SmackDown (WWE brand)












































SmackDown

WWE SmackDown Live Logo.svg
Logo for the brand and the SmackDown Live television program

Product type
Professional wrestling
Sports entertainment
Owner WWE
Produced by Vince McMahon
Country United States
Introduced March 25, 2002
(first split)
July 19, 2016
(second split)
Discontinued August 29, 2011
(first split)
Related brands
Raw
ECW
NXT
NXT UK
Tagline
The Land of Opportunity[1]

Commissioner:
Shane McMahon
(July 19, 2016 – present)

General Manager:
Paige
(April 10, 2018 – present)

SmackDown is one of WWE's brands which was first established on March 25, 2002 with a draft on Raw and went into effect one week later on April 2. The brand was discontinued in August 2011, but was brought back in July 2016. Wrestlers assigned to the SmackDown brand wrestle predominantly on the SmackDown Live television program, the seasonal Mixed Match Challenge, as well as SmackDown branded and co-branded pay-per-view events and WWE Network events. During the first brand split, they also competed on Velocity and on ECW under a talent exchange program.




Contents






  • 1 History


    • 1.1 First split (2002–2011)


    • 1.2 Second split (2016–present)




  • 2 Champions


    • 2.1 Current championships


    • 2.2 Previous championships




  • 3 Personnel


  • 4 Pay-per-view and WWE Network events


    • 4.1 First brand split events


    • 4.2 Second brand split events




  • 5 References





History




First split (2002–2011)





SmackDown logo with the exclamation point used from August 16, 2001 until January 18, 2008.





Stephanie McMahon was the first SmackDown General Manager


In its conception, according to Bruce Prichard in his Something to Wrestle podcast released in October 2018, the then World Wrestling Federation (WWF) originally planned to make SmackDown an all-women's brand but ultimately decided against it because of the lack of talent.[2]


In March 2002, WWF underwent the "brand extension",[3] a process in which WWE divided itself into two branches with separate rosters, storylines and authority figures.[3] The two divisions, hosted by and named after Raw and SmackDown!, would compete against each other. The split resulted from WWE purchasing its two biggest competitors, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW); and the subsequent doubling of its roster and championships. The brand extension was made public during a telecast of Raw on March 18, initiated with the first draft a week later on the March 25 episode of Raw and became official on the April 1 episode of Raw.


Wrestlers began to wrestle exclusively for their specific show. At the time, this excluded the WWE Undisputed Championship and WWE Women's Championship as those WWE titles would be defended on both shows.[3] In August 2002, then WWE Undisputed Champion, Brock Lesnar, refused to defend the title on Raw, in effect causing his title to become exclusive to SmackDown.[3] The following week on Raw, Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff awarded a newly instated World Heavyweight Championship to Raw's designated number one contender Triple H. Accordingly, Lesnar's championship was no longer deemed "undisputed". Following this, the WWE Women's Championship soon became a Raw exclusive as well. As a result of the brand extension, an annual "draft lottery" was instituted to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the lineups.


SmackDown was the home brand for many top WWE stars including Eddie Guerrero, Big Show, John Bradshaw Layfield, Kurt Angle, Edge, The Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, John Cena,Torrie Wilson. Guerrero would go on to become the WWE Champion as part of the show, thus becoming the main feature of SmackDown! throughout 2004 and the most popular wrestler of that year. The biggest star of the next decade, John Cena, started his WWE career on this brand and rose to stardom as "Doctor of Thuganomics" on the show, eventually winning his first WWE Championship during his tenure on the brand.


On June 6, then WWE Champion John Cena switched brands from SmackDown to Raw as part of the month-long 2005 draft lottery. This effectively left SmackDown without a world title. On the June 23 episode of SmackDown!, SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long scheduled a six-man elimination match between Big Show, Booker T, Chris Benoit, Christian (replacing Big Show, who was picked by Raw in the lottery), John Bradshaw Layfield, Muhammad Hassan and The Undertaker to crown the first SmackDown Champion. On the June 30 episode of SmackDown!, Layfield won the match, but Long appeared afterward and stated that even though he had won the match SmackDown did not need a championship anymore, instead revealing that Layfield was the number one contender for the World Heavyweight championship, at which point Batista, then World Heavyweight Champion, entered the ring as SmackDown's final draft lottery pick.


At the SmackDown! taping on January 10, 2006 that aired January 13, Batista had to forfeit the World Heavyweight Championship because of a legitimate triceps injury suffered at the hands of Mark Henry the previous week. Long decreed a battle royal for the vacant title, which was won by Kurt Angle, who was on the Raw brand, but switched to the SmackDown brand for the duration of his reign as champion. On the April 7 episode of SmackDown! (which was taped on April 4), Long revived the King of the Ring tournament after a four-year hiatus as a SmackDown exclusive tournament. The tournament ended at Judgment Day with Booker T as the winner, defeating Bobby Lashley in the final.


On October 16, 2007, the SmackDown and ECW brands began a talent exchange, allowing their respective talent to appear and compete on either brand, as ECW was broadcast live from the same arena where SmackDown! was taped.[4][5]





SmackDown logo used from January 25, 2008 until September 24, 2010. The tenth anniversary version was used from October 3, 2009.


During the 2008 WWE draft, WWE Champion Triple H was drafted to SmackDown, resulting in two world championships appearing on the brand – Edge was the World Heavyweight Champion at the time – and leaving Raw without a world title. However, Edge was attacked by Batista on the June 30 episode of Raw and immediately afterwards CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to become World Heavyweight Champion, bringing the World Heavyweight Championship back to Raw for the first time since 2005. Also that year, for the first time in the brand's history a women's exclusive championship was introduced, the Divas Championship, a counterpart to the Women's Championship that had been the only active championship competed for by Divas, but which was exclusive to Raw, meaning that the Divas on SmackDown had no championship to compete for. Michelle McCool became the inaugural champion by defeating Natalya on July 20 at The Great American Bash.


On February 15, 2009 at No Way Out, Edge won the World Heavyweight Championship in Raw's Elimination Chamber match, thus making it a SmackDown exclusive title and giving SmackDown two top tier championships.[6] As a result of the 2009 WWE draft in April, then WWE Champion Triple H was drafted to Raw while the World Heavyweight Championship also moved to the Raw brand after Edge lost the title to Cena at WrestleMania XXV, once again leaving SmackDown without a world title.[7] SmackDown regained the World Heavyweight Championship at Backlash when Edge invoked his WrestleMania rematch clause and defeated Cena to win the championship back.[8] In addition, Raw and SmackDown exchanged both women-exclusive championships with Raw gaining the Divas Championship and SmackDown gaining the Women's Championship. This marked the first time in history that the Women's Championship had ever been exclusive to SmackDown. Raw and SmackDown also exchanged the United States Championship (which became exclusive to Raw) and the Intercontinental Championship (subsequently exclusive to SmackDown) for the first time since August 25, 2002.[7]




The current SmackDown Live General Manager is Paige




Four-time and current WWE Champion is Daniel Bryan


On the August 29, 2011 episode of Raw, it was announced that performers from Raw and SmackDown were no longer exclusive to their respective brand.[9] Subsequently, championships previously exclusive to one show or the other were available for wrestlers from any show to compete for—this would mark the end of the brand extension as all programming and live events featured the full WWE roster.[10] In a 2013 interview with Advertising Age, Stephanie McMahon explained that WWE's decision to end the brand extension was due to wanting their content to flow across television and online platforms.[11]



Second split (2016–present)


On May 25, 2016, it was revealed that the brand split would return in July.[12] The 2016 WWE draft took place on the live premiere episode of SmackDown on July 19 to determine the rosters between both brands.[13] On the July 11 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon named Shane McMahon the commissioner of SmackDown.[14] Then next week on Raw, Daniel Bryan was revealed as the new SmackDown General Manager.[15] Due to Raw being a three-hour show and SmackDown Live being a two-hour show, Raw received three picks each round and SmackDown received two.[15] WWE Champion Dean Ambrose was SmackDown's first pick.[16]


After the return of the brand split, most pay-per-views became exclusive to one brand, (with SmackDown producing Backlash (2016 and 2017), No Mercy (2016), TLC (2016), Elimination Chamber (2017), Money in the Bank (2017), Battleground (2017), Hell in a Cell (2017), Clash of Champions (2017) and Fastlane (2018)). Following WrestleMania 34, all pay-per-views became dual-branded again.


On the November 7, 2017 episode of SmackDown, AJ Styles defeated Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship.[17] On April 10, 2018, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon announced that Daniel Bryan was back as a full-time WWE Superstar for the roster after his in-ring return at WrestleMania 34, therefore "graciously accepted Daniel's resignation as Smackdown General Manager" and then naming Paige the new SmackDown General Manager.[18]



Champions



Initially, the Undisputed WWE Championship and the original WWE Women's Championship were available to both brands.[19][20][21] The other championships were exclusive to the brand the champion was a part of.[19][20][21] When the brand extension began, SmackDown became the exclusive home for the World Tag Team Championship and the original Cruiserweight Championship.[22]


In September 2002, the Undisputed Championship became the WWE Championship again and was moved to SmackDown, prompting Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff to create the World Heavyweight Championship for Raw.[23] SmackDown created the WWE Tag Team Championship and they revived the United States Championship.[24][25] Over the course of the first brand extension, these championships switched between brands, usually due to the result of the annual draft. However, the Cruiserweight title was the only championship to never switch brands, staying on SmackDown from 2002 until the championship's retirement on September 28, 2007.


In October 2007, SmackDown and ECW began a talent exchange agreement, which meant that SmackDown talent could appear on ECW and vice versa. This allowed the United States Championship and WWE Tag Team Championship to be shared between the two brands.[26] In July 2008, the Divas Championship was created for SmackDown, allowing the SmackDown Divas to compete for a title.[27]


With the brand extension ending in 2011, all Raw and SmackDown titles were merged. After five years, a new brand extension was introduced on July 19, 2016. SmackDown drafted the WWE Champion and the Intercontinental Champion. As SmackDown was lacking a tag team championship and a women's championship, Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan introduced the SmackDown Tag Team Championship and SmackDown Women's Championship.[28] In the 2017 Superstar Shake-Up, the Intercontinental Championship was moved to Raw and in exchange, the United States Championship moved back to SmackDown. The following year during the 2018 Superstar Shake-Up, the United States Championship was moved to Raw, but returned to SmackDown the next night.



Current championships


















































SmackDown
Championship Current champion(s) Reign Date won Days held Location Notes

WWE Championship

Daniel Bryan
4
November 13, 2018
24

St. Louis, Missouri
Defeated AJ Styles on SmackDown

WWE United States Championship

Shinsuke Nakamura
1
July 15, 2018
145

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Defeated Jeff Hardy at Extreme Rules

WWE SmackDown Women's Championship

Becky Lynch
2
September 16, 2018
82

San Antonio, Texas
Defeated Charlotte Flair at Hell in a Cell

WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship

The Bar
(Cesaro and Sheamus)
1
October 16, 2018
52

Washington, D.C.
Defeated The New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods) on SmackDown 1000


Previous championships







































Championship
Time on brand

World Heavyweight Championship
June 30, 2005 – June 30, 2008
February 15, 2009 – April 5, 2009
April 26, 2009 – August 29, 2011

ECW Championship
January 22, 2008 – March 30, 2008

WWE Divas Championship
July 20, 2008 – April 13, 2009

WWE Women's Championship
April 13, 2009 – September 19, 2010

WWE Intercontinental Championship
July 30, 2002 – August 25, 2002
April 13, 2009 – August 29, 2011
July 19, 2016 – April 10, 2017

WWE Cruiserweight Championship
March 25, 2002 – September 28, 2007

World Tag Team Championship (original)
March 25, 2002 – July 21, 2002

WWE Tag Team Championship (new)
October 20, 2002 – April 5, 2009


Personnel




Pay-per-view and WWE Network events



First brand split events















































































































































Date
Event
Venue
Location
Main event
October 26, 2002 Rebellion Manchester Arena Manchester, England
Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman vs. Edge
July 27, 2003 Vengeance Pepsi Center Denver, Colorado Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show vs. Kurt Angle
October 19, 2003 No Mercy 1st Mariner Arena Baltimore, Maryland Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker
February 15, 2004 No Way Out Cow Palace Daly City, California Brock Lesnar vs. Eddie Guerrero
May 16, 2004 Judgment Day Staples Center Los Angeles, California Eddie Guerrero vs. John "Bradshaw" Layfield
June 27, 2004 The Great American Bash Norfolk Scope Norfolk, Virginia
The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) vs. The Undertaker
October 3, 2004 No Mercy Continental Airlines Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey John "Bradshaw" Layfield vs. The Undertaker
December 12, 2004 Armageddon Gwinnett Arena Duluth, Georgia John "Bradshaw" Layfield vs. Booker T vs. Eddie Guerrero vs. The Undertaker
February 20, 2005 No Way Out Mellon Arena Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania John "Bradshaw" Layfield vs. Big Show
May 22, 2005 Judgment Day Target Center Minneapolis, Minnesota
John Cena vs. John "Bradshaw" Layfield
July 24, 2005 The Great American Bash HSBC Arena Buffalo, New York
Batista vs. John "Bradshaw" Layfield
October 9, 2005 No Mercy Toyota Center Houston, Texas Batista vs. Eddie Guerrero
December 18, 2005 Armageddon Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, Rhode Island
Randy Orton vs. The Undertaker
February 19, 2006 No Way Out 1st Mariner Arena Baltimore, Maryland Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker
May 21, 2006 Judgment Day US Airways Center Phoenix, Arizona
Rey Mysterio vs. John "Bradshaw" Layfield
July 23, 2006 The Great American Bash Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana Rey Mysterio vs. King Booker
October 8, 2006 No Mercy RBC Center Raleigh, North Carolina King Booker vs. Batista vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Finlay
December 17, 2006 Armageddon Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia Batista and John Cena vs. King Booker and Finlay
February 18, 2007 No Way Out Staples Center Los Angeles, California Batista and The Undertaker vs. John Cena and Shawn Michaels


Second brand split events
















































































Date
Event
Venue
Location
Main event
September 11, 2016.

Backlash

Richmond Coliseum

Richmond, Virginia

Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles
October 9, 2016

No Mercy

Golden 1 Center

Sacramento, California

Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton
December 4, 2016

TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs

American Airlines Center

Dallas, Texas
AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose
February 12, 2017

Elimination Chamber

Talking Stick Resort Arena

Phoenix, Arizona

John Cena vs. AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz
May 21, 2017

Backlash

Allstate Arena

Rosemont, Illinois
Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal
June 18, 2017

Money in the Bank

Scottrade Center

St. Louis, Missouri
AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
July 23, 2017

Battleground

Wells Fargo Center

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton
October 8, 2017

Hell in a Cell

Little Caesars Arena

Detroit, Michigan
Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon
December 17, 2017

Clash of Champions

TD Garden

Boston, Massachusetts
AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal
March 11, 2018

Fastlane

Nationwide Arena

Columbus, Ohio
AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn vs. John Cena


References





  1. ^ Matt Wilansky (April 26, 2017). "SmackDown Live recap: Breezango proves 'Land of Opportunity' isn't just a tagline". ESPN. Retrieved July 18, 2018..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  2. ^ Former WWE producer reveals they thought about making SmackDown an all women show - WrestlingEdge.com “We definitely discussed it, we looked at it, but we just didn’t have the depth to do it on a consistent basis week after week. We really didn’t have enough talent to do that, and in addition to that, if you were going to do that maybe not do it on the broadcast show because Vince McMahon was looking at that the more eyeballs.”


  3. ^ abcd Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE: History of WrestleMania. p. 57.


  4. ^ "Partnership Forming?". World Wrestling Entertainment. October 16, 2007. Retrieved October 25, 2007.


  5. ^ "Setting the night on fire". ECW results. World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved October 25, 2007.


  6. ^ Tello, Craig. "Elimination chamber result at no way out". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 17, 2009.


  7. ^ ab Sitterson, Aubrey (April 13, 2009). "Rough Draft (Televised draft results)". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved April 14, 2009.


  8. ^ "Results:Fueled by hatred and desperation". World Wrestling Entertainment. April 26, 2009. Retrieved April 26, 2009.


  9. ^ Nemer, Paul (August 30, 2011). "Raw Results – 8/29/11". Wrestleview. Retrieved November 5, 2016.


  10. ^ Tom Herrera (January 11, 2014). "The 10 most important moments in Raw history". WWE.com. Retrieved February 2, 2014.


  11. ^ "WWE NEWS: Stephanie McMahon says why brand split is gone". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 22, 2013.


  12. ^ Steinberg, Brian (May 25, 2016). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved May 25, 2016.


  13. ^ "WWE's destiny to be determined during SmackDown's Live premiere". WWE. June 20, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2016.


  14. ^ Caldwell, James. "7/11 WWE Raw Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 11, 2016.


  15. ^ ab Caldwell, James (July 18, 2016). "7/18 WWE Raw Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live TV Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 20, 2016.


  16. ^ "2016 WWE Draft results: WWE officially ushers in New Era". WWE. Retrieved July 19, 2016.


  17. ^ "Breaking News: Aj Styles is now WWE Heavyweight Champion!". TSJSports.com. November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017.


  18. ^ "Shane McMahon announced Paige as the new General Manager of SmackDown LIVE". WWE. April 10, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.


  19. ^ ab Zimmerman, Christopher Robin (March 26, 2002). "WWE Draft 2002 Recap". Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2008.


  20. ^ ab "WWE Raw (March 25, 2002) Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved February 23, 2008.


  21. ^ ab "WWE Raw (March 25, 2002) Results". PWWEW.net. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
    [dead link]



  22. ^ "WWE Cruiserweight Championship History". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 23, 2008.


  23. ^ "Triple H's first World Heavyweight Championship reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 21, 2008. Retrieved February 23, 2008.


  24. ^ "WWE Tag Team Championship History". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 23, 2008.


  25. ^ "WWE United States' Championship History". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 23, 2008.


  26. ^ Dee, Louie (October 18, 2007). "Even Exchange?". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 23, 2008.


  27. ^ "Divas Championship". WWE.


  28. ^ Parks, Greg. "8/23 WWE Smackdown LIVE – Parks's Complete, Real-Time Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 23, 2016.










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