10 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE SmackDown From 2000
SmackDown was more than just Raw-lite in 2000, but...was it as good as you remember?
2000 was SmackDown's first full year as an ongoing concern.
Demand was high for more WWF back then, so Vince McMahon looked sideways at WCW to borrow a page from the Thunder playbook. Think that's a joke? Not quite. In fairness, although SmackDown shared a similar colour palette to the competition's 'B' show, that was about all the Thursday night weeklies had in common once the fed's product was up and running.
Looking back over 52 weeks of TV now is a fascinating experience. The star power is staggering - McMahon's roster was bursting at the seams with top talents who were also drawing money, and the locker room was bolstered by welcome returns for lieutenants like Steve Austin and The Undertaker mid-year.
There's a lot one can learn from binge watching UPN's finest. You might even be surprised by some of the observations here, because they won't be in line with what you remember about SmackDown in 2000. For example, not everything was rosy in the garden creatively; the company was so hot overall that it often didn't really matter though, which is incredible.
To the time machine!
10. Stephanie's Title Reign Was Worth It
Kicking this one off with in-ring royalty, folks.
OK, all jokes aside, Stephanie McMahon meant a lot to the product back in 2000. She was Triple H's new love interest, and her family ties to the boss meant Steph was tasked with playing the "Billion Dollar Princess" who wanted for nothing by default. This just in: She was bloody ace at it.
This is a positive 'Steph as champ' entry, one that makes no apologies for it. McMahon won the Women's Title from Jacqueline on the 30 March SmackDown, and held it for approx five months before dropping the thing to Lita on the 21 August Raw. Fans hated this at the time, but it's so much fun looking back.
Women's wrestling was hardly an ongoing concern for the WWF in 2000, so Stephanie proudly flaunting her nepotistic title reign stood out. If nothing else, her heavy presence on programming meant the belt was on TV more often than not. Better than nothing during a flat era for the strap, no?