7. October 31, 2002 - Halloween Special
WWE.comThe Halloween 2002 episode of SmackDown is a historical one. Had it not been for the backstage costume party, the biggest star of the last decade may very well have been competing for TNA or Ring of Honor rather than World Wrestling Entertainment for it was there that John Cena would make the ever-important connection with the audience that would catapult him into fan consciousness. Dressed as Vanilla Ice, Cena performed several freestyle raps and even shared camera time with Stephanie McMahon. He captured the attention of the WWE Universe and from that night on, built considerable momentum before breaking out in 2003. Just over two years later, he would be WWE champion and the top star in the industry. Edge and Chris Benoit kicked the show off with a tremendous match that highlighted the feud between the SmackDown Six, a group of Superstars who not only competed against one another for months in the fall of 2002 but delivered Match of the Year candidates on a near weekly basis. Keeping up with that trend, Eddie Guerrero clashed with Kurt Angle later in the evening and scored the win when Angle's partner Benoit interfered and cost him the match. Torrie Wilson and Dawn Marie's feud intensified as they met in a Trick or Treat match that took place inside a giant pool of what looked like chocolate water. In the night's main event, Rey Mysterio and Brock Lesnar met one-on-one in a match that was interrupted by the WWE champion's top contender, Big Show. The show remains, to this day, one of the best examples of a broadcast that perfectly fuses great wrestling and a fun holiday theme. That Paul Heyman was booking the show should be no surprise to anyone. A brilliant mind that understands how to accentuate positives and hide negatives, he hid the lack of depth on the SmackDown roster by delivering pay-per-view quality matches by the best wrestlers in the world. He did not book a bunch of basic wrestling matches between Torrie and Dawn, instead taking advantage of their undeniable sex appeal. It was a formula that worked and the best show in WWE was created as a result. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twyUZEn4cuE
Results: Edge defeated Chris Benoit... Big Show defeated Rikishi... Torrie Wilson defeated Dawn Marie in a Trick or Treat match... Matt Hardy defeated Tajiri... Eddie Guerrero defeated Kurt Angle... Rey Mysterio and WWE champion Brock Lesnar fought to a no contest when Big Show interfered