10 Things We Learned From WWE SmackDown's First Ever Episode

8. Watching Droz Vs. D’Lo Brown Is Bizarre

On 5 October 1999, Darren Drozdov suffered a career-halting injury after taking a Running Powerbomb from D'Lo Brown. Droz landed hard on his head, instantly fracturing multiple vertebrae in his neck and leaving him both paralysed and wheelchair bound. It was a depressing reminder of the dangers pro wrestling poses.

Exactly 159 days before his in-ring ambitions were ended by one cruel slip, Drozdov was taking the same bump from the same guy on the pilot episode of SmackDown. The knowledge of what happened next makes the D'Lo vs. Droz match on SmackDown #1 a bit harder to watch.

Worse, the Powerbomb here was immaculate.

This proves that Droz's injury had nothing to do with immaturity or inexperience, and everything to do with happenstance. Watch the .GIF cycle through a few times above and you'll see how smoothly he bumped and how well Brown placed him down as gently as he could.