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WWE SmackDown

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 62.253.64.12 (talk) at 13:42, 20 December 2004 (→Current Smackdown Non-Wrestlers/Managers). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

WWE SmackDown! is a professional wrestling show that airs in the USA on the UPN Network and in Canada on The Score Network. It is produced by World Wrestling Entertainment, formerly known as the WWF.

The SmackDown! Superstars will typically perform four shows in a week. WWE generally tapes its Tuesday evening show for UPN to air on Thursday evening of the same week.

Show History

Pre-Brand Extension

WWF SmackDown! (as it was originally known) was set up to compete against WCW's Thursday night show, Thunder. In the spirit of the WWF's Attitude Era, the show was originally planned to be two hours of WWF Divas in primetime TV. However, this did not work out, and instead SmackDown! became a complementary show to RAW.

Brand Extension

In early to mid-2002, World Wrestling Entertainment (then known as the World Wrestling Federation) underwent something they called the “Brand Extension”. Basically, this meant that the two WWE television shows (RAW and SmackDown!) would become competition for each other. This came about after WWE purchased their two biggest competitors, WCW and ECW. The brand extension was publically announced during a telecast of WWF RAW on March 25, 2002, and became official the next day.

The Brand Extension would bring about a change like nothing the WWE had seen before. Wrestlers would become “show-exclusive”, wrestling for their specific show only. At the time this excluded the champions as originally, the WWE titles would be defended on both shows. However, later in 2002, Brock Lesnar, then the WWE World Champion, refused to defend the title on RAW, causing the title to become SmackDown!-exclusive. Following that, both shows then got their own exclusive titles.

The SmackDown! brand has a sister show, Velocity, broadcasting Saturday nights from 11:00 PM-12:00 AM Eastern Standard Time on Spike TV. It consists of low-card matches and recaps of last Thursday's SmackDown!.

Current SmackDown! Championships

Title Notes: Current Champion(s)
WWE Champion 1 John Bradshaw Layfield
WWE Tag-Team Champions 2 Rey Mysterio (Óscar Gutiérrez) and Rob Van Dam (Rob Szatkowski)
WWE Cruiserweight Champion 3 Funaki (Shoichi Funaki)
WWE United States Champion 4 John Cena

1: This is the original WWE World Championship Title. It became SmackDown! exclusive when the champion Brock Lesnar refused to defend it on RAW.
2: These are completely new Tag-Team championships. The original WWE World Tag-Team championships became RAW exclusive.
3: This championship originally was the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship. The WWE adopted it and dropped their own World Light Heavyweight Title in favor of it. It also became SmackDown! exclusive.
4: The original WCW United States Heavyweight Championship was once disbanded when it was unified with the WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship. However, the title was revived for Stone Cold Steve Austin of RAW, along with reintroducing the Intercontinental Heavyweight Title for RAW.

Recent Happenings

1: John Bradshaw Layfield won the championship after ,then General Manager Kurt Angle reversed Eddie Guerrero's victory at The Great American Bash 2004.
2: Rey Mysterio (Óscar Gutiérrez) and Rob Van Dam (Rob Szatkowski) defeated René Duprée and Kenzo Suzuki on SmackDown! (December 7, 2004, aired December 9, 2004).
3: Funaki (Shoichi Funaki) defeated Spike Dudley (Matthew Hyson) at Armageddon 2004.
4: John Cena defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool on SmackDown! (November 16, 2004, aired November 18).

Roster

"Owner(s)/ General Manager(s)"

Past "Owners/ General Managers"

Current Smackdown Wrestlers

Inactive List

Current Smackdown Non-Wrestlers/Managers

Referees

Other On-Air Talent

===Past SmackDown! Wrestlers=== (since brand extension)

(Note: All roster information is current as of 11/4/2004)

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