 By the late 1950s, professional wrestling had lost its high ratings, and producers, realizing that they had overexposed it, soon dropped most wrestling shows from their lineups.The remaining televised wrestling promoters had small, local syndicated shows, which network producers placed as late-night and Saturday and/or Sunday morning/afternoon fillers rather than signature programming.Promoters used localized television as a weapon for eliminating the competition by purchasing airtime from rival territories, effectively putting them out of business.