The Network (professional wrestling)
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The Network refers to the television channel a professional wrestling program is shown on. There are occasions when an actor or a wrestler is (in storylines) a member or representative of that network.
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[edit] History
[edit] ECW incarnation
The Network was a professional wrestling stable that was formed in 1999 when ECW began to broadcast nationally on TNN. It was shortly revived in World Wrestling Entertainment.
TNN did not give ECW much money to produce their program, yet expected ECW to have high-quality production values like WCW Monday Nitro and Monday Night Raw. Also, TNN poorly advertised and promoted ECW, producing barely any press releases or TV ads, even though ECW was TNN's highest rated weekly program at that point. The only real time that TNN actually advertised ECW was during the ECW program itself. In fact, during ECW broadcasts, there were actually commercial ads for the archrival WCW's programs, such as Thunder! Heyman decided to recuit Don Callis, who played the part of Cyrus, to serve as a metaphor, so to speak, for the real problems between ECW and TNN at that point. Callis played a representative for TNN/The Network, who constantly criticized the violent nature of ECW programming, and commentator Joel Gertner in particular for his sexually-loaded commentary and ring introductions. Callis would threaten to replace ECW's programming with episodes of RollerJam.
Cyrus was joined in his quest against ECW by Steve Corino, the self-proclaimed "King of Old School", who got heat railing against hardcore wrestling. Corino brought with him the wrestlers he managed who then became "The Network"; Rhino, Yoshihiro Tajiri, and old school wrestler Jack Victory.
[edit] WWE incarnation
WWE SmackDown!'s Palmer Canon was (in a wrestling storyline) a representative of UPN and constantly adjusted parts of the program; however, Canon was not a part of ECW's The Network. Examples of his changes were changing Paul Burchill's gimmick to that of a pirate, the introduction of the Junior Division (midgets), and first introducing The Boogeyman as a wrestler since the original network program he was destined for was scrapped.
WWE's incarnation of The Network was a jab at the time due to Friday Night SmackDown! being on the verge of cancellation due to the end of the WWE/Viacom agreement in 2005 which saw RAW no longer being aired on Spike TV, a Viacom owned network. The angle was later modified when UPN and the WB announced the merger into the CW Network in 2006. The angle was to have continued with Canon claiming that the network was upset over the antics of former Real World castmember turned professional wrestler Mike "The Miz" Mizanin, but was later scrapped when Canon left WWE.
