WWE Smackdown WWE SmackDown is a professional wrestling television program for World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . As of 2010 , it airs on Syfy in the United States as " WWE Friday Night SmackDown " . From January 15 , 2015 , the show was aired as " WWE Thursday Night SmackDown " . Starting in July 19 , 2016 , the show was aired as " WWE SmackDown Live " . The show ' s name was 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 . 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 . 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 " < nowiki > SmackDown ! ' < / nowiki > " 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 Taz z 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 " < nowiki > SmackDown ! ' < / nowiki > " 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 " < nowiki > Enterprise ' < / nowiki > " 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 currently airs NXT and previously 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 . SD is being 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 NBCUniversa 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 , 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 is also run frequently by COO , Triple H . Past episodes of " Smackdown " are now 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 : Production . " SmackDown " is usually taped on Tuesday evening and aired Friday evening on Syfy the same week . Occasionally , it is taped on Monday nights before or after " Raw " in what is called a " Supershow " . In July 2016 , " SmackDown " is usually aired live on USA Network . " < nowiki > SmackDown ' < / nowiki > " s current theme song is " Take a Chance " by CFO $ . Prior to that , Smackdown opened with " Take a Chance " by CFO $ , while " Unstoppable " by CFO $ and " Big Surprise " by Jim Johnston served as a secondary theme song when " SmackDown " moves to the new era on July 26 , 2016 . 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 . " " On - air personalities . General managers . ! Name ! Date started ! Date finished ! Notes