When WWE SmackDown debuted in 1999, it was intended to be the Thursday night equivalent to Raw. As viewers would come to learn in the years that followed, however, it was anything but. If anything, it was a second-rate version of the flagship show, although there were points throughout the 2000s when the quality of the program was superior to what was happening on Monday nights. WWE has already announced that SmackDown will be making the move to USA Network in the first quarter of 2016 with the possibility that it will air live on Friday nights. But will it really do anything to change people's perception of the show? As we've seen time and time over the past 15 years, WWE will stack SmackDown with marquee matches for the first few weeks before making it a Raw rerun about a month later. As such, you can expect SmackDown to continue to be neglected for as long as it's on the air. This wouldn't be the first time WWE has tried to rejuvenate the blue brand and make it mean something again, as there have been many instances in the last decade where they failed in their efforts to bring it back to its glory days.
Since 2008, Graham has been a diehard pro wrestling fan and, in 2010, he combined his passions for WWE and writing when he joined Bleacher Report. Equipped with a master's in journalism, Graham has contributed to WhatCulture, FanSided's Daily DDT, Sports Betting Dime, and GateHouse Media. Along the way, he has conducted interviews with wrestling superstars like Chris Jericho, Edge, Goldberg, Christian, Diamond Dallas Page, Jim Ross, Adam Cole, Tessa Blanchard, Ryback, and Nick Aldis among others.
