WWE SmackDown | |
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Genre |
Sports entertainment Professional wrestling |
Created by | Vince McMahon |
Presented by | Renee Young, Daniel Bryan, and/or Shane McMahon (Post-show Talking Smack) |
Starring | SmackDown roster |
Opening theme |
|
Country of origin | United States |
No. of seasons | 17 |
No. of episodes | 923 (as of April 25, 2017 | )
Production | |
Camera setup | Multicamera setup |
Running time | 120 minutes (including commercials) |
Release | |
Original network |
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Picture format | |
Original release | April 29, 1999 | – present
Chronology | |
Related shows | |
External links | |
Website |
WWE SmackDown, also currently referred to as SmackDown Live (stylized as SmackDown LIVE) or simply SmackDown, is a professional wrestling television program that debuted on August 26, 1999. The show's name is also used to refer to the SmackDown brand, in which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform on that program; currently the other brands are Raw and NXT.
SmackDown is currently broadcast live on Tuesday nights on the USA Network. The show was originally broadcast on Thursday nights but moved to Friday on September 9, 2005 before returning to Thursdays on January 15, 2015, On July 19, 2016, it was moved to a live broadcast on Tuesday night.SmackDown! 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 September 2006. The show was moved to MyNetworkTV in October 2008, to Syfy on October 1, 2010 and to USA Network on January 7, 2016. It complements Raw as the second of WWE's two main weekly programs. As of March 3, 2017, all archived episodes of the show are available for on demand viewing via the WWE Network
In its history, SmackDown has been broadcast from 162 different arenas, in 147 cities and towns, in seven different countries (the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Iraq in 2003 and 2004 for Tribute to the Troops, Japan in 2005, Italy in 2007, and Mexico in 2011). Prior to switching to the current live format, taped episodes premiered a few hours earlier in Ireland and the United Kingdom and a day earlier in Australia, Canada, Singapore, and Philippines than the United States, due to time differences. For international broadcast listings, see below. The show celebrated its 15th anniversary on October 10, 2014 and its 900th episode on November 15, 2016.