10 Times WWE Tried To Rejuvenate SmackDown But Failed

8. Bringing The WWE Championship Back To SmackDown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0KjSje9ddY Following the birth of the brand split in 2002, the WWE Championship was made exclusive to the SmackDown brand when Brock Lesnar took the title with him to Thursday nights shortly after SummerSlam. Once the World Heavyweight Championship was implemented on Raw that September, there were two top prizes in the company. They'd switch shows three years later in the WWE Draft Lottery when John Cena brought the WWE title to Raw and Batista brought the World Heavyweight title to SmackDown. Another three years went by before the belts were traded yet again, but this time there was more of reason behind it. With SmackDown moving to MyNetwork TV that fall, WWE wanted to load up the blue brand as much as possible, which is why they gave them the WWE title as well as Triple H. It marked the first time The Game was officially a part of Friday nights, as his previous two stints on SmackDown in 2002 and 2004 didn't last long (to say the least). Triple H dominated the SmackDown scene for the remainder of the year and filled the top spot nicely during Batista's absence, but he didn't add much to the show. Other than his feud with Jeff Hardy, what did he do on SmackDown that helped the brand in any way? Unsurprisingly, he was back on Raw less than a year later. Ratings barely changed when the move to the new network was made, rendering Triple H's presence on the program meaningless.