The Importance of…6.26.09: WWE Smackdown

Posted by Mike Chin on 06.26.2009

The blue brand has been anything but B-level for much of its history, standing out as one of wrestling's most important shows.



WWE SMACKDOWN
In 1999, the WWF was so red-hot that could justify launching a second major weekly show. Smackdown—an original Thursday night program, was an immediate success, and an imposing enough force that it pushed WCW's secondary show, Thunder, off to Wednesday nights, to avoid the competition. In so doing, Smackdown represented WWF's success, and has continued as one of the most important shows in wrestling.

One unique element of Smackdown is that the very name of the show was organic to the wrestling product. Titles like Raw, Superstars, Wrestling Challenge, Nitro and Thunder were all relatively generic, and designed to sound as though they would appeal to wrestling fans, by symbolizing high energy, or just the sheer fact that it was a wrestling product. In the case of Smackdown, though, WWF directly derived the name from one of its most popular stars' catchphrases—abbreviating The Rock's frequent vows to "Lay the smack down." This would be akin to calling a wrestling show "Running Wild" in honor of Hulk Hogan, "Oooh Yeah" for Randy Savage or "To Be The Man" for Ric Flair. It's debatable how successful any of these other titles may have been, but in the case of Smackdown, the WWF encapsulated one of its most interesting and memorable stars, and immortalized that period of time in a fine title for a wrestling program.



THE B SHOW
Despite the many successes of Smackdown, it has still long held the stigma of being the "B-show" relative to Raw. Indeed, there is a case to be made for this argument. Whereas Raw is almost always live, Smackdown rarely airs in real time. Furthermore, since the brand extension, the bulk of WWE's biggest names have appeared on Raw, while Smackdown has more often been the site for developing and fading talents—a rift that many of the draft lotteries have only reinforced and deepened.

While the perception has long existed that Smackdown is inferior, the actual product has often made a case to the contrary. At no time was this more clear than in heyday of the Smackdown Six—Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Edge, Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero. Whether it was in different permutations of tag teams, or in singles matches, these mat technicians put on some of the best pure wrestling matches ever featured in a major American wrestling promotion.



HEYMAN AND HAYES
In addition to in-ring talents, Smackdown has also benefited from the brilliance of off-beat bookers—most notably Paul Heyman and Michael Hayes. Each of these personalities has run afoul of Vince McMahon on more than one occasion, and certainly didn't represent the WWE establishment. Both men have pushed unconventional agendas that went along way toward providing genuinely interesting television, and letting the wrestlers do what they do best—settle their issues in the ring. In Heyman's case, much of what went right on Smackdown was reflective of Heyman's success in ECW, with an unbridled respect for the tag division, and unique feuds spinning out of that model. For Hayes, so much success has come from staying true to Hayes's southern roots, with simple feuds based around what happened in the ring, that grew more intense, and did not forget their own histories.

What's more, Smackdown has been the site of countless memorable moments. In 2001, just two days after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, it was an episode of Smackdown that broke the ice and broke the silence, as the first major sporting event to occur after the attacks—a demonstration of poise and commitment, and a statement that life would, in many ways, go on after tragedy. Beyond that, Smackdown was the site of one of modern wrestling's most memorable spectacles when Brock Lesnar superplexed the Big Show, causing a rigged ring to collapse on itself. Smackdown was also the site of Vince McMahon's infamous world title victory, as the Chairman shocked the world by pinning Triple H for the gold in 1999. Other notable moments included the evolution of John Cena into his hip hop gimmick and Rhyno goring Chris Jericho through the original set for the show.

One of the most notable achievements of Smackdown as a stand alone product has been its ability to adapt to change. Few, if any, wrestling promotions have ever had to deal with quite the volume of injuries and unexpected occurrences as Smackdown since the brand extension. The death of Eddie Guerrero, of course, has an enormous impact on his colleagues and fans. What's more, Guerrero was a central figure at the top of the Smackdown card at that time, forcing major adjustments in the storylines. Less serious, but comparably as difficult to adjust to, the Smackdown world and WWE title scenes have seen an absurd number of twists and turns. Top dog Batista went down to injury, forcing a battle royal and the return of Kurt Angle to the blue brand in 2005. Years later, an injury to Edge made it necessary for the title to be vacated again, leading to an impromptu world title run for The Great Khali. Next to fall to injury was The Undertaker. WWE had a ready-made story to deal with such situations, with the Money in the Bank title shot. However, Taker's injury happened to coincide with MitB-holder Mr. Kennedy's own injury, which led to a complicated series of events in which Edge won the MitB briefcase, and promptly jumped brands to cash in. In the long run, Smackdown was never really the worse for these unexpected turns—a testament WWE and its talents' abilities to adjust.

CHANGE
Speaking of adjustments, a year ago, Smackdown underwent some of its biggest shifts of all. Just prior to moving to MyNetworkTV, a draft lottery yielded some of the biggest changes Smackdown had ever seen. Out was signature star Batista. In was Raw staple Triple H and his prime rival/little buddy Jeff Hardy. Out was grating mic work of Michael Cole, and in was the voice of the establishment in Jim Ross. These moves went a long way toward lessening the perception of a Raw-Smackdown divide, and elevating the show's profile. Since that time, Smackdown has, in many ways, been the most exciting WWE brand, featuring the ascent of Hardy to the main event, Triple H's work with a new set of opponents, and Edge's return to the spotlight. Since the most recent draft, Smackdown has grown all the more distinct and, arguably all the more strong. While the Triple Hs, Cenas, Batistas, Big Shows, and other larger than life, less than technically savvy stars now dominate Raw, the purest talents—CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Jeff Hardy and company have inherited their own show to really show what they've got.

CONCLUSION
Over the last decade, Smackdown has undergone profound changes. What has remained the same is the show's ability to survive adversity and succeed under unexpected circumstances—consistently delivering a better in-ring product than any other nationally televised wrestling show. For all of this, Smackdown stands out as one of the most important television shows in wrestling.

That's all for this column. Next week, we take a look at the importance of Saturday Night's Main Event. See you in seven.