House show

This article is about a professional wrestling event. For a musical performance at a private residence, see House concert. For the TV show, see House (TV series).

A house show (also commonly called a live event) is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive during televised events, as well as to test reactions to matches, wrestlers, and gimmicks that are being considered for the main televised programming and upcoming pay-per-views.

House shows are also often scripted to make the face wrestlers win most matches, largely to send the crowd home happy. If a heel defends a title, the face may often win by disqualification, preventing the title from changing hands, which is a very rare occurrence in house show events.

Until the late-1980s, house shows were the main focus of most wrestling promotions, with televised programming primarily being used as buildup for these events. By the 1990s, promotions such as the WWF and WCW began to prioritize pay-per-view events and live weekly television programs, rendering house shows to be mostly minor events with no long-term story significance.

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