WWE

WWE SmackDown (also advertised as WWE Friday Night SmackDown) is aprofessional wrestling television program for WWE which was previously referred to the brand of the same name until its discontinuation in 2011 in which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform on that program. As of 2010, it airs weekly on Syfy in theUnited States.

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 moved to MyNetworkTV in October 2008.^[3][4]SmackDown moved to Syfy on October 1, 2010.^[5][6]

Since its first episode, WWE SmackDown has been broadcast from 162 different arenas, in 147 cities and towns, in seven different nations (the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Iraq in 2006 and 2007 for specials Tribute to the Troops, Japan in 2005, Italy in 2007, and Mexico in 2011).

Due to time differences, SmackDown premieres a few hours earlier in Ireland and the UK and a day earlier in Australia, Singapore, and Philippines than the United States. For international broadcast listings, see below. WWE SmackDown also airs on a three week tape delay in South Africa on private broadcaster e.tv, on Wednesdays at 8.30pm.

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".^[7] 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 incident, the new set consisted of a fist centered above the entrance, and many glass panes along the sides strongly resembling shattered glass

[edit]Brand Extension (2002–2005)

Main article: WWE Brand Extension

In spring 2002, WWE underwent a process which it called the "Brand Extension".^[8] WWE divided itself into two de-facto wrestling promotions with separate rosters, storylines andauthority figures.^[8] Raw and SmackDown! would host each division, give its name to the division and essentially compete against each other. The split result from WWE purchasing its 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 became 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.^[8] 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!^[8] 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.