On the April 7 2006 version of "SmackDown!", general manager Theodore Long said 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.
On September 22 2006, "Friday Night SmackDown!" was started 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 start (and in preparation for the impending removal of UPN in several markets by the start 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. 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 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 said that the SmackDown! and ECW brands would begin a "talent exchange", allowing their respective talent to appear and compete on either brand.
On February 8 2008 it was reported that World Wrestling Entertainment and The CW had ended agreements to keep "Friday Night SmackDown!" on the network. WWE stated that agreements with other networks has begun and that "Friday Night SmackDown!" would continue to air on The CW through the end of the 2007-2008 broadcast season. On February 26 WWE issued a press release saying "Friday Night SmackDown!"<nowiki>'s</nowiki> move to MyNetworkTV.
On July 10 2007, Merriam-Webster announced it would induct the word "smackdown" into "Webster's Dictionary". According to Merriam Webster, a "smackdown" is:
"SmackDown" is usually taped on Tuesday evening and shown Friday evening on MyNetworkTV the same week. Lately though, they have taped two episodes at a time and as a result are taped every two weeks. Sometimes, it is taped on Monday nights before or after "RAW" in what is called a "Supershow". "SmackDown" has also been shown live sometimes.
On October 26, 2012, "WWE SmackDown" began using "Born 2 Run" by 7Lions as its theme song. before this, "SmackDown" used "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day. "Hangman" by Rev Theory was used as the secondary theme song.
The previous theme song, "Let it Roll" by Divide the Day was replaced when SmackDown began being broadcast on Syfy.
"Friday Night SmackDown!" began broadcasting in HD beginning with the January 25 2008 edition of "SmackDown!", where a new set started that is shared among all three WWE brands.
Nationwide Arena
Nationwide Arena is a sports arena in Columbus, Ohio. The arena opened in 2000, and right now the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Columbus Destroyers of the Arena Football League (AFL) play there. The arena was built at the location of the old Ohio Penitentiary, a prison that was destroyed in 1998.
The Beatles (album)
The Beatles is a 1968 album by the band of the same name, The Beatles. Its cover included no photographs, but was a simple white jacket, with the band's name die-stamped onto the paper. Early copies also included a serial number. The plain white cover led fans and listeners to call the record the "White Album". In time, even the band and their company, Apple Corps, began to use this name.
"The Beatles" was the band's twelfth album of new recordings, and was released in November 1968. While most albums of the time included ten to fourteen songs, "The Beatles" included thirty-four songs, and was sold as a two-disc set.
The Beatles began writing songs for the album while they were in India, taking a teaching course in Transcendental Meditation. taught by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh. They planned to become gurus, or spiritual teachers, and use their music to spread Transcendental Meditation to a wide audience. Their helpers back in England looked after their business matters, so the Beatles could have time to study, and to think about what they learned. They released a new single, "Lady Madonna", just before they left for India, so they would not be missed by their fans while they were away.
Between classes and meditation sessions, the Beatles had plenty of free time. They brought some instruments with them, including acoustic guitars, and began to write new songs. "We wrote "tons" of songs in India," John Lennon later told "Playboy" magazine. Their wives and girlfriends also came along to India. Lennon and his wife Cynthia did not spend much time together. He would leave alone in the morning, to pick up the mail. It turned out he was receiving letters and postcards from Yoko Ono, a Japanese artist friend, and did not want Cynthia to know. He said later that while he was in India, he began to think about Ono "as a woman, not just an intellectual woman", and that he might want a romantic relationship with her.