SmackDown (WWE brand)
Product type | Professional wrestling Sports entertainment |
---|---|
Owner | WWE |
Produced by | Paul "Triple H" Levesque Bruce Prichard |
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 205 Live NXT UK |
Other names SmackDown! (2002–2008) |
SmackDown is a brand of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE that was established on March 25, 2002. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on a weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers assigned to SmackDown primarily appear on the brand's weekly television program, Friday Night SmackDown, also referred to simply as SmackDown. It is one of WWE's two main brands, along with Raw, collectively referred to as WWE's main roster. The brand extension was discontinued between August 2011 and July 2016.
In addition to the television program, SmackDown wrestlers also perform on the branded and co-branded
History
First split (2002–2011)
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.[1]
In March 2002, WWF underwent the "
Wrestlers began to wrestle exclusively for their specific show. At the time, this excluded the
SmackDown! was the home brand for many top WWE stars including Eddie Guerrero, Batista, Big Show, John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), Kurt Angle, Edge, The Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, John Cena, and 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
At the SmackDown! taping on January 10, 2006, that aired January 13, Batista had to forfeit the World Heavyweight Championship because of a
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.[3][4]
During the
On February 15, 2009, at
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.
Second split (2016–present)
On May 25, 2016, it was revealed that the brand split would return in July.
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)). From WrestleMania 34 onwards, all pay-per-views became dual-branded again.
On the November 7, 2017, episode of SmackDown,
When SmackDown moved to FOX beginning with the October 4, 2019, episode, it eventually replaced Raw as the "A" Show.[18] As a result, SmackDown became the home for the WWE's top stars such as Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, Drew McIntyre and the Usos.
Champions
Initially, the Undisputed WWE Championship and the original WWE Women's Championship were available to both brands.
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. 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
Current championships
SmackDown | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Championship | Current champion(s) | Reign | Date won | Days held |
Location | Notes | Ref. | |
championships) | Cody Rhodes | 1 | April 7, 2024 | 16 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|
Defeated Bloodline Rules match at WrestleMania XL Night 2.
|
[31] | |
WWE Women's Championship | Bayley | 2 | April 7, 2024 | 16 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|
Defeated Iyo Sky at WrestleMania XL Night 2. | [31] | |
WWE United States Championship | Logan Paul | 1 | November 4, 2023 | 171 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Defeated Rey Mysterio at Crown Jewel. | [32] | |
WWE Tag Team Championship | A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) |
1 (1, 1) |
April 6, 2024 | 17 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|
Defeated Raw Tag Team Championship , which was won by Awesome Truth. A-Town Down Under won the title as the SmackDown Tag Team Championship and it was renamed as WWE Tag Team Championship on April 19, 2024.
|
[33] | |
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship | The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) ‡ |
2 (4, 2) |
January 26, 2024 | 88 | Miami, Florida | Defeated Smackdown .
|
[34] |
- The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship is defended across Raw, SmackDown, and NXT.
Previous championships
Championship | Time on brand |
---|---|
World Heavyweight Championship (Original) | – August 29, 2011 |
WWE Divas Championship | July 20, 2008 – April 13, 2009 |
WWE Women's Championship (Original) | April 13, 2009 – September 19, 2010 |
WWE Cruiserweight Championship (Original)
|
March 25, 2002 – September 28, 2007 |
World Tag Team Championship | March 25, 2002 – July 29, 2002 |
WWE Tag Team Championship
|
October 20, 2002 – April 5, 2009 |
WWE 24/7 Championship | May 20, 2019 — November 9, 2022[nb 1] |
WWE Intercontinental Championship | April 16, 2019 — April 28, 2023 |
WWE SmackDown Women's Championship / Women's World Championship | August, 23 2016 — May 1, 2023 |
Pay-per-view and WWE Network events
First brand split events
Second brand split events
Notes
References
- ^ 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.”
- ^ a b c d Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE: History of WrestleMania. p. 57.
- ^ "Partnership Forming?". World Wrestling Entertainment. October 16, 2007. Retrieved October 25, 2007.
- ^ "Setting the night on fire". ECW results. World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved October 25, 2007.
- ^ Tello, Craig. "Elimination chamber result at no way out". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
- ^ a b Sitterson, Aubrey (April 13, 2009). "Rough Draft (Televised draft results)". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
- ^ "Results:Fueled by hatred and desperation". World Wrestling Entertainment. April 26, 2009. Retrieved April 26, 2009.
- ^ Nemer, Paul (August 30, 2011). "Raw Results – 8/29/11". Wrestleview. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
- ^ Tom Herrera (January 11, 2014). "The 10 most important moments in Raw history". WWE.com. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
- ^ "WWE NEWS: Stephanie McMahon says why brand split is gone". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
- ^ Steinberg, Brian (May 25, 2016). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
- ^ "WWE's destiny to be determined during SmackDown's Live premiere". WWE. June 20, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
- ^ Caldwell, James. "7/11 WWE Raw Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
- ^ a b Caldwell, James (July 18, 2016). "7/18 WWE Raw Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live TV Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
- ^ "2016 WWE Draft results: WWE officially ushers in New Era". WWE. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
- ^ "Breaking News: Aj Styles is now WWE Heavyweight Champion!". TSJSports.com. November 9, 2017. Archived from the original on November 13, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- ^ "Shane McMahon announced Paige as the new General Manager of SmackDown LIVE". WWE. April 10, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
- ^ "Report: FOX Originally Wanted TV Rights to WWE Raw". March 30, 2022.
- ^ a b Zimmerman, Christopher Robin (March 26, 2002). "WWE Draft 2002 Recap". Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ a b "WWE Raw (March 25, 2002) Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ a b "WWE Raw (March 25, 2002) Results". PWWEW.net. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ "WWE Cruiserweight Championship History". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ "Triple H's first World Heavyweight Championship reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 21, 2008. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ "WWE Tag Team Championship History". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ "WWE United States' Championship History". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ Dee, Louie (October 18, 2007). "Even Exchange?". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ "Divas Championship". WWE.
- ^ Parks, Greg (August 23, 2016). "8/23 WWE Smackdown LIVE – Parks's Complete, Real-Time Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
- ^ Keller, Wade (October 31, 2019). "10/31 WWE Crown Jewel Results: Keller's report on Rollins vs. Fiend, Lesnar vs. Velasquez, Braun vs. Fury, Team Hogan vs. Team Flair". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on November 1, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
- ^ Keller, Wade (November 1, 2019). "11/1 WWE SmackDown Report: Keller's report on the reworked episode due almost all wrestlers still stranded in Saudi Arabia". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on November 3, 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- ^ a b Powell, Jason (April 7, 2024). "WrestleMania XL results: Powell's live review of night two with Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes for the WWE Universal Championship with Bloodline Rules, Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
- ^ Powell, Jason (November 4, 2023). "WWE Crown Jewel results: Powell's review of Roman Reigns vs. LA Knight for the WWE Universal Title, Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight Title, Rey Mysterio vs. Logan Paul for the U.S. Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
- ^ Powell, Jason (April 6, 2024). "WrestleMania XL results: Powell's live review of night one with The Rock and Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley vs. Becky Lynch for the Women's World Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
- ^ Barnett, Jake (January 26, 2024). "WWE Friday Night Smackdown results (1/26): Barnett's review of the Royal Rumble go-home show, LA Knight vs. Solo Sikoa, Kayden Carter and Katana Chance vs. Kabuki Warriors for the WWE Women's Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 27, 2024.