". Wrestleview.com. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  6. ↑ "The Best of WWE Confidential, Vol. 1". Amazon.com. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
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