WWE SmackDown is a professional wrestling television program for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The show's name is also used to refer to the SmackDown brand, in which WWE employees were assigned to work and perform on that program during the brand extension period of 2002 to 2011; the other program and brand was Raw.
From its launch in 1999, SmackDown broadcast on Thursday nights, but as of September 9, 2005, the show moved to Friday nights. The show originally debuted in the United States on the UPN television network on August 26, 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 (additional information can be seen further down this page). Since January 15, 2015, episodes are airing on Thursdays for the first time in 9 years. Since January 7, 2016, SmackDown moved to USA Network, with its final Thursday night broadcast being on July 14, 2016. On July 19, 2016, SmackDown moved to Tuesday nights and aired live on USA Network. It is the second longest running weekly episodic television show in US history behind Monday Night Raw.
Due to time differences, SmackDown premieres a few hours earlier in Ireland and United Kingdom and a day earlier in Australia, India and Philippines than the United States. For international broadcast listings, see below.
Current champions
| Championship | Champion(s) | Defeated | Date Won | Event | Days Held | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
WWE Championship | Cody Rhodes | Roman Reigns | April 7, 2024 | WrestleMania XL | 242+ |
 |
WWE Universal Championship | Cody Rhodes | Roman Reigns | April 7, 2024 | WrestleMania XL | 242+ |
 |
WWE United States Championship | Shinsuke Nakamura | LA Knight | November 30, 2024 | Survivor Series | 5+ |
 |
WWE Women's Championship | Nia Jax | Bayley | August 3, 2024 | SummerSlam | 124+ |
 |
WWE Tag Team Championship | The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) | The Bloodline (Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa) | October 25, 2024 | SmackDown | 41+ |
History
WWF SmackDown! (as it was originally known) was set up to compete against WCW's Thursday night show, Thunder. In the spirit of the WWF's Attitude Era, the show was originally planned to be two hours of WWF Divas in primetime TV. However, this did not work out, and instead SmackDown! became a complementary show to RAW is WAR.
SmackDown! first appeared on April 29, 1999 using the RAW is WAR set as a single television special on UPN. On August 26, 1999, SmackDown! officially debuted on UPN. Like WCW Thunder, SmackDown! was recorded on Tuesdays and then broadcast on Thursdays. The new WWF show was so popular that WCW moved Thunder to Wednesdays in the hope of holding on to fans rather than losing them to the WWF. SmackDown!, like Thunder , made heavy use of the color blue, earning it the nickname "The Blue Show" amongst wrestling fans.
The original SmackDown! theme was not performed by a band like the RAW is WAR theme; instead, the WWF created a fast-paced theme that was a mixture of techno and rock. The first SmackDown! set was also unique as it featured an oval-shaped TitanTron (which was dubbed the "OvalTron"), entrance and stage which made it stand out from the RAW set and its rectangular TitanTrons. An added feature to the original set was the ability for the OvalTron to be moved to either the left or right of the stage. Throughout the show's early existence, top WWF superstar The Rock routinely called SmackDown! "his" show, in reference to the fact that the name was derived from one of his catchphrases, "Laying the smack down." In August 2001, as part of celebrating SmackDown!'s 2nd anniversary, the show received a new logo and set. The last SmackDown! to use the previous television set saw Alliance member Rhyno deliver the Gore to WWF member Chris Jericho through the OvalTron destroying part of the set, and this was the storyline reason for the change.
The September 11, 2001 taping event was cancelled due to the terrorist attacks. On September 13, 2001, SmackDown! was broadcast live from Houston (with Jim Ross and Paul Heyman filling in as hosts Michael Cole and Tazz were absent) as the first major and televised event since the attacks as thousands were in attendance. The ring ropes are usually blue for the SmackDown! shows but were red, white and blue for this night; these colors were commonly used during the 1980s and through the 1990s. They would remain that way, with an American Flag on the mini-tron, for two weeks.
The Brand Extension
The WWF underwent something they called the "Brand Extension". This meant that the two WWF TV shows (RAW and SmackDown!) would become competition for each other. This came about after the WWF purchased their biggest competitor, WCW, and they decided to bring in talent from the then out-of-business ECW. The brand extension was publicly announced during a telecast of WWF RAW on March 25, 2002, and became official the next day.
The Brand Extension would bring about change like nothing the WWF had seen before. Wrestlers would become "show-exclusive", wrestling for their specific show only. At the time this excluded the Undisputed Champion and Women's Champion as originally, those titles were defended on both shows. However, later in 2002, Brock Lesnar, then the WWE Undisputed Champion, refused to defend the title on RAW, causing the title to become SmackDown!-exclusive. This forced Eric Bischoff (General Manager of RAW at the time) to separate the World Heavyweight Championship from the WWE Championship due to the fact that since the WWE Undisputed Championship was now SmackDown!-exclusive it was no longer seen as "undisputed".
In January 2005, the Oakland Tribune reported that Leslie Moonves, co-President and co-Chief Operating Officer of UPN's parent company, Viacom, announced that SmackDown! would not be renewed on UPN after Viacom's contract with WWE expires in 2006. This article was later revealed to be in error; Moonves was in fact saying that SmackDown! may not be renewed, as opposed to will not be renewed.
The SmackDown! brand had a sister show, Velocity, that consisted of lower-card matches and recaps of that week's SmackDown! On March 10, 2005, Viacom announced that they would not seek to extend their deal to air WWE programming on Spike TV when it expired in September 2005. This included Velocity, which formerly aired on Spike TV but was converted into a webcast on WWE's website, when WWE programming moved to the USA Network. It was possible that WWE's "lame duck" status with Viacom on Spike TV is what prompted its moving SmackDown! to the Friday night death slot for the Fall 2005 season. Sources within WWE were reportedly unaware of the move. However, it worked out for the better for both parties involved, as the show had been better in ratings than it had on Thursdays, while UPN were getting much better ratings on Friday's than it did before with its movie night. In addition, UPN has been able to hold on to the ratings from Thursday nights, most notably with comedian Chris Rock's Wonder Years-like sitcom Everybody Hates Chris. In January 2006, prior to the announcement of the CW Network, it was announced that UPN had quietly renewed SmackDown! for an extra two more seasons.
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. During this time, United States Champion Orlando Jordan was billed as the top champion on the show. On June 23, 2005, in Tucson, 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! didn't 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.
Friday Night SmackDown!
Following the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise, SmackDown! was renamed Friday Night SmackDown! and moved into Enterprise's former timeslot in the United States. WWE promoted this move with the tagline "TV that's changing Friday nights." Friday Night SmackDown! made its series/season premiere on September 9, 2005. The program still aired on Thursdays in Canada on The Score. In the United Kingdom 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 US. Due to a special fundraising concert to help those affected airing on UPN along with other major US networks at the same time the first edition would have been broadcast, only the second hour of the show was 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 Title because of a triceps injury. Theodore Long made 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! isn't pre-recorded, WWE.com had a photograph of Angle holding his new title on the main page.
On the April 7, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, general manager Theodore Long announced that the King of the Ring tournament will 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, Tazz left SmackDown! 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 will be the new color commentator for SmackDown!.
CW Network
On September 22, 2006, Friday Night SmackDown! debuted on the CW Network, a merger of UPN and The WB.
For 4 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 CW affiliates, WCWJ in Jacksonville, Florida and WIWB in Green Bay, Wisconsin, also aired SmackDown! in early September as well.
The arrival of the CW put the show back on the air throughout the state of Utah, nearly all of which lost the program in June when KPNZ in Salt Lake City stopped airing all UPN programs, including SmackDown!. The show is now seen on KUCW. In Hawaii, SmackDown! returned in late 2006, airing on a CW digital subchannel of Honolulu's Fox affiliate KHON (Channel 2), which has received statewide carriage over Oceanic Cable.
Friday Night SmackDown will stop airing on The CW after the 2007-2008 broadcast schedule due to WWE and The CW having negotiation problems.
MyNetworkTV
Friday Night SmackDown debuted on MyNetworkTV in the United States on October 3, 2008, which featured 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 ever.
On September 15, 2009, WWE Home Video released a DVD set entitled The Best of SmackDown 10th Anniversary.
On April 19, 2010, 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.
Syfy
On April 12, 2010, it was announced that SmackDown would move from MyNetworkTV to Syfy, a network which also aired NXT and previously ECW, in a two-year deal that also included an optional third year. Retaining its Friday night timeslot, SmackDown made its live premiere on Syfy on October 1, 2010 and there was talk about having live editions of the show on WWE PPV weekends. According to the Los Angeles Times, the move saw Syfy paying close to $30 million for the show as opposed to the $20 million paid by MyNetworkTV. SD was advertised on Syfy and sister network, USA Network. In 2011, the Brand Extension came to an end, resulting in Raw talent being able to appear on SmackDown and vice versa. Also in late 2011, a special episode of SmackDown debuted branded Super SmackDown Live which would then be the name of all live editions of SmackDown, taking place on a Tuesday.
Due to the move to an NBCUniversal network, SmackDown was advertised more frequently on Syfy's sister network, USA Network, which airs Raw. Same-week encores of SmackDown were also added to Universal HD, 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 the special live August 30, 2011 episode, it was announced that wrestlers from Raw could now appear every week on SmackDown. This mirrored the proclamation made on Raw the previous day where SmackDown wrestlers could now appear every week on Raw. These moves made both programs full roster "supershows", effectively ending the Brand Extension.
October 14, 2011's broadcast of SmackDown (episode 635) made the show the second longest-running weekly episodic television series of American television history (after sister program Monday Night Raw, which surpassed that mark on August 2, 2005). On April 1, 2012 at WrestleMania XXVIII, John Laurinaitis became GM of Raw and SmackDown. However, on June 17 he was fired. On the August 3rd episode of SmackDown, Vince McMahon announced Booker T as the new general manager. In addition, Booker named Theodore Long and Eve as his assistants. Josh Mathews replaced him on the commentary table along with Michael Cole. John Bradshaw Layfield returned to WWE in September and became a commentator for the show as well. SmackDown celebrated 700 episodes in March 2013. Vickie Guerrero became General Manager on July 19. The show was also frequently run by then WWE COO Triple H. Past episodes of Smackdown were made viewable on the video streaming website Hulu along with episodes of WWE Superstars and ECW.
On August 5, 2014, a repainted WWE production truck suggested that SmackDown would move back to Thursday nights for the first time in over nine years. On August 24, it was confirmed that SmackDown would return to Thursday nights on October 2. However, the schedule change did not come into effect that date. It was officially confirmed by WWE on November 6 that SmackDown would be moving to Thursday nights as of January 15, 2015.
USA Network
USA Network announced on April 7, 2015 that it would begin airing SmackDown starting in the first quarter of 2016."WWE is proud to have Smackdown join Raw as part of our expanded partnership with USA Network." said WWE Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Vince McMahon. “The combination of the #1 cable network and two ratings juggernauts provides a destination for our viewers and an extraordinary platform for our partners.”
Induction into Merriam-Webster
On July 10, 2007, Merriam-Webster announced it would induct the word smackdown into Webster's Dictionary. 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
SmackDown was taped on Tuesday evening and aired Friday evening on Syfy the same week. Occasionally, it was taped on Monday nights before or after Raw in what is called a "Supershow". In July 2016, SmackDown is aired live on USA Network.
The show began broadcasting in HD beginning with the January 25, 2008 edition of SmackDown, where a new set debuted — shared among all three 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.
Special episodes
| Episode | Date | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| SmackDown! | April 29, 1999 | 5.8 | Pilot episode. |
| SmackDown! | August 26, 1999 | 4.2 | Series debut |
| SmackDown! Extreme | February 1, 2001 | 4.0 | Extreme-themed episode |
| 9/11 Tribute | September 13, 2001 | 3.6 | Tribute to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. |
| Christmas from Baghdad | December 25, 2003 | 3.0 | Honored American armed forces. |
| SmackDown! 5th Anniversary Special | September 23, 2004 | 3.2 | Celebrated the show's 5th anniversary. |
| Christmas in Iraq | December 23, 2004 | 2.9 | Honored American armed forces. |
| SmackDown! Night of Champions | December 30, 2004 | 2.9 | Featured championship matches. |
| Eddie Guerrero Tribute Show | November 18, 2005 | 3.1 | Tribute in memory of Eddie Guerrero. |
| Best of SmackDown! 2005 | December 23, 2005 | 2.2 | Featured clips from 2005. |
| Best of SmackDown! 2006 | December 29, 2006 | 2.4 | Featured clips from 2006. |
| SmackDown! 400th episode | April 20, 2007 | 2.2 | Celebrated the show's 400th episode. |
| WWE Best of 2007 | December 28, 2007 | 2.5 | Featured clips from 2007 |
| SmackDown All-Star Kick-Off | October 3, 2008 | 1.9 | Featured Champion vs. Champion matches. Premiere on MyNetworkTV. |
| SmackDown 500th episode | March 20, 2009 | 2.1 | Celebrated the show's 500th episode. Featured the rosters from all three brands. |
| Decade of SmackDown | October 2, 2009 | 2.2 | Celebrated the show's 10th anniversary. Featured the rosters from all three brands. |
| Monday Night SmackDown | April 19, 2010 | 3.1 | Due to air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption, most of the Raw roster remained in Europe after a European tour. As a result, the SmackDown brand was featured in for the week's WWE Raw program. Will Forte, Kristen Wiig and Ryan Phillippe featured as Guest hosts. |
| SmackDown Live Syfy Premiere | October 1, 2010 | 1.7 | Premiere on Syfy. Featured the rosters from all two brands. |
| SmackDown! 600th Episode | February 18, 2011 | 2.2 | Celebrated the show's 600th Episode
Features the rosters of both Raw and SmackDown! |
| SuperSmackDown Live | August 30, 2011 | 2.2 | Live episode of SmackDown Features the rosters from SmackDown and Raw. |
| Edge Appreciation Night | September 16, 2011 | 1.8 | Special episode paying tribute to the retired Edge in his hometown of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. |
| Smackdown Milestone | October 14, 2011 | 2.2 | Special episode celebrating SmackDown as the second longest running weekly episodic TV show. |
| SmackDown Live Holiday Special | November 29, 2011 | 2.0 | Live holiday episode. WWE Legend Mick Foley guest hosts. |
| Sin City SmackDown | January 20, 2012 | 2.1 | Special episode. 1st Roulette Edition on Smackdown. |
| SuperSmackDown Live: Blast from the Past | April 10, 2012 | 1.5 | Old school theme featuring appearances by WWE Hall of Famers and Legends. |
| SuperSmackDown Live: The Great American Bash | July 3, 2012 | 1.7 | Celebration of Independence Day. |
| Friday Night ZackDown | July 13, 2012 | 1.8 | The winner of the Great American Bash 20-Man Battle Royal; Zack Ryder ran SmackDown as acting General Manager for one night. |
| SmackDown 700th Episode | January 18, 2013 | 2.0 | Celebration of the 700th episode of SmackDown. |
| Social Media SmackDown | March 1, 2013 | 1.9 | Special episode of SmackDown that features reactions of the Superstars and WWE Universe on Tout, Facebook and Twitter. |
| SmackDown 15 | October 10, 2014 | 2.6 | Celebrated the shows 15th Anniversary. |
| SmackDown's 800th Episode | December 19, 2014 | 2.03 | Celebration of the 800th episode of SmackDown. Airing live on USA Network. |
| SmackDown Live! Christmas Special | December 22, 2015 | 1.53 | Live Christmas episode on USA Network. |
| Final SmackDown on Syfy | December 31, 2015 | 2.8 | Special New Year's Eve episode of SmackDown. |
| SmackDown USA Network Return | January 7, 2016 | 2.75 | SmackDown returns to the USA Network. |
| SmackDown Live Premiere and 2016 WWE Draft Lottery | July 19, 2016 | 3.17 | Airing live and Premiere on USA. SmackDown moves to Tuesday nights, marked as the return of the Brand Extension and supplemental draft. This is also the first WWE Draft to air on SmackDown. |
| SmackDown Live's 900 Episode | November 15, 2016 | 2.75 | Celebration of the 900th episode of SmackDown Live. |
| SmackDown Live's Wild Card Finals | December 27, 2016 | 2.89 | Celebrating the final episode of SmackDown in 2016. Featured three championship matches and the return of John Cena. |
| Superstar Shake-up | April 11, 2017 | 3.10 | WWE Superstars are swapped between the Raw and SmackDown Live brands. |
| Sin City SmackDown LIVE | September 12, 2017 | 2.7 | Special live episode from Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Featured the return of WWE's Chairman and CEO, Mr. McMahon. |
| SmackDown LIVE Christmas | December 26, 2017 | Live Christmas-themed episode of SmackDown on Christmas Tuesday, held at the Allstate Arena, which it featured the one-hour commercial free on television. | |
| SmackDown LIVE New Year's Day | January 2, 2018 | Special New Year's Day episode of SmackDown Live, held at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. |
Seasonal rankings (based on average total estimated viewers per episode) of SmackDown! on UPN, The CW, MyNetworkTV and USA Network
| Season | Timeslot | Network | Years | Rank | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Thursday 8/7C | UPN | 1999–2000 | N/A | 7.2 |
| 2nd | Thursday 8/7C | UPN | 2000–2001 | 90 | 7.1 |
| 3rd | Thursday 8/7C | UPN | 2001–2002 | 111 | 6.5 |
| 4th | Thursday 8/7C | UPN | 2002–2003 | 114 | 5.4 |
| 5th | Thursday 8/7C | UPN | 2003–2004 | 140 | 5.1 |
| 6th | Thursday 8/7C | UPN | 2004–2005 | 106 | 5.1 |
| 7th | Friday 8/7C | UPN | 2005–2006 | 120 | 4.3 |
| 8th | Friday 8/7C | CW | 2006–2007 | 120 | 4.5 |
| 9th | Friday 8/7C | CW | 2007–2008 | 119 | 4.6 |
| 10th | Friday 8/7C | MyNetworkTV | 2008–2009 | N/A | N/A |
| 11th | Friday 8/7C | MyNetworkTV | 2009–2010 | N/A | N/A |
| 12th | Friday 8/7C | Syfy | 2010–2011 | N/A | N/A |
| 13th | Friday 8/7C | Syfy | 2011–2015 | N/A | N/A |
| 14th | Thursday 8/7C | Syfy | 2015 | N/A | N/A |
| 15th | Thursday 8/7C | USA Network | 2016 | N/A | N/A |
| 16th | Tuesday 8/7C | USA Network | 2016–present | N/A | N/A |
On-air personalities
General managers
| Name | Date started | Date finished | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stephanie McMahon | July 16, 2002 | October 19, 2003 | Lost her position as per an "I Quit" match stipulation against Mr. McMahon. |
| Paul Heyman | October 21, 2003 | March 22, 2004 | Resigned after drafting to Raw. |
| Kurt Angle | March 23, 2004 | July 20, 2004 | Returned to the active roster when no longer confined to a wheelchair. |
| Theodore Long | July 27, 2004 | September 18, 2007 | Left position due to health complications. Served as "Assistant General Manager" from November 2007 to May 2008. |
| Vickie Guerrero | September 25, 2007 | April 6, 2009 | Served as "Assistant General Manager" from May to September 2007. Opted to fully take over the position on Raw and resigned as General Manager of SmackDown. |
| Theodore Long | April 7, 2009 | April 1, 2012 | Lost position at WrestleMania XXVIII. |
| Vickie Guerrero | January 21, 2011 | February 18, 2011 | |
| John Laurinaitis | April 2, 2012 | June 17, 2012 | |
| Booker T | August 3, 2012 | July 12, 2013 | |
| Vickie Guerrero | July 19, 2013 | June 23, 2014 | |
| Daniel Bryan | July 18, 2016 | April 10, 2018 | |
| Paige | April 10, 2018 | December 18, 2018 |
Commentators
| Commentators | Dates |
|---|---|
| Michael Cole and Jim Cornette | Pilot - April 29, 1999 |
| Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler | Network Premiere - August 26, 1999 |
| Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler | September 2, 1999 - February 22, 2001 November 22, 2001 - March 28, 2002 March 31, 2005 October 23, 2009 March 26, 2015 |
| Michael Cole and Michael Hayes | September 23, 1999 |
| Michael Cole & Tazz | February 22, 2001 - June 28, 2001 August 2, 2001 - October 18, 2001 April 4, 2002 - June 9, 2006 |
| Jim Ross & Michael Cole | September 21, 2000 July 5, 2001 - August 2, 2001 |
| Jim Ross & Paul Heyman | September 13, 2001 (Live 9/11 Tribute Show) |
| Michael Cole & Paul Heyman | October 25, 2001 - November 15, 2001 |
| Michael Cole and Ernest Miller | November 28, 2002 |
| Michael Cole & Jonathan Coachman | January 4, 2008 - April 25, 2008 |
| Michael Cole & Mick Foley | May 2, 2008 - June 16, 2008 |
| Jim Ross & Mick Foley | June 23, 2008 - August 1, 2008 |
| Jim Ross & Tazz | August 8, 2008 - April 3, 2009 |
| Jim Ross & Todd Grisham | April 10, 2009 - October 9, 2009 |
| Todd Grisham and Michael Cole | October 16, 2009 |
| Todd Grisham & 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 & Matt Striker | March 30, 2012 |
| Michael Cole & Booker T | April 27, 2012 |
| Michael Cole, Josh Mathews & Booker T | February 4, 2011 - November 25, 2011 December 16, 2011 - July 27, 2012 |
| Michael Cole and Various Guest Commentators | August 24, 2012 |
| Josh Mathews and Michael Cole | November 29, 2011 - December 9, 2011 January 6, 2012 August 3, 2012 - October 5, 2012 |
| Josh Mathews and John "Bradshaw" Layfield | October 12, 2012 - February 22, 2013 January 24, 2014 |
| Michael Cole, Josh Mathews and Jerry Lawler | March 1, 2013 |
| Michael Cole, Josh Mathews and Brad Maddox | March 8, 2013 - March 15, 2013 |
| Josh Mathews and Jerry Lawler | April 5, 2013 |
| Michael Cole, Josh Mathews and John "Bradshaw" Layfield | December 21, 2012 March 22, 2013 - May 24, 2013 |
| Michael Cole and Alex Riley | August 2, 2013 |
| Michael Cole, John "Bradshaw" Layfield and The Miz | January 17, 2014 |
| Michael Cole and John "Bradshaw" Layfield | June 16, 2006 - December 21, 2007 May 31, 2013 – August 15, 2014 |
| Tom Phillips and Michael Cole | October 31, 2014 |
| Tom Phillips, Michael Cole and John "Bradshaw" Layfield | August 22, 2014 - January 9, 2015 |
| Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler & Byron Saxton | January 15, 2015 - March 19, 2015 April 16, 2015 February 18, 2016 |
| Tom Phillips, Jerry Lawler and Byron Saxton | April 2, 2015 - April 9, 2015 April 23, 2015 - June 18, 2015 |
| Tom Phillips, Jerry Lawler and Jimmy Uso | June 25, 2015 - August 20, 2015 |
| Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and Jimmy Uso | July 23, 2015 |
| Rich Brennan, Jerry Lawler and Jimmy Uso | August 27, 2015 - September 3, 2015 |
| Rich Brennan, Jerry Lawler & Booker T | September 10, 2015 - December 31, 2015 |
| Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole & Booker T | December 22, 2015 |
| Mauro Ranallo and Jerry Lawler | March 31, 2016 |
| Mauro Ranallo, Byron Saxton & Jerry Lawler | January 7, 2016 – June 16, 2016 July 7, 2016 – July 14, 2016 |
| Mauro Ranallo, Byron Saxton & David Otunga | June 23, 2016 – June 30, 2016 |
| Mauro Ranallo, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler & Byron Saxton | July 19, 2016 |
| Mauro Ranallo, JBL & David Otunga | July 26, 2016 – November 1, 2016 |
| Mauro Ranallo, Tom Phillips, JBL & David Otunga | November 8, 2016 – March 7, 2017 |
| Tom Phillips & JBL | March 14, 2017 |
| Tom Phillips, JBL & David Otunga | March 21, 2017 – April 4, 2017 |
| Tom Phillips, JBL & Byron Saxton | April 11, 2017 – August 29, 2017 |
| Tom Phillips, Corey Graves & Byron Saxton | September 5, 2017 – October 10, 2017 October 31, 2017 – September 24, 2019 |
| Michael Cole, Corey Graves & Byron Saxton | October 17, 2017 – October 24, 2017 |
| Tom Phillips, Corey Graves & David Otunga | December 18, 2018 |
| Michael Cole & Corey Graves | October 4, 2019 – April 9, 2021 September 3, 2021 February 11, 2022 – February 18, 2022 July 8, 2022 September 9, 2022 – September 30, 2022 September 6, 2024 – present |
| Michael Cole & Pat McAfee | April 16, 2021 – September 2, 2022 |
| Michael Cole & Wade Barrett | October 6, 2022 – August 4, 2023 |
| Michael Cole, Kevin Patrick & Corey Graves | August 11, 2023 - November 3, 2023 November 24, 2023 – December 1, 2023 December 15, 2023 – December 22, 2023 |
| Kevin Patrick & Corey Graves | January 5, 2024 – January 19, 2024 |
| Corey Graves & Wade Barrett | February 2, 2024 – August 30, 2024 |
Ring announcers
| Ring Announcer | Dates |
|---|---|
| Tony Chimel | April 1999 - August 2007 October 2009 – December 2, 2011 November 2, 2012 - November 30, 2012 April 5, 2013 September 13, 2013 November 15, 2013 November 15, 2016 |
| Justin Roberts | September 19, 2002 April 23, 2003 December 4, 2003 September 15, 2006 April 6, 2007 September 2007 - October 2009 December 10, 2010 March 11, 2011 September 16, 2011 |
| Eden Stiles | July 15, 2011 November 11, 2011 October 24, 2014 – May 26, 2016 |
| Lilian García | December 9, 2011- October 26, 2012 December 7, 2012 – October 17, 2014 November 5, 2015 |
| JoJo | April 9, 2015- May 28, 2015 June 18, 2015 July 2, 2015- July 9, 2015 October 15, 2015 December 10, 2015 May 5, 2016 - May 12, 2016 June 2, 2016 – July 19, 2016 |
| Josh Mathews | January 2, 2003 |
| Greg Hamilton | June 30, 2016 July 26, 2016 – October 25, 2019 November 8, 2019 – October 22, 2021 |
| Mike Rome | November 6, 2020 – November 13, 2020 June 26, 2021 October 29, 2021 – January 7, 2022 May 12, 2023 - present |
| Samantha Irvin | January 14, 2022 – May 5, 2023 |
Recurring Segments
| Segment | Host | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piper's Pit | Roddy Piper | 2003 2005 - 2006 |
|
| $1,000,000 Tough Enough | Al Snow | 2004 | |
| Kurt Angle Invitational | Kurt Angle | 2004–2005 | |
| Cafe de René | René Duprée | 2004 | |
| Carlito's Cabana | Carlito | 2005 2008-2009 |
|
| Peep Show | Christian | 2005 2010 |
|
| WWE Diva Search | The Miz | 2006 | |
| Miz TV | The Miz | 2012 2012 – 2020 |
|
| Masterlock Challenge | Chris Masters | 2007 2010-2011 |
Submission challenge to break Masters' Masterlock hold. |
| The Cutting Edge | Edge | 2007–2010 2011 |
|
| V.I.P. Lounge | Montel Vontavious Porter | 2007–2009 2010 |
|
| Khali Kiss Cam | The Great Khali | 2008–2009 | |
| Word Up | Cryme Tyme | 2009-2010 | |
| Highlight Reel | Chris Jericho | 2010 | |
| St8 Outta Brooklyn | JTG | 2010-2011 |
International broadcasters
In addition to broadcasts on USA, Universal HD, mun2, and AFN Xtra in the United States, WWE SmackDown also appears on-air internationally:
| Country | Network |
|---|---|
| Arab World | OSN |
| Argentina | Fox Sport 2 |
| Australia | Fox8 |
| Belgium | AB3 |
| Bolivia | Red PAT |
| Bulgaria | BTV Comedy |
| Cambodia | CTN |
| Canada | The Score Network, CJNT |
| Chile | Chilevisión |
| Costa Rica | Repretel: Canal 11 |
| Dominican Republic | Antena Latina 7 |
| Ecuador | Teleamazonas |
| El Salvador | VTV |
| Fiji | Sky Pacific and Sky Fiji |
| Finland | MTV3 Max |
| France | NT1 |
| Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein | SPORT1 |
| Guatemala | Canal 3 |
| Honduras | Canal 5 |
| India, Pakistan and South Asia | TEN Sports |
| Italy | Sky Italia |
| Japan | J Sports Plus |
| Kenya | KBC |
| Malaysia | Astro Supersport |
| Malta | Melita Sports 1 |
| Mexico | Azteca 7 |
| Middle East | Showtime Arabia and ShowSports 4 |
| New Zealand | The BOX |
| Nicaragua | Canal 10 (Nicaragua) |
| Panama | RPC(Canal 4) |
| Paraguay | Canal 5 |
| Peru | ATV |
| Philippines | Jack TV and Solar TV |
| Poland | Extreme Sports Channel |
| Portugal | TVI |
| Puerto Rico | WAPA |
| Romania | Sport.ro |
| Samoa | SBC |
| Serbia | FOX Televizija |
| Singapore | Super Sports |
| South Africa | e.tv |
| Spain | Marca TV |
| Sweden | Eurosports |
| Taiwan | Videoland Max-TV |
| Thailand | TrueVisions |
| Turkey | Fox Turkey |
| Ukraine | QTV |
| United Kingdom and Ireland | BT Sport |
Previous Logos
Theme songs
"Smack" (TV Edit) - April 19, 2001
"The Beautiful People (WWF Remix)" (TV Edit) by Marilyn Manson - August 16, 2001
"I Want It All" - 2003
"I Want It All" (V2) - September 16, 2004
"Rise Up" (Early Instrumental) - September 23, 2004
"Rise Up"(TV Edit) by Drowning Pool - September 30, 2004
"Rise Up" (TV Edit V2) by Drowning Pool - October 7, 2004
"Rise Up" (TV Edit V3) by Drowning Pool - October 21, 2004
"Rise Up" (TV Edit V4) by Drowning Pool - October 28, 2004
"Rise Up 2006" by Drowning Pool - 2006
"Rise Up 2006" (V2; TV Edit) by Drowning Pool - October 3, 2008
"If You Rock Like Me" (TV Edit) by Jim Boggio & Jimi Bell - September 25, 2009
"Let It Roll" (TV Edit) by Divide the Day - October 2, 2009
"Know Your Enemy" (TV Edit) by Green Day - October 1, 2010
"Born 2 Run" (TV Edit) by 7Lions - October 26, 2012
"This Life" (TV Edit) by CFO$ feat. Dylan Owen - May 23, 2014
"Black and Blue" (TV Edit) by CFO$ - January 15, 2015
"Black and Blue" (2nd TV Edit) by CFO$ - January 7, 2016
"Take a Chance" (TV Edit) by CFO$ - July 26, 2016
"Nobody Better Than Me" by def rebel feat. Supreme Madness
Gallery
Best of Smackdown! Logos
