21 Years Of WWE SmackDown Mistakes
Feeling Blue.
SmackDown's move to Fox is a monumental achievement worthy of a this week's grand "Season Premiere" gesture during a transformative period for the industry at large.
A billion dollar deal brought the show to the channel on the strength of several good years going live on Tuesdays and presumably a fascination Fox had for Vince McMahon's brand and/or business.
Coming right around the blue brand's 20 year anniversary, said celebration will receive substantially less love from WWE than it should perhaps receive. For two decades, it has been a show many have remained loyal to due to occasional bouts of utter excellence. As a full-blown second weekly show in 1999, it burst on the scene with an oval-staged Joie De Vivre. By 2002, it represented a new pinnacle for workrate in WWE. In 2008 with a freshly motivated Triple H on top and a still-in-his-prime Jim Ross on the call, it was a tonic to the poison Monday Night Raw had gradually become. Enough went on between 2016 and 2019 to justify the bulliuon Fox have parted with for it. Golden times, these timestamps reflected the brand at its best.
But where's the fun in that? Hidden away from the madness of Monday Night, SmackDown's gotten away with literal murder more than once, and a fair few other crimes too...
21. 1999 - Shawn's Forgotten Heel Turn
The tumultuous relationship between Shawn Michaels and WWE took another turn in 1999 when 'The Showstopper' bailed on his Commissioner role completely right after this illogical shocking swerve.
Michaels had been an anti-Corporate babyface since an early-1999 turn, but helped his former DX friend retain the WWE Championship with a guest referee superkick shocker later aped by countless PlayStation aficionados on SmackDown 2. The turn (and 'HBK's reunion with Hunter) was dropped immediately following another unexpected Michaels departure.