There's quite the symmetry between the first edition of SmackDown Live in July 2016 and this historic week that will see off the live Tuesday Night edition in favour of a billion dollar Friday showcase for Fox.
After surviving its wilderness years following the demise of the first brand extension, the July 19th 2016 edition of SmackDown the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed era of the blue brand with a bang.
On that night, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose were cast as the stars of Raw and SmackDown respectively, in much the same way 'The Architect' leads the charge for all of WWE today across from his former partner's wild reinvention in AEW. Mauro Ranallo was the fresh voice of Tuesday Nights alongside a rejuvenated Jerry Lawler of all people. Both men are again key to the company's success on NXT and Raw respectively following a huge shake-up at the desks. Shane McMahon began life as the SmackDown Live Commissioner - a role he may well be booted from on the SmackDown Fox "Premiere".
Few could have foresaw the blue brand doing this well out of the deal, but the show's offered much to celebrate in the past three years that almost justifies the prominence it'll now receive. Alright the WWE Championship had maybe the worst 12 months in it's 50+ year history and two particularly bad promos killed the careers of those entrusted with them, but like a rainbow without rain, we'd not have some amazing ups without some damaging downs...
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years.
As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say.
With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling.
Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.
