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

5. It's Weird To See Stephanie McMahon Get Cheers

Stephanie Vince McMahon 1999
WWE Network

Three days earlier on Raw Is War, Steve Austin had went against his promise never to help Vince McMahon and saved his daughter Stephanie from The Undertaker's clutches. On SmackDown, Steph and Vince came out first (to no music, oddly) and received a massively positive response from the fans.

After so many years of watching Stephanie cut balls off, this jolts the senses.

Back in '99, she wasn't yet the 'Billion Dollar Princess', Triple H's bride or even a regular TV character. Instead, Steph was an innocent bystander who'd been sucked into the melodrama her father created. Fans seemed to realise this, and they went easy on her. Honestly, watching her cut a promo backed by cheers and fresh-faced smiles is weird.

Another thing of note is that Stephanie was actually better than we remember on the mic. She didn't stammer, she didn't have a voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard yet and she calmly thanked Austin for helping her.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.