WWE Friday Night SmackDown!
Encyclopedia
WWE SmackDown is a sports entertainment
television program
for WWE. it airs on Syfy
in the United States
as WWE Friday Night SmackDown. The show's name is also used to refer to the SmackDown brand
, in which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform on that program. It is one of the two television broadcasts for the SmackDown brand; the other one being WWE Raw
, though at one point WWE Velocity
also featured SmackDown branded wrestling.
From its launch in 1999, SmackDown broadcast on Thursday nights, but on September 9, 2005, the show moved to Friday nights. The show originally debuted in the United States on the UPN
television network
on April 29, 1999, but after the merger of UPN and the WB
, SmackDown began airing on The CW
in 2006. The show remained on the CW network for two years until it was announced that it would move to MyNetworkTV
in October 2008. SmackDown moved to Syfy
on October 1, 2010.
Due to time differences, SmackDown premieres a few hours earlier in Ireland and UK and a day earlier in Australia, India, Singapore, and Philippines than the United States. For international broadcast listings, see below.
The early set featured an oval-shaped TitanTron
entrance and stage (dubbed the "OvalTron") which made it stand out from the Raw set with its rectangular TitanTrons. Later productions gained the ability to move the OvalTron either to the left or to the right of the stage. Throughout the show's early existence, The Rock routinely called SmackDown! "his" show, in reference to the fact that the name was derived from one of his catchphrases, "Layeth the smackdown". In August 2001, as part of celebrating SmackDown!s second anniversary, the show received a new logo
and set. The last SmackDown! to use the previous entrance stage saw Alliance member Rhyno gore federation member Chris Jericho
through the center screen, destroying part of the set. As a result of that, the new set consisted of a fist centered above the entrance, and many glass panes along the sides strongly resembling shattered glass.
Wrestlers would now become show-exclusive, wrestling for their specific show only. At the time this excluded the WWE Undisputed Championship
and WWE Women's Championship
, as those WWE titles would be defended on both shows. In August 2002, WWE Undisputed Champion Brock Lesnar
refused to defend the title on Raw, in effect causing his title to become exclusive to SmackDown! The following week on Raw, General Manager Eric Bischoff awarded a newly instated World Heavyweight Championship
to Raw's designated #1 contender, Triple H
. Because since the WWE Undisputed Championship was now SmackDown! exclusive it was no longer seen as "Undisputed". Following this, the WWE Women's Championship soon became 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.
This also marked the first time that the WWE willingly censored blood by turning the screen grayscale whenever any on-camera shot of a bloodied face was shown. This practice did not start until a 2003 episode of SmackDown! aired featuring a match in which Brock Lesner beat down Zach Gowen. In this match, Gowen did a blade job that bloodied his face so badly that UPN made a decision to blur the entire screen, simulating a technical problem with the camera that was in charge of showing Gowen. This scene was neither uncensored on the replay of the incident on Spike TV's Velocity
(SmackDown!'s "B show") or in other countries (though the UK did cut out a separate Gowen/Lesner scene, which Lesner shoved Gowen down a fight of steps, a few weeks later). Though the WWE did not censor this segment themselves, it has since, up to the initiative of going PG.
On June 6, 2005, WWE Champion John Cena switched brands from SmackDown! to Raw as part of the month-long Draft Lottery. This effectively left SmackDown! without a world title. On June 23, 2005, SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long announced a six-man elimination match between John "Bradshaw" Layfield
, Booker T, Chris Benoit
, The Undertaker, Christian (replacing The Big Show, who was picked by Raw in the lottery), and Muhammad Hassan to crown the first SmackDown! Champion. On the June 30 episode of SmackDown!, JBL won the match. Long appeared afterward and stated that even though JBL had won the match, SmackDown! did not need a Championship anymore. Batista, the World Heavyweight Champion, entered the ring as SmackDown!'s final draft lottery pick. Long also revealed that JBL was the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship.
WWE's "lame duck
" status with Viacom on Spike TV may have prompted its moving SmackDown! to the Friday night death slot
for the Fall 2005 season. UPN received better ratings on Fridays than it did before with its movie night. In addition, UPN had been able to hold on to the ratings from Thursday nights, most notably with comedian Chris Rock
's sitcom Everybody Hates Chris
. In January 2006, prior to the announcement of the CW Network, it was announced that UPN had renewed SmackDown! for two more years.
Following the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise
, SmackDown! (renamed Friday Night SmackDown!) moved into Enterprises former timeslot in the United States
. WWE promoted this move with the tagline
"TV that's changing Friday nights." Friday Night SmackDown! made its season premiere on September 9, 2005. The program still aired on Thursdays in Canada
on the Score. In the United Kingdom
, Ireland
and Australia
, their stations Sky Sports
and Fox8
air SmackDown! on Fridays before the United States due to the time difference. This is the first time a major weekly WWE show airs internationally before it hits screens in the U.S.
The events of Hurricane Katrina
affected the first edition of Friday Night SmackDown! in the U.S. due to the special fund-raising concert
that aired on UPN at the same time that the first edition would have gone out, resulting in only the second hour of the show being shown on UPN. The first hour was instead streamed from WWE's website. Other countries, including Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and the Philippines received the full two-hour show. WWOR-TV
(My 9, New York, New York) also aired both hours of the show on tape delay on Saturday, due to a previous commitment to broadcast the New York Yankees
on Friday nights.
At the SmackDown! taping on January 10, 2006, Batista had to forfeit the World Heavyweight Championship
because of a triceps
injury. SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long decreed a Battle Royal for the vacant title. The winner was at the time Raw superstar Kurt Angle
, who later switched to the SmackDown brand. In a break from their traditional role of acting as if SmackDown! is not pre-recorded, WWE.com had a photograph of Angle holding his new title on the main page. WWE also did this when Edge cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to win the World Heavyweight Championship from The Undertaker and when The Great Khali won a battle royal after Edge's injury.
On the April 7, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, General Manager Theodore Long announced that the King of the Ring
tournament would return after a four-year hiatus as a SmackDown!-exclusive tournament. The tournament ended at Judgment Day 2006
with Booker T as the winner, defeating Bobby Lashley in the final.
On June 9, 2006, Tazz
left the SmackDown! brand to join the new ECW brand, leaving the color-commentator position on SmackDown! vacant. However, on June 11 at One Night Stand 2006
, JBL revealed that he would be the new color commentator for SmackDown! He stayed in that position until December 2007 when he left SmackDown! to become an in-ring competitor on Raw
. Jonathan Coachman
replaced him afterwards. Eventually, Coachman was released by the WWE later in the year.
On September 22, 2006, Friday Night SmackDown! debuted on The CW Television Network
, a joint venture between CBS Corporation
(owner of UPN
) and Warner Bros. Entertainment
(a subsidiary of Time Warner
, majority owner of The WB
).
For four weeks before the official premiere (and in preparation for the impending removal of UPN in several markets by the debut of MyNetworkTV
on September 5, 2006) of Friday Night SmackDown! on the CW on September 22, 2006, Tribune Broadcasting
television stations in six major markets (including WPIX
in New York City and KTLA
in Los Angeles) aired WWE's Friday Night SmackDown! early in September 2006. Two other future affiliates of The CW, WCWJ
in Jacksonville, Florida
and WIWB
in Green Bay, Wisconsin
, also aired SmackDown! in early September as well.
The transition to the CW caused an interruption in the broadcast of SmackDown! in the state of Utah
beginning in June when KPNZ
in Salt Lake City stopped airing all UPN programs early. KUCW
broadcasts the show. In Hawaii
, SmackDown! returned in late 2006, airing on a CW digital subchannel
of Honolulu's FOX
affiliate KHON-TV
(Channel 2), which has received statewide carriage over Oceanic Time Warner Cable
. Since the move to the CW Network, Friday Night SmackDown! has shown a major increase in ratings
now averaging a 3.0 national rating. In addition, SmackDown! has become the second highest watched program on The CW.
On April 20, 2007, SmackDown! celebrated its 400th episode. Ratings success soon followed. On June 8, 2007, Friday Night SmackDown! made CW history by making a three-way tie with CBS
and ABC
in the key ad demographic (adults, 18-49) by drawing a 1.5 rating each. On June 22, 2007, Friday Night SmackDown! again made CW history by tying the network for first place in the key ad demographic (adults, 18-49) and being the second most-watched network program at 9 p.m. for the night. The CW had not performed as well at any time slot since America's Next Top Model
in March 2007. The next week on June 29, 2007, Friday Night SmackDown! helped The CW claim the top spot in the key demographic (adults, 18-49) for Friday. CBS got the overall lead but The CW got top spot for the Adults 18-49 by registering a 1.4 rating followed by CBS and NBC
at 1.3, ABC at 1.2, and FOX
at 0.9. Then on Friday, July 13, 2007, Friday Night SmackDown! made network history by placing first in the 18-49 demographic and becoming the most watched show at the 9 p.m. hour on network television. This is the first time anything has placed this well on The CW. SmackDown! became a hit show on Friday nights winning the demographics for young males, and ranking second on the demographics (18-49) for Friday nights.
On October 16, 2007 it was announced that the SmackDown! and ECW brands would begin a "talent exchange", allowing their respective talent to appear and compete on either brand, because ECW was broadcast live on the same night and from the same arena where Smackdown is taped.
Jim Ross
became the new play-by-play announcer for SmackDown, while Michael Cole
(SmackDown commentator for nine years from its launch in 1999 until 2008) moved to Raw. The WWE Champion Triple H
was also drafted to SmackDown, which gave SmackDown two world championships to be featured on the brand. On June 30, 2008 on Raw, CM Punk
cashed in his Money in the Bank
contract and defeated the World Heavyweight Champion Edge, bringing the World Heavyweight Championship back to Raw. In August 2008, Tazz returned to SmackDown as color commentator, due in part to Foley's departure from the WWE as his contract was not renewed. A couple of months later in late-2008, Tazz decided to let his contract expire. So he was replaced with the color commentator for ECW, Todd Grisham, making the SmackDown announce team consist of Grisham and Ross. Also that year, for the first time in the brands history, a women's exclusive championship was introduced, the WWE Divas Championship
, a counterpart to the WWE Women's Championship
which up until this time was the only active championship competed for by divas, but it was exclusive to the WWE Raw
brand, meaning that the divas on SmackDown had no championship to compete for until now. Michelle McCool
became the inaugural champion by defeating Natalya on July 20, 2008 at The Great American Bash 2008
.
in the United States on October 3, 2008, featuring performers from the Raw, ECW, and SmackDown programs. WWE SmackDown also debuted with a new theme song. The premiere episode on MyNetworkTV attracted 3.2 million viewers. While the viewership dropped, SmackDown pulled the highest ratings to date for MyNetworkTV and pushed the network to fifth place, ahead of rival The CW. The premiere was also first place in male 18-49 demographics.
On February 15, 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. On March 20, 2009 WWE SmackDown celebrated its 500th episode.
As a result of the 2009 WWE Draft
in April, WWE Champion Triple H
was drafted to the Raw
brand, while the World Heavyweight Championship moved to the Raw brand after Edge lost the title to John Cena
at WrestleMania XXV
. SmackDown would regain the World Heavyweight Championship at Backlash (2009)
when Edge defeated John Cena to win the championship. In addition, SmackDown and Raw would exchange both women-exclusive championships with Raw gaining the WWE Divas Championship
and SmackDown gaining the WWE Women's Championship
. Also, SmackDown and Raw exchanged the WWE United States Championship
(which became exclusive to Raw) and the WWE Intercontinental Championship
(subsequently exclusive to the SmackDown brand), for the first time since August 25, 2002.
On September 15, 2009, WWE Home Video released a DVD set entitled The Best of SmackDown 10th Anniversary.
That April, most of the WWE Raw superstars were stuck in Belfast
due to Eyjafjallajökull
erupting in Iceland and left ash hovering over Europe and caused flights to be grounded. To help, Smackdown took over Monday Night Raw (with the exceptions of former Smackdown superstars and current Raw superstars Triple H and Vladimir Kozlov) and fought over there. The superstars included Rey Mysterio, Edge, CM Punk, Chris Jericho and more. This was the first time Raw was noted as Monday Night Smackdown.
, a network which previously aired NXT
and ECW, in a two year deal that also includes an optional third year. Retaining its Friday night timeslot, SmackDown made its live premiere on Syfy on October 1, 2010 and there's been talk about having live editions of the show on WWE PPV weekends. According to the Los Angeles Times
, the move sees Syfy paying close to $30 million for the show as opposed to the $20 million paid by MyNetworkTV. The premiere of SmackDown on Syfy followed a special "pre-game" show hosted by Michael Cole. Since this time, Cole has joined on the SmackDown commentating team and continues to sell the "Voice of the WWE" moniker, since he now commentates for both brands. He has most recently done his commentating in a glass box dubbed the "Cole Mine", to coincide with his heel gimmick.
Due to the move to an NBC Universal Cable network, SmackDown is now advertised more frequently on Syfy's sister network, USA Network
, which airs Raw. Same-week encores of SmackDown were also added to Universal HD's
, and mun2
's Saturday night schedule as a result of the move in the spot previously held by NXT and ECW. On February 4, 2011, Booker T made a return on SmackDown as a commentator replacing Matt Striker.
On October 11, 2011, following the taping of the October 14th episode, Shawn Michaels and Triple H surprised Dallas for a DX Reunion at the taping.
October 14, 2011's broadcast of Friday Night Smackdown, Episode 635 marked Smackdown as the official second longest-running weekly episodic television series of American television history behind Monday Night Raw who surpassed the 635th episode mark on the August 2, 2005 broadcast of Raw. The record was surpassed during their run on UPN (1999–2006), The CW (2006–08), MyNetworkTV (2008–10) and Syfy (2010–present)
announced it would induct the word smackdown into Webster's Dictionary
. According to Merriam Webster, a "Smackdown" is:
in what is called a "Supershow".
SmackDown opens
with "Know Your Enemy
" by Green Day
. Upon SmackDown's debut on Syfy it replaced the previous theme song "Let it Roll" by Divide the Day.
The show began broadcasting in HD
beginning with the January 25, 2008 edition of SmackDown, where a new set debuted — shared between both WWE brands. Following the first broadcast in HD, the iconic exclamation mark
used since the show's inception disappeared from all references pertaining to "SmackDown", including the official logo, which is a variation of the 2001-08 logo with a darker blue scheme.
Since the move to Syfy, Smackdown has aired live specials on Tuesday Nights, when the show is usually taped.
In December 2010, Smackdown has aired on the USA Network, which carries Raw on Tuesday as a part of "WWE Week" which also included Tribute to the Troops.
On the October 7th broadcast of Smackdown (taped October 3), Smackdown marked their one-year anniversary on Syfy. The celebration was belated due to Smackdown debuting October 1, 2010.
The October 14, 2011 broadcast of Friday Night Smackdown, Episode 635 marked Smackdown as the official second longest-running weekly episodic television series of American television history behind Monday Night Raw who surpassed the 635th episode mark on the August 2, 2005 broadcast of Raw. The record was surpassed during their run on UPN (1999–2006), The CW (2006–08), My NetworkTV (2008–10) and Syfy (2010–present)
Due to recent rating successes during live episodes of Smackdown, WWE are in talks with Syfy to do doing more live Tuesday SmackDown specials in early 2012 to build WrestleMania 28 and WWE officials are considering the idea of moving SmackDown to Tuesdays permanently.
Seasonal rankings (based on average total estimated viewers per episode) of SmackDown! on UPN, The CW and MyNetworkTV
(*)If Chimel was absent from the NXT/Smackdown tapings, he will be substituted as ring announcer by RAW's Justin Roberts or WWE Superstars' Eden Stiles, who would serve as NXT and Smackdown's ring announcer for that week's episode.
, Universal HD
, mun2
, and AFN Xtra
in the United States
,
Sky 1 only Saturday
Sports entertainment
Sports entertainment is a type of spectacle which presents an ostensibly competitive event using a high level of theatrical flourish and extravagant presentation, with the purpose of entertaining an audience...
television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
for WWE. it airs on Syfy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as WWE Friday Night SmackDown. The show's name is also used to refer to the SmackDown brand
WWE Brand Extension
WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment , currently promotes its core business of professional wrestling through two "brands" named after their two major television shows Raw and SmackDown...
, in which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform on that program. It is one of the two television broadcasts for the SmackDown brand; the other one being WWE Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
, though at one point WWE Velocity
WWE Velocity
WWE Velocity was a professional wrestling television program produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It replaced two syndicated WWE shows, Jakked/Metal. Once a weekly Saturday night show on Spike TV and on Sky Sports 2 in the UK on Sunday mornings, Velocity became a webcast from 2005 to 2006...
also featured SmackDown branded wrestling.
From its launch in 1999, SmackDown broadcast on Thursday nights, but on September 9, 2005, the show moved to Friday nights. The show originally debuted in the United States on the UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
on April 29, 1999, but after the merger of UPN and the WB
2006 United States broadcast TV realignment
Between winter-fall 2006, the United States broadcast television industry was realigned. In September 2006, the country's two "second-tier" television networks, UPN and The WB Television Network, both shut down on September 15 and 17 respectively, and their operations were transferred to a new...
, SmackDown began airing on The CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
in 2006. The show remained on the CW network for two years until it was announced that it would move to MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
in October 2008. SmackDown moved to Syfy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
on October 1, 2010.
Due to time differences, SmackDown premieres a few hours earlier in Ireland and UK and a day earlier in Australia, India, Singapore, and Philippines than the United States. For international broadcast listings, see below.
Original format (1999-2002)
Jumbotron
A JumboTron is a large-screen television using technology developed by Sony, typically used in sports stadiums and concert venues to show close-up shots of the event. Although JumboTron is a registered trademark owned by the Sony Corporation, the word jumbotron is often used by the public as a...
entrance and stage (dubbed the "OvalTron") which made it stand out from the Raw set with its rectangular TitanTrons. Later productions gained the ability to move the OvalTron either to the left or to the right of the stage. Throughout the show's early existence, The Rock routinely called SmackDown! "his" show, in reference to the fact that the name was derived from one of his catchphrases, "Layeth the smackdown". In August 2001, as part of celebrating SmackDown!s second anniversary, the show received a new logo
Logo
A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
and set. The last SmackDown! to use the previous entrance stage saw Alliance member Rhyno gore federation member Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho
Christopher Keith Irvine , better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an inactive Canadian-American professional wrestler, musician, songwriter, radio personality, television host, actor, author, and dancer...
through the center screen, destroying part of the set. As a result of that, the new set consisted of a fist centered above the entrance, and many glass panes along the sides strongly resembling shattered glass.
Brand Extension (2002-2005)
In spring 2002 WWE underwent a process which it called the "Brand Extension". WWE divided itself into two "de facto" wrestling promotions with separate rosters, storylines and authority figures. Raw and SmackDown! would host each division, give its name to the division and essentially compete against each other. The split was a result of the federation purchasing their two biggest competitors, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), which resulted in the roster and championships doubling in size. The brand extension was publicly announced during a telecast of RAW on March 18, 2002, initiated with the first-ever draft a week later on the March 25, 2002 edition of Raw, and became official the following week on the April 1, 2002 edition of Raw.Wrestlers would now become show-exclusive, wrestling for their specific show only. At the time this excluded the WWE Undisputed Championship
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
and WWE Women's Championship
WWE Women's Championship
The WWE Women's Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment promotion. Created in 1956, it was the oldest active professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment history until its retirement in 2010 as a result from a unification...
, as those WWE titles would be defended on both shows. In August 2002, WWE Undisputed Champion Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar
Brock Edward Lesnar is an American mixed martial artist, actor and a former professional and amateur wrestler. He is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and is ranked the No.5 Heavyweight in the world by Sherdog...
refused to defend the title on Raw, in effect causing his title to become exclusive to SmackDown! The following week on Raw, General Manager Eric Bischoff awarded a newly instated World Heavyweight Championship
World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)
The World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the SmackDown brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the WWE Championship of the Raw brand...
to Raw's designated #1 contender, Triple H
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...
. Because since the WWE Undisputed Championship was now SmackDown! exclusive it was no longer seen as "Undisputed". Following this, the WWE Women's Championship soon became 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.
This also marked the first time that the WWE willingly censored blood by turning the screen grayscale whenever any on-camera shot of a bloodied face was shown. This practice did not start until a 2003 episode of SmackDown! aired featuring a match in which Brock Lesner beat down Zach Gowen. In this match, Gowen did a blade job that bloodied his face so badly that UPN made a decision to blur the entire screen, simulating a technical problem with the camera that was in charge of showing Gowen. This scene was neither uncensored on the replay of the incident on Spike TV's Velocity
WWE Velocity
WWE Velocity was a professional wrestling television program produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It replaced two syndicated WWE shows, Jakked/Metal. Once a weekly Saturday night show on Spike TV and on Sky Sports 2 in the UK on Sunday mornings, Velocity became a webcast from 2005 to 2006...
(SmackDown!'s "B show") or in other countries (though the UK did cut out a separate Gowen/Lesner scene, which Lesner shoved Gowen down a fight of steps, a few weeks later). Though the WWE did not censor this segment themselves, it has since, up to the initiative of going PG.
On June 6, 2005, WWE Champion John Cena switched brands from SmackDown! to Raw as part of the month-long Draft Lottery. This effectively left SmackDown! without a world title. On June 23, 2005, SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long announced a six-man elimination match between John "Bradshaw" Layfield
John Layfield
John Charles Layfield is a former American professional wrestler, a former commentator/host for mixed martial arts promotion Vyper Fight League and financial analyst for Fox News...
, Booker T, Chris Benoit
Chris Benoit
Christopher Michael "Chris" Benoit was a Canadian professional wrestler whose career and life ended in a murder–suicide...
, The Undertaker, Christian (replacing The Big Show, who was picked by Raw in the lottery), and Muhammad Hassan to crown the first SmackDown! Champion. On the June 30 episode of SmackDown!, JBL won the match. Long appeared afterward and stated that even though JBL had won the match, SmackDown! did not need a Championship anymore. Batista, the World Heavyweight Champion, entered the ring as SmackDown!'s final draft lottery pick. Long also revealed that JBL was the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Move to Friday nights with various networks (2005-present)
Lame duck (politics)
A lame duck is an elected official who is approaching the end of his or her tenure, and especially an official whose successor has already been elected.-Description:The status can be due to*having lost a re-election bid...
" status with Viacom on Spike TV may have prompted its moving SmackDown! to the Friday night death slot
Friday night death slot
The Friday night death slot is a perceived graveyard slot in American television, referring to the concept that a television program in the United States scheduled on Friday evenings is destined for imminent cancellation....
for the Fall 2005 season. UPN received better ratings on Fridays than it did before with its movie night. In addition, UPN had been able to hold on to the ratings from Thursday nights, most notably with comedian Chris Rock
Chris Rock
Christopher Julius "Chris" Rock III is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director. He was voted in the US as the 5th greatest stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central...
's sitcom Everybody Hates Chris
Everybody Hates Chris
Everybody Hates Chris is an African American television period sitcom inspired by the teenage experiences of comedian Chris Rock , while growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York . The show is set from 1982 to 1987; however, Rock himself was a teenager during years...
. In January 2006, prior to the announcement of the CW Network, it was announced that UPN had renewed SmackDown! for two more years.
Following the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...
, SmackDown! (renamed Friday Night SmackDown!) moved into Enterprises former timeslot in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. WWE promoted this move with the tagline
Tagline
A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product , or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product...
"TV that's changing Friday nights." Friday Night SmackDown! made its season premiere on September 9, 2005. The program still aired on Thursdays in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on the Score. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, their stations Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
and Fox8
FOX8
Fox8 is an Australian cable and satellite channel available on Foxtel, Austar and Optus Television's subscription platforms...
air SmackDown! on Fridays before the United States due to the time difference. This is the first time a major weekly WWE show airs internationally before it hits screens in the U.S.
The events of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
affected the first edition of Friday Night SmackDown! in the U.S. due to the special fund-raising concert
Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast
Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast was a one hour, commercial-free benefit concert television special that aired simulcast worldwide on September 9, 2005 at 8 p.m. ET/CT live from New York City and Los Angeles and tape delayed in the Mountain Time Zone and Pacific Time Zones...
that aired on UPN at the same time that the first edition would have gone out, resulting in only the second hour of the show being shown on UPN. The first hour was instead streamed from WWE's website. Other countries, including Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and the Philippines received the full two-hour show. WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the flagship station of the MyNetworkTV programming service, licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey and serving the Tri-State metropolitan area. WWOR is owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox network flagship...
(My 9, New York, New York) also aired both hours of the show on tape delay on Saturday, due to a previous commitment to broadcast the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
on Friday nights.
At the SmackDown! taping on January 10, 2006, Batista had to forfeit the World Heavyweight Championship
World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)
The World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the SmackDown brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the WWE Championship of the Raw brand...
because of a triceps
Triceps brachii muscle
The triceps brachii muscle is the large muscle on the back of the upper limb of many vertebrates. It is the muscle principally responsible for extension of the elbow joint .-Terminology:...
injury. SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long decreed a Battle Royal for the vacant title. The winner was at the time Raw superstar Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle
Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion...
, who later switched to the SmackDown brand. In a break from their traditional role of acting as if SmackDown! is not pre-recorded, WWE.com had a photograph of Angle holding his new title on the main page. WWE also did this when Edge cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to win the World Heavyweight Championship from The Undertaker and when The Great Khali won a battle royal after Edge's injury.
On the April 7, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, General Manager Theodore Long announced that the King of the Ring
King of the Ring
King of the Ring is a professional wrestling single-elimination tournament held by WWE. The tournament was held annually from 1985 to 2002, with the exception of 1990 and 1992, and from 1993 to 2002 the tournament was produced as a pay-per-view event....
tournament would return after a four-year hiatus as a SmackDown!-exclusive tournament. The tournament ended at Judgment Day 2006
Judgment Day (2006)
Judgment Day was the eighth annual Judgment Day professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment...
with Booker T as the winner, defeating Bobby Lashley in the final.
On June 9, 2006, Tazz
Tazz
Peter Senerchia is a retired American professional wrestler and current color commentator best known by his ring name Tazz, originally Tazmaniac and later shortened to simply Taz...
left the SmackDown! brand to join the new ECW brand, leaving the color-commentator position on SmackDown! vacant. However, on June 11 at One Night Stand 2006
ECW One Night Stand (2006)
ECW One Night Stand was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It was held on June 11, 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, New York....
, JBL revealed that he would be the new color commentator for SmackDown! He stayed in that position until December 2007 when he left SmackDown! to become an in-ring competitor on Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
. Jonathan Coachman
Jonathan Coachman
Jonathan William Coachman , also known as "The Coach", is a former professional wrestling color commentator and authority figure. He is also a former college basketball player, and football play-by-play announcer...
replaced him afterwards. Eventually, Coachman was released by the WWE later in the year.
The CW Network
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
, a joint venture between CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...
(owner of UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
) and Warner Bros. Entertainment
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
(a subsidiary of Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
, majority owner of The WB
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
).
For four weeks before the official premiere (and in preparation for the impending removal of UPN in several markets by the debut of MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
on September 5, 2006) of Friday Night SmackDown! on the CW on September 22, 2006, Tribune Broadcasting
Tribune Broadcasting
The Tribune Broadcasting Company is a group of radio and television stations located throughout the United States which are owned and operated by the Tribune Company, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois and named for the flagship Chicago Tribune newspaper.- History :Tribune Broadcasting...
television stations in six major markets (including WPIX
WPIX
WPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...
in New York City and KTLA
KTLA
KTLA, virtual channel 5, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, USA. Owned by the Tribune Company, KTLA is an affiliate of the CW Television Network. KTLA's studios are on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson...
in Los Angeles) aired WWE's Friday Night SmackDown! early in September 2006. Two other future affiliates of The CW, WCWJ
WCWJ
WCWJ is the CW-affiliate in Jacksonville, Florida and Brunswick, Georgia. The station is owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc.. Its transmitter is located in Jacksonville.-History:...
in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
and WIWB
WCWF
WNMN is the RTV-affiliated television station for Upstate New York that is licensed to Saranac Lake. It broadcasts a digital signal on UHF channel 40 from a transmitter on the WYZY-FM tower north of the village along the Essex and Franklin County line. The station can also be seen on Burlington...
in Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
, also aired SmackDown! in early September as well.
The transition to the CW caused an interruption in the broadcast of SmackDown! in the state of Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
beginning in June when KPNZ
KPNZ
KPNZ is an independent television station serving the Salt Lake City, Utah television market. Owned by Los Angeles-based Liberman Broadcasting, the station broadcasts a variety of Spanish-language programming.-History:...
in Salt Lake City stopped airing all UPN programs early. KUCW
KUCW
KUCW is the CW-afifliated television station for the state of Utah that is licensed to Ogden. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 48 from a transmitter on Farnsworth Peak. Owned by High Plains Broadcasting, the station is operated through joint sales and shared services...
broadcasts the show. In Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, SmackDown! returned in late 2006, airing on a CW digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
of Honolulu's FOX
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
affiliate KHON-TV
KHON-TV
KHON-TV is a Fox-affiliated television station in Honolulu, Hawaii. The station broadcasts on virtual channel 2.In addition to its Honolulu broadcast facilities, KHON has relays on all the major Hawaiian Islands to rebroadcast programs outside of metropolitan Honolulu: KHAW-TV in Hilo; KAII-TV in...
(Channel 2), which has received statewide carriage over Oceanic Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
. Since the move to the CW Network, Friday Night SmackDown! has shown a major increase in ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
now averaging a 3.0 national rating. In addition, SmackDown! has become the second highest watched program on The CW.
On April 20, 2007, SmackDown! celebrated its 400th episode. Ratings success soon followed. On June 8, 2007, Friday Night SmackDown! made CW history by making a three-way tie with CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in the key ad demographic (adults, 18-49) by drawing a 1.5 rating each. On June 22, 2007, Friday Night SmackDown! again made CW history by tying the network for first place in the key ad demographic (adults, 18-49) and being the second most-watched network program at 9 p.m. for the night. The CW had not performed as well at any time slot since America's Next Top Model
America's Next Top Model
America's Next Top Model is a reality television show in which a number of women compete for the title of America's Next Top Model and a chance to start their career in the modeling industry....
in March 2007. The next week on June 29, 2007, Friday Night SmackDown! helped The CW claim the top spot in the key demographic (adults, 18-49) for Friday. CBS got the overall lead but The CW got top spot for the Adults 18-49 by registering a 1.4 rating followed by CBS and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
at 1.3, ABC at 1.2, and FOX
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
at 0.9. Then on Friday, July 13, 2007, Friday Night SmackDown! made network history by placing first in the 18-49 demographic and becoming the most watched show at the 9 p.m. hour on network television. This is the first time anything has placed this well on The CW. SmackDown! became a hit show on Friday nights winning the demographics for young males, and ranking second on the demographics (18-49) for Friday nights.
On October 16, 2007 it was announced that the SmackDown! and ECW brands would begin a "talent exchange", allowing their respective talent to appear and compete on either brand, because ECW was broadcast live on the same night and from the same arena where Smackdown is taped.
Jim Ross
James William "Jim" Ross is a professional wrestling commentator, former professional wrestling referee, restaurateur, occasional wrestler, and former company executive of WWE, where he currently works as a commentator on the WWE Raw brand...
became the new play-by-play announcer for SmackDown, while Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
(SmackDown commentator for nine years from its launch in 1999 until 2008) moved to Raw. The WWE Champion Triple H
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...
was also drafted to SmackDown, which gave SmackDown two world championships to be featured on the brand. On June 30, 2008 on Raw, CM Punk
CM Punk
Phillip Jack "Phil" Brooks , better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and working on its Raw brand currently serving his second title reign as WWE Champion....
cashed in his Money in the Bank
Money in the Bank ladder match
The Money in the Bank ladder match is a professional wrestling ladder match held by WWE. The match can feature anywhere from six to ten participants from any WWE brand, with the objective being to retrieve a briefcase that is suspended 20 feet above the ring...
contract and defeated the World Heavyweight Champion Edge, bringing the World Heavyweight Championship back to Raw. In August 2008, Tazz returned to SmackDown as color commentator, due in part to Foley's departure from the WWE as his contract was not renewed. A couple of months later in late-2008, Tazz decided to let his contract expire. So he was replaced with the color commentator for ECW, Todd Grisham, making the SmackDown announce team consist of Grisham and Ross. Also that year, for the first time in the brands history, a women's exclusive championship was introduced, the WWE Divas Championship
WWE Divas Championship
The WWE Diva's Championship is a unified professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is competed for by WWE Divas. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced in storyline by then-SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero as an alternative to Raw's Women's Championship...
, a counterpart to the WWE Women's Championship
WWE Women's Championship
The WWE Women's Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment promotion. Created in 1956, it was the oldest active professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment history until its retirement in 2010 as a result from a unification...
which up until this time was the only active championship competed for by divas, but it was exclusive to the WWE Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
brand, meaning that the divas on SmackDown had no championship to compete for until now. Michelle McCool
Michelle McCool
Michelle Leigh McCool , is a retired American professional wrestler who is best known for her time in WWE.McCool originally worked as a middle school teacher in Palatka, Florida. She joined WWE in 2004 after participating in the 2004 WWE Diva Search. In her initial on-screen role, she acted...
became the inaugural champion by defeating Natalya on July 20, 2008 at The Great American Bash 2008
The Great American Bash (2008)
The Great American Bash was the fifth annual Great American Bash professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment...
.
MyNetworkTV
Friday Night SmackDown debuted on MyNetworkTVMyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
in the United States on October 3, 2008, featuring performers from the Raw, ECW, and SmackDown programs. WWE SmackDown also debuted with a new theme song. The premiere episode on MyNetworkTV attracted 3.2 million viewers. While the viewership dropped, SmackDown pulled the highest ratings to date for MyNetworkTV and pushed the network to fifth place, ahead of rival The CW. The premiere was also first place in male 18-49 demographics.
On February 15, at No Way Out
No Way Out (2009)
No Way Out was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on February 15, 2009 at the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington. It was the 11th and final event under the No Way Out name and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands...
, Edge won the World Heavyweight Championship
World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)
The World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the SmackDown brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the WWE Championship of the Raw brand...
in Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
's Elimination Chamber
Elimination Chamber
The Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling elimination-based match held in the WWE promotion. It features a large chain-linked circular steel structure or "chamber" which encloses the ring. The chamber's floor is platformed over the ringside area which elevates it to ring level and within...
match, thus making it a SmackDown exclusive title and giving SmackDown two top tier championships. On March 20, 2009 WWE SmackDown celebrated its 500th episode.
As a result of the 2009 WWE Draft
2009 WWE Draft
The 2009 World Wrestling Entertainment Draft was the seventh Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The Draft took place over two days: the first day was televised live for three hours on April 13; the second part, the "Supplemental Draft", was held on April 15...
in April, WWE Champion Triple H
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...
was drafted to the Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
brand, while the World Heavyweight Championship moved to the Raw brand after Edge lost the title to John Cena
John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand....
at WrestleMania XXV
WrestleMania XXV
WrestleMania XXV was the twenty-fifth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on April 5, 2009 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas...
. SmackDown would regain the World Heavyweight Championship at Backlash (2009)
Backlash (2009)
Backlash was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on April 26, 2009 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The 11th and final event under the Backlash banner, it featured talent from all three WWE brands: Raw,...
when Edge defeated John Cena to win the championship. In addition, SmackDown and Raw would exchange both women-exclusive championships with Raw gaining the WWE Divas Championship
WWE Divas Championship
The WWE Diva's Championship is a unified professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is competed for by WWE Divas. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced in storyline by then-SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero as an alternative to Raw's Women's Championship...
and SmackDown gaining the WWE Women's Championship
WWE Women's Championship
The WWE Women's Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment promotion. Created in 1956, it was the oldest active professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment history until its retirement in 2010 as a result from a unification...
. Also, SmackDown and Raw exchanged the WWE United States Championship
WWE United States Championship
The WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It was originally a National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling championship, and is currently the secondary championship of the Raw brand....
(which became exclusive to Raw) and the WWE Intercontinental Championship
WWE Intercontinental Championship
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand...
(subsequently exclusive to the SmackDown brand), for the first time since August 25, 2002.
On September 15, 2009, WWE Home Video released a DVD set entitled The Best of SmackDown 10th Anniversary.
That April, most of the WWE Raw superstars were stuck in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
due to Eyjafjallajökull
Eyjafjallajökull
Eyjafjallajökull is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, situated to the north of Skógar and to the west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano with a summit elevation of . The volcano has erupted relatively frequently since the last glacial period, most recently in...
erupting in Iceland and left ash hovering over Europe and caused flights to be grounded. To help, Smackdown took over Monday Night Raw (with the exceptions of former Smackdown superstars and current Raw superstars Triple H and Vladimir Kozlov) and fought over there. The superstars included Rey Mysterio, Edge, CM Punk, Chris Jericho and more. This was the first time Raw was noted as Monday Night Smackdown.
Syfy
On April 12, 2010, it was announced that SmackDown would move from MyNetworkTV to SyfySyfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
, a network which previously aired NXT
WWE NXT
WWE NXT is a sports entertainment television program produced by WWE that debuted on February 23, 2010. Described as a hybrid between reality television and WWE's scripted live event shows, the premise of the show follows select talent contracted to WWE's developmental territory Florida...
and ECW, in a two year deal that also includes an optional third year. Retaining its Friday night timeslot, SmackDown made its live premiere on Syfy on October 1, 2010 and there's been talk about having live editions of the show on WWE PPV weekends. According to the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, the move sees Syfy paying close to $30 million for the show as opposed to the $20 million paid by MyNetworkTV. The premiere of SmackDown on Syfy followed a special "pre-game" show hosted by Michael Cole. Since this time, Cole has joined on the SmackDown commentating team and continues to sell the "Voice of the WWE" moniker, since he now commentates for both brands. He has most recently done his commentating in a glass box dubbed the "Cole Mine", to coincide with his heel gimmick.
Due to the move to an NBC Universal Cable network, SmackDown is now advertised more frequently on Syfy's sister network, USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
, which airs Raw. Same-week encores of SmackDown were also added to Universal HD's
Universal HD
Universal HD is an HDTV cable television network owned by NBCUniversal. The channel was known as Bravo HD+ until December 1, 2004. The network exclusively broadcasts in high definition 1080i...
, and mun2
Mun2
mun2 is a national cable television broadcast network in the United States owned by NBC Universal and aimed at young Latinos. It is the sister network of Telemundo and was mostly digital television subchannels launched in 2001. The programming of mun2 is primarily music videos and shows designed...
's Saturday night schedule as a result of the move in the spot previously held by NXT and ECW. On February 4, 2011, Booker T made a return on SmackDown as a commentator replacing Matt Striker.
On October 11, 2011, following the taping of the October 14th episode, Shawn Michaels and Triple H surprised Dallas for a DX Reunion at the taping.
October 14, 2011's broadcast of Friday Night Smackdown, Episode 635 marked Smackdown as the official second longest-running weekly episodic television series of American television history behind Monday Night Raw who surpassed the 635th episode mark on the August 2, 2005 broadcast of Raw. The record was surpassed during their run on UPN (1999–2006), The CW (2006–08), MyNetworkTV (2008–10) and Syfy (2010–present)
Induction into Merriam-Webster
On July 10, 2007, Merriam-WebsterMerriam-Webster
Merriam–Webster, which was originally the G. & C. Merriam Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, is an American company that publishes reference books, especially dictionaries that are descendants of Noah Webster’s An American Dictionary of the English Language .Merriam-Webster Inc. has been a...
announced it would induct the word smackdown into Webster's Dictionary
Webster's Dictionary
Webster's Dictionary refers to the line of dictionaries first developed by Noah Webster in the early 19th century, and also to numerous unrelated dictionaries that added Webster's name just to share his prestige. The term is a genericized trademark in the U.S.A...
. According to Merriam Webster, a "Smackdown" is:
- The act of knocking down or bringing down an opponent
- A contest in entertainment wrestling
- A decisive defeat
- A confrontation between rivals or competitors
Production
WWE usually tapes SmackDown on Tuesday evenings and airs it on Friday evenings on Syfy the same week. Occasionally taping takes place on Monday nights before or after RawWWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
in what is called a "Supershow".
SmackDown opens
Music in professional wrestling
Music in professional wrestling serves a variety of purposes. The most common uses of music in professional wrestling is that of the entrance theme, a song or piece of instrumental music which plays as a performer approaches the ring...
with "Know Your Enemy
Know Your Enemy (Green Day song)
-Charts:-Year-end charts:-Personnel:* Billie Joe Armstrong - guitar, lead vocals* Mike Dirnt - bass guitar, backing vocals* Tre Cool - drums, percussion...
" by Green Day
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
. Upon SmackDown's debut on Syfy it replaced the previous theme song "Let it Roll" by Divide the Day.
The show began broadcasting in HD
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
beginning with the January 25, 2008 edition of SmackDown, where a new set debuted — shared between both WWE brands. Following the first broadcast in HD, the iconic exclamation mark
Exclamation mark
The exclamation mark, exclamation point, or bang, or "dembanger" is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or high volume , and often marks the end of a sentence. Example: “Watch out!” The character is encoded in Unicode at...
used since the show's inception disappeared from all references pertaining to "SmackDown", including the official logo, which is a variation of the 2001-08 logo with a darker blue scheme.
Since the move to Syfy, Smackdown has aired live specials on Tuesday Nights, when the show is usually taped.
In December 2010, Smackdown has aired on the USA Network, which carries Raw on Tuesday as a part of "WWE Week" which also included Tribute to the Troops.
On the October 7th broadcast of Smackdown (taped October 3), Smackdown marked their one-year anniversary on Syfy. The celebration was belated due to Smackdown debuting October 1, 2010.
The October 14, 2011 broadcast of Friday Night Smackdown, Episode 635 marked Smackdown as the official second longest-running weekly episodic television series of American television history behind Monday Night Raw who surpassed the 635th episode mark on the August 2, 2005 broadcast of Raw. The record was surpassed during their run on UPN (1999–2006), The CW (2006–08), My NetworkTV (2008–10) and Syfy (2010–present)
Due to recent rating successes during live episodes of Smackdown, WWE are in talks with Syfy to do doing more live Tuesday SmackDown specials in early 2012 to build WrestleMania 28 and WWE officials are considering the idea of moving SmackDown to Tuesdays permanently.
Special episodes
| Episode | Date | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| SmackDown! (Special) | April 29, 1999 | 5.8 | |
| SmackDown! (Pilot) | August 26, 1999 | 4.2 | |
| SmackDown! Extreme | February 1, 2001 | 4.0 | |
| 9/11 Tribute | September 13, 2001 | 3.6 | |
| Christmas from Baghdad | December 25, 2003 | 3.0 | |
| SmackDown! 5th Anniversary Special | September 23, 2004 | 3.2 | |
| Christmas in Iraq | December 23, 2004 | 2.9 | |
| SmackDown! Night of Champions | December 30, 2004 | 2.9 | |
| Eddie Guerrero Tribute Show | November 18, 2005 | 3.1 | |
| Best of SmackDown! 2005 | December 23, 2005 | 2.2 | |
| Best of SmackDown! 2006 | December 29, 2006 | 2.4 | |
| SmackDown! 400th episode | April 20, 2007 | 2.2 | |
| WWE Best of 2007 | December 28, 2007 | 2.5 | |
| SmackDown All-Star Kick-Off | October 3, 2008 | 1.9 | |
| SmackDown 500th episode | March 20, 2009 | 2.1 | |
| Decade of SmackDown | October 2, 2009 | 2.2 | |
| Monday Night SmackDown WWE RAW WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States... |
April 19, 2010 | 3.1 | |
| SmackDown Live Live television Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957... Syfy Syfy Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a... Premiere |
October 1, 2010 | 1.7 | |
| Christmas on USA USA Network USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various... |
December 21, 2010 | 2.5 | |
| SmackDown 600th episode | February 18, 2011 | 2.2 | |
| SuperSmackDown Live | August 30, 2011 | 2.2 | |
| Edge Appreciation Night | September 16, 2011 | 1.8 | |
| Smackdown Milestone | October 14, 2011 | 2.2 | |
| SmackDown Live Holiday Special | November 29, 2011 |
Seasonal rankings (based on average total estimated viewers per episode) of SmackDown! on UPN, The CW and MyNetworkTV
| Season | Timeslot | Network | Years | Viewers (in millions) |
| 1st | Thursday 8/7C | UPN UPN United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's... |
1999–2000 | 7.2 |
| 2nd | Thursday 8/7C | UPN | 2000–2001 | 7.1 |
| 3rd | Thursday 8/7C | UPN | 2001–2002 | 6.5 |
| 4th | Thursday 8/7C | UPN | 2002–2003 | 11.4 |
| 5th | Thursday 8/7C | UPN | 2003–2004 | 14.1 |
| 6th | Thursday 8/7C | UPN | 2004–2005 | 16.1 |
| 7th | Friday 8/7C | UPN | 2005–2006 | 17.3 |
| 8th | Friday 8/7C | CW The CW Television Network The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB... |
2006–2007 | 22.5 |
| 9th | Friday 8/7C | CW | 2007–2008 | 14.6 |
| 10th | Friday 8/7C | MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation... |
2008–2009 | 17.8 |
| 11th | Friday 8/7C | MyNetworkTV | 2009–2010 | 20.2 |
| 12th | Friday 8/7C | Syfy Syfy Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a... |
2010–present | 24.4 |
Champions
| Championship | Current champion | Date won | Date aired | Event | Previous champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Heavyweight Championship World Heavyweight Championship (WWE) The World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the SmackDown brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the WWE Championship of the Raw brand... |
Mark Henry Mark Henry Mark Jerrold Henry is an American professional wrestler signed with WWE, where he performs on its SmackDown brand as the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. He is a 1992 Olympian, and winner of the 2002 Arnold Strongman Classic... |
September 18, 2011 | September 18, 2011 | Night of Champions Night of Champions (2011) Night of Champions was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE that took place on September 18, 2011 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. It was the 4th annual WWE Night of Champions event and the 11th in the WWE Vengeance overall timeline. Seven matches took... |
Randy Orton Randy Orton Randal Keith "Randy" Orton is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE wrestling on its SmackDown brand... |
| WWE Intercontinental Championship WWE Intercontinental Championship The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand... |
Cody Rhodes | August 9, 2011 | August 12, 2011 | SmackDown | Ezekiel Jackson |
- Note - The WWE Tag Team ChampionshipWWE Tag Team ChampionshipThe WWE Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship in WWE. It was established as a second title for tag teams in WWE in 2002 to complement the original World Tag Team Championship...
can be defended on both Raw and Smackdown. Currently the titles are held by Raw tag team Air BoomAir BoomAir Boom is a WWE professional wrestling tag team consisting of Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston, both of whom compete on WWE's Raw brand where they are the current reigning WWE Tag Team Champions. Their team name "Air Boom" was voted upon by fans on WWE's website...
(Evan Bourne and Kofi KingstonKofi KingstonKofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah , is a Ghanaian American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Kofi Kingston. He is currently signed to WWE and works on its Raw brand where he is one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions with Evan Bourne as Air Boom...
).
- Note - The WWE Divas ChampionshipWWE Divas ChampionshipThe WWE Diva's Championship is a unified professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is competed for by WWE Divas. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced in storyline by then-SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero as an alternative to Raw's Women's Championship...
can be defended on both Raw and SmackDown. Currently the title is held by Raw Diva Beth PhoenixBeth PhoenixElizabeth Kocianski is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE where she wrestles on the Raw brand under the ring name Beth Phoenix, where she is the reigning WWE Divas Champion....
.
Authority figures
| Authority | Position | Date started | Date finished | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vince McMahon Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE... |
Owner, Chairman and CEO of WWE | November 6, 2001 | Present | |
| Stephanie McMahon | General Manager | July 16, 2002 | October 19, 2003 | |
| Paul Heyman Paul Heyman Paul Heyman is an American entertainment producer, best known for his career in professional wrestling as a promoter, manager, commentator and journalist. He is also an occasional actor in film.... |
General Manager | October 21, 2003 | March 22, 2004 | |
| Kurt Angle Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion... |
General Manager | March 23, 2004 | July 20, 2004 | |
| Theodore Long Theodore Long Theodore R. "Teddy" Long is an American professional wrestling manager and former referee who currently works for WWE on its SmackDown brand as its General Manager.-National Wrestling Alliance / World Championship Wrestling:... |
General Manager | July 27, 2004 | September 18, 2007 | |
| Vickie Guerrero Vickie Guerrero Vickie Lynn Guerrero is an American professional wrestling personality, manager, shifting authority figure and occasional wrestler. She is the widow of professional wrestler Eddie Guerrero, currently signed to WWE on its Raw brand... |
General Manager | September 25, 2007 | April 6, 2009 | |
| Theodore Long | General Manager | April 7, 2009 | Present | |
| Vickie Guerrero | Consultant | November 17, 2009 | February 25, 2011 | |
| Triple H Triple H Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley... |
Chief Operating Officer | July 18, 2011 | Present | |
| Zack Ryder Zack Ryder Matthew Joseph Cardona, Jr. better known by his ring name Zack Ryder, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE and works on the Raw brand as a wrestler and the SmackDown brand as an assistant to SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long.Cardona wrestled mostly with his tag... |
Assistant to the General Manager | July 29, 2011 | Present |
Commentators
| Commentators | Dates |
|---|---|
| Michael Cole Michael Cole Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist.... and Jim Cornette Jim Cornette James Mark "Jim" Cornette is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, and booker. As a manager, he has worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling... |
April 29, 1999 (Pilot) |
| Jim Ross Jim Ross James William "Jim" Ross is a professional wrestling commentator, former professional wrestling referee, restaurateur, occasional wrestler, and former company executive of WWE, where he currently works as a commentator on the WWE Raw brand... and Jerry Lawler Jerry Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional... |
August 26, 1999 (Network Premiere) |
| Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler | September 2, 1999 - February 22, 2001 November 22, 2001 - March 28, 2002 October 23, 2009 |
| Michael Cole and Tazz Tazz Peter Senerchia is a retired American professional wrestler and current color commentator best known by his ring name Tazz, originally Tazmaniac and later shortened to simply Taz... |
February 22, 2001 - June 28, 2001 August 2, 2001 - October 18, 2001 April 4, 2002 - June 9, 2006 |
| Michael Cole and Jim Ross | July 5, 2001 - August 2, 2001 |
| Michael Cole and Paul Heyman Paul Heyman Paul Heyman is an American entertainment producer, best known for his career in professional wrestling as a promoter, manager, commentator and journalist. He is also an occasional actor in film.... |
October 25, 2001 - November 15, 2001 |
| Michael Cole and Ernest Miller Ernest Miller Ernest Clifford Miller is an American actor and former professional wrestler who worked for World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment better known by his ring name, Ernest "The Cat" Miller.... |
November 28, 2002 |
| Michael Cole and John "Bradshaw" Layfield John Layfield John Charles Layfield is a former American professional wrestler, a former commentator/host for mixed martial arts promotion Vyper Fight League and financial analyst for Fox News... |
June 16, 2006 - December 21, 2007 |
| Michael Cole and Jonathan Coachman Jonathan Coachman Jonathan William Coachman , also known as "The Coach", is a former professional wrestling color commentator and authority figure. He is also a former college basketball player, and football play-by-play announcer... |
January 4, 2008 - April 25, 2008 |
| Michael Cole and Mick Foley Mick Foley Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he... |
May 2, 2008 - June 16, 2008 |
| Jim Ross and Mick Foley | June 23, 2008 - August 1, 2008 |
| Jim Ross and Tazz | August 8, 2008 - April 3, 2009 |
| Jim Ross and Todd Grisham Todd Grisham Todd Grisham is an American presenter/announcer who is best known for his time in the WWE as a backstage interviewer, play-by-play commentator and occasional ring announcer... |
April 10, 2009 - October 9, 2009 |
| Todd Grisham and Michael Cole | October 16, 2009 |
| Todd Grisham and Matt Striker | October 30, 2009 – September 24, 2010 |
| Todd Grisham, Michael Cole and Matt Striker | October 1, 2010 – December 3, 2010 |
| Josh Mathews, Michael Cole and Matt Striker | December 10, 2010 - January 28, 2011 |
| Josh Mathews, Michael Cole and Booker T | February 4, 2011 – November 26, 2011 |
| Josh Mathews and Michael Cole | November 29, 2011- present |
Ring announcers
| Ring Announcer | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tony Chimel Tony Chimel Anthony "Tony" Chimel is an American professional wrestling ring announcer, currently employed by WWE working as the ring announcer for SmackDown brand.-WWE :... * |
April 1999 - August 2007 October 2009 – Present |
|
| Justin Roberts Justin Roberts Justin Jason Roberts is an American professional wrestling ring announcer, currently working for WWE appearing on its Raw brand.-Career:... |
September 2007 - October 2009 | |
| Eden Stiles | July 15, 2011, November 11, 2011 | |
(*)If Chimel was absent from the NXT/Smackdown tapings, he will be substituted as ring announcer by RAW's Justin Roberts or WWE Superstars' Eden Stiles, who would serve as NXT and Smackdown's ring announcer for that week's episode.
Recurring segments
| Segment | Host | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piper's Pit Piper's Pit Piper's Pit was an interview segment featuring Roddy Piper which was a mainstay of WWF/WWE television from 1984 to 1987, and then returned briefly in 1989. Also, Piper hosted similar segments while wrestling for other promotions in 2003 - 2011.... |
Roddy Piper Roddy Piper Roderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE... |
2003 2005 - 2006 2010 |
|
| $1,000,000 Tough Enough | Al Snow Al Snow Allen Ray Sarven is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name of Al Snow. He is best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment and currently works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a road agent.-Early career:Sarven... |
2004 | |
| Kurt Angle Invitational | Kurt Angle Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion... |
2004–2005 | |
| Cafe de René | René Duprée René Goguen René Goguen better known by his ring name René Duprée, is a French Canadian professional wrestler. Goguen is best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment, where he is a one-time World Tag Team Champion with Sylvain Grenier as the tag team La Résistance and a one time WWE Tag Team... |
2004 | |
| Carlito's Cabana | Carlito Carly Colon Carlos Edwin "Carly" Colón, Jr. is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler better known internationally by his ring name Carlito. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Entertainment , but was released from his contract on May 21, 2010. In his native Puerto Rico, he is known as both... |
2005 2008 - 2009 |
|
| Peep Show | Christian | 2005 2010–2011 |
|
| WWE Diva Search WWE Diva Search The WWE Diva Search is a talent competition held by World Wrestling Entertainment. The first winner was Jaime Koeppe, but she did not receive a contract like subsequent winners of the contest. Other winners included Christy Hemme, Ashley Massaro, Layla El, and Eve Torres. In addition to the winners... |
The Miz | 2006 | |
| Miz TV | The Miz | 2007 | |
| Masterlock Challenge | Chris Masters Chris Masters Christopher Todd Mordetzky is an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name Chris Masters. He is best known for his tenure with WWE.-Early career:... |
2007 2010–2011 |
|
| The Cutting Edge | Edge | 2007–2010 2011 |
|
| V.I.P. Lounge | Montel Vontavious Porter | 2007–2009 2010 |
|
| Khali Kiss Cam | The Great Khali and Ranjin Singh | 2011 | |
| Highlight Reel | Chris Jericho Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine , better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an inactive Canadian-American professional wrestler, musician, songwriter, radio personality, television host, actor, author, and dancer... |
2010 | |
| Grooming Tips | "Dashing" Cody Rhodes |
2010–2011 | |
| Str8 Outta Brooklyn With JTG | JTG | 2010–2011 |
International broadcasters
In addition to broadcasts on SyfySyfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
, Universal HD
Universal HD
Universal HD is an HDTV cable television network owned by NBCUniversal. The channel was known as Bravo HD+ until December 1, 2004. The network exclusively broadcasts in high definition 1080i...
, mun2
Mun2
mun2 is a national cable television broadcast network in the United States owned by NBC Universal and aimed at young Latinos. It is the sister network of Telemundo and was mostly digital television subchannels launched in 2001. The programming of mun2 is primarily music videos and shows designed...
, and AFN Xtra
American Forces Network
The American Forces Network is the brand name used by the United States Armed Forces American Forces Radio and Television Service for its entertainment and command internal information networks worldwide...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
,
| Country | Network | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| Arab World Arab world The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the... |
OSNSports | |
| Argentina Argentina Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires... |
(none) | |
| Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
Fox8 FOX8 Fox8 is an Australian cable and satellite channel available on Foxtel, Austar and Optus Television's subscription platforms... |
|
| Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... |
AB3 AB3 AB3 is a private commercial television channel of the French Community of Belgium.-History:The company YTV, jointly owned by AB Groupe, TF1 Group and WB holding, in 1995 filed an application for a broadcasting licence in the French Community of Belgium with Laurette Onkelinx, Minister-President of... |
|
| Bolivia Bolivia Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America... |
Red PAT | |
| Bulgaria Bulgaria Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east... |
BTV Comedy BTV Comedy bTV Comedy is a Bulgarian family-based television channel,airing mostly comedy series. It is part of bTV Media Group, owned by Central European Media Enterprises... |
|
| Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia... |
CTN Cambodian Television Network Cambodian Television Network was launched in March 2003 as a joint venture between local conglomerate the The Royal Group and Stockholm-based Modern Times Group, this free-to-air terrestrial television channel Cambodian Television Network is now part of Mobitel... |
|
| Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
The Score Network, CJNT CJNT-TV CJNT-DT is a Canadian multicultural television station in Montreal, Quebec. The station is owned and operated by Channel Zero and uses the on-air brand Metro 14.-History:... |
|
| Chile Chile Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far... |
(none) | |
| Costa Rica Costa Rica Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east.... |
Repretel: Canal 11 | |
| Dominican Republic Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries... |
Antena Latina 7 | |
| Ecuador Ecuador Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border... |
Teleamazonas Teleamazonas Teleamazonas is a television channel in Ecuador. Since the start of their transmissions, on February 22 of 1974, the channel is one of the major television networks of Ecuador.It broadcasts on channel 4 to Quito and channel 5 to Guayaquil... |
|
| El Salvador El Salvador El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America... |
VTV | |
| Fiji Fiji Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island... |
Sky Pacific Sky Pacific Sky Pacific is a Fijian pay tv owned by Fiji Television which is a direct-to-home satellite delivered service which carries 16 pay channels to subscribers in Fiji and across the Pacific.-Channels available:... and Sky Fiji Sky Fiji SKY Fiji is Fijian pay-tv package which carries 3 pay channels Sky Plus, Sky Entertainment and Sky Sports plus one free-to-view channel, Fiji One. It operates on an analogue platform and its encrypted signals are delivered from one transmitter site to another... |
|
| Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside... |
MTV3 MAX MTV3 MAX MTV3 MAX is a Finnish pay television channel owned and operated by MTV3. The channel started broadcasting in November 2006 and was originally dedicated to F1 coverage.- MTV3+ :... |
|
| France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
NT1 NT1 (television) NT1 is a French television network. It is available through digital terrestrial television in France. It is a subsidiary of TF1 Group.... |
|
| Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... , Austria Austria Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the... , Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... , Luxembourg Luxembourg Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south... and Liechtenstein Liechtenstein The Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over , and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan... |
Sky Sport Sky Sport (Germany) Sky Sport is a German set of sports channels.Events broadcast on the channels include UEFA Champions League, DFB-Pokal , UEFA Cup, Premier League, Formula One, DEL, golf and professional wrestling like WWE and TNA... , SPORT1 Sport1 Sport1 is a Dutch premium television service owned by Chellomedia, the European content division of Liberty Global. Sport1 launched together with its sister service Film1 on February 1, 2006 and replaced the Canal+ Netherlands channels. At launch the service consisted of two main channels, six... |
|
| Guatemala Guatemala Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast... |
Canal 3 | |
| Honduras Honduras Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize... |
Canal 5 | |
| India India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... , Bangladesh Bangladesh Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south... Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan... and South Asia South Asia South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east... |
TEN Sports TEN Sports TEN SPORTS is a sports channel, widely broadcast in Asia. Its key programming includes Cricket, Football and sports-entertainment shows viz. WWE. Ten Sports was launched on April 1, 2002, and became the world's premier sports channel for South Asians, reaching over 55 million homes across the Arab... |
|
| Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... |
Sky Italia Sky Italia Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian digital satellite television platform owned by News Corporation launched on 1 August 2003, when the former platforms TELE+ and Stream TV merged together... >Cielo Cielo Cielo may refer to:* César Cielo, a Brazilian freestyle swimmer* Cielo , a distributor and manufacturer of frozen yogurt* Cielo , a supercomputer located at Los Alamos National Laboratory... |
|
| Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
J Sports Plus | |
| Kenya Kenya Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east... |
KBC Kenya Broadcasting Corporation Kenya Broadcasting Corporation is the state-run media organization of Kenya. It broadcasts in both English and Swahili, as well as in most local languages of Kenya. The corporation started its life in 1928 when Kenya was a British colony. In 1964, when Kenya became an independent country, the... |
|
| Malaysia | TV3 TV3 (Malaysia) Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Berhad or TV3 began broadcasting on 1 June 1984 as Malaysia’s first commercial television station. It is part of Media Prima Berhad group of companies. It now transmits opened broadcasting business private 24-hours a day, 7 days a week since 1 January 2010... |
|
| Malta Malta Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in... |
Melita Sports 1 | |
| Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... |
Azteca 7 XHIMT-TV XHIMT is the callsign for the over the air Azteca 7 network flagship station in Mexico City . XHIMT provides some HD programming to cable and satellite viewers.-History:... |
|
| New Zealand New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... |
The BOX | |
| Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean... |
Canal 10 (Nicaragua) Canal 10 (Nicaragua) Canal 10 is a nationwide terrestrial television channel from Nicaragua owned by Radio y Televisión de Nicaragua, S.A. , a company founded by Mexican investors.... |
|
| Panama Panama Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The... |
RPC(Canal 4) | |
| Paraguay Paraguay Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the... |
Canal 5 | |
| Peru Peru Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.... |
ATV ATV (Peruvian Network) ATV or Andina de Radiodifusión y Television shortly known as ATV, is a Peruvian television network founded in 1969, after unsuccessful attempt on early 1970s and after the political turmoil in Peru the station was closed... |
Entertainment |
| Philippines Philippines The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam... |
Jack TV Jack TV Jack TV is a Philippine cable TV network owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation, test launched on May 2005, officially debuting on July 12, 2005. It offers Western comedy, animation, sports entertainment, drama series and reality shows, such as Cartoon Network, USA Network, The CW, MyNetworkTV,... |
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| Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... |
Extreme Sports Channel Extreme Sports Channel The Extreme Sports Channel is a Netherlands-based extreme sports television channel available across Europe and the Middle East. Al Gosling had the idea for the channel in 1998.-History:... |
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| Portugal Portugal Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the... |
SIC Radical SIC Radical SIC Radical is a cable television channel in Portugal owned by Sociedade Independente de Comunicação.SIC Radical is an entertainment channel targeted at teens and young adults. Programs are mostly imported, mainly from the United States and the United Kingdom... |
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| Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an... |
WAPA WAPA-TV WAPA-TV is an independent television station located in San Juan, Puerto Rico transmitting over digital channel 27, virtual channel 4. The station is owned by InterMedia Partners and is branded as WAPA Television.... |
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| Romania Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea... |
Sport.ro Sport.ro Sport.ro is a private channel in Romania, launched on July 27, 2003 and dedicated entirely to sports. Sport.ro reaches nearly 64% of the population of 21.5 million inhabitants of Romania and its broadcast schedule contains domestic and international sporting events... |
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| Samoa Samoa Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in... |
SBC Samoa Broadcasting Corporation The Samoa Broadcasting Corporation is a public broadcaster in the South Pacific island country of Samoa. Its operations are based in Mulinu'u, Apia. SBC was created by an act of Parliament in 2003, replacing the old Western Samoa Broadcasting Department... |
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| Serbia Serbia Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans... |
FOX Televizija | |
| Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the... |
SuperSports | |
| South Africa South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans... |
e.tv E.tv e.tv is the fifth terrestrial television channel in South Africa, following three channels operated by the state-owned South African Broadcasting Corporation and the privately owned subscription-funded M-Net, operated by Multichoice... |
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| South Korea South Korea The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south... |
FX Korea | |
| Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... |
Marca TV MARCA TV MARCA TV is a Spanish sports television channel owned by Unidad Editorial. The channel is a joint venture between Mediapro, responsible for producing the channel's content, and Veo Televisión, licensee of the multiplex.-History:... |
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| Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... |
Eurosport Eurosport Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events... >TV10 TV10 TV10 was the first Dutch commercial TV channel to be aired in the Netherlands from October 1989. The TV Station was a cooperation between Peter Jelgersma and Joop van den Ende. The Dutch government was, at the time, against commercial television and prohibited it from broadcasting.... |
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| Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following... |
Videoland Max-TV | |
| Thailand Thailand Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the... |
TrueVisions TrueVisions TrueVisions is Thailand's leading cable satellite television operator, broadcasting largely in English. Now owned by the True Corporation, the company was formerly known as the United Broadcasting Corporation , but it was rebranded in February 2007.... |
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| Turkey Turkey Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe... |
Fox Turkey | |
| Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia... |
QTV | |
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... and Ireland Republic of Ireland Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,... |
Sky Sports 3 Sky Sports Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland... and Sky Sports HD3 |
Sky 1 only Saturday
See also
- WWE roster (SmackDown brand)
- WWE RawWWE RAWWWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
- WWE NXTWWE NXTWWE NXT is a sports entertainment television program produced by WWE that debuted on February 23, 2010. Described as a hybrid between reality television and WWE's scripted live event shows, the premise of the show follows select talent contracted to WWE's developmental territory Florida...
- WWE SuperstarsWWE SuperstarsWWE Superstars is a professional wrestling television program produced by World Wrestling Entertainment that originally aired on WGN America in the United States. It debuted on April 16, 2009 and ended its domestic broadcasting on April 7, 2011...