Seinfeld, arguably the greatest sitcom ever made, may have never gotten green-lit if it wasn’t for WWE. Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David rose to sitcom super stardom in the 1990s with Seinfeld as the hit comedy shattered the ratings for NBC and in a new conversation on “The Rich Eisen Show,” Jerry revealed that they had a little help from WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Seinfeld recalled speaking with then NBC executive Rick Ludwin about the notorious “show about nothing.” Ludwin was intrigued and decided to drop an elbow on the once-a-month wrestling show.
“Ludwin said, You know what, I think this show isn’t that bad. Everyone disliked it. And Rick Ludwin said I’m gonna take some moeny from Saturday Night Wrestling [sic]. In those days professional wrestling replaced Saturday Night Live once a month. And he took the money from one of those, and it was enough money for us to make four episodes. We made four episodes, they still didn’t like it…”
Along with Jerry, the characters of Elaine Benes, George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer all became TV icons in the process and unlike many wrestlers, Seinfeld decided to end its run while on top. The final episode aired in 1998 and much like a wrestler’s final match, it was notoriously forgettable.
Check out Jerry Seinfeld’s appearance on the Rich Eisenshow talking about the origins of Seinfeld, including this unlikely connection to WWE:
