10 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE SmackDown From 2000

4. Creative Burnout Must’ve Been Real

Mick Foley Triple H SmackDown 2000
WWE Network/Peacock

Keep in mind SmackDown's writing team was largely the same crew that penned Raw on Mondays, so they must’ve been knackered tying everything in and following up every few days. There was zero brand separation or individual rosters back then, meaning creative had to find new wrinkles for the same faces constantly.

That had to be exhausting, especially knowing Vince McMahon's relentless work ethic.

This writer would be lying if he said he was impressed by this at the time. It was just the way things were, and the WWF had to meet the paying public's demand more for Rock, more Undertaker, more Triple H etc. It's no wonder the brand split happened in 2002. That grind from the same core squad wasn't really sustainable for longer than a few years.

It's astonishing they didn't completely run out of ideas by halfway through 2000. McMahon had doubled their output in late-1999, so things were spread thinly across the entire week rather than unleashed on Raw and that was it.

Take a bow, writers.

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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.