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When the original brand extension took place in March 2002, WWE continued to present all pay-per-views every month as featuring matches from both brands. It wasn't until over a year after the extension, in June 2003, that WWE decided to try out solo branded pay-per-views for RAW and Smackdown, and the result was a success for the most part, considering shows were often light on major players.
With ECW thrown into the mix, WWE decided to end the trend in 2007 and reverted back to multi-branded pay-per-views that year, and officially ended the extension in 2011.
Due to a great influx of talent from their developmental brand NXT, as well as other talent being brought in straight to TV, the brand extension was revived on July 19, 2016, when SmackDown began broadcasting live on Tuesdays.
With this also brought the revival of single-branded pay-per-views, however, this trend would not last as long as the original. After just under a year and a half, WWE announced that the Elimination Chamber event in February 2018 would be the final RAW only pay-per-view, and Fastlane in March would be the final SmackDown, and thus returning to all pay-per-views being dual branded.
During both single branded PPV era's, we did manage to get some really excellent events, and here I will be looking at the top 10 best that came out of Smackdown.
#10 No Mercy 2003
No Mercy 2003 was an interesting card, featuring storylines that had both been built up for a while, and some thrown together last minute.
The ever-popular Rey Mysterio opened the show challenging Tajiri for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. This was a hot opening match, as these two had several matches on Smackdown during this time and never failed to deliver. Tajiri took the win with help from the future Jimmy Wang Yang, disguised as a fan.
Chris Benoit made A-Train/Albert tap out in a fair match. This was easily the best match of Albert's WWE career. It featured a very dangerous spot where Benoit was accidentally dropped head first onto a steel chair. A very concerned Albert could be heard very loudly asking his opponent was he okay.
The one-legged wonder Zach Gowen was up next, he picked up a big victory over Matt Hardy. This was just over 5 minutes so nothing much to it, Zach disappeared from TV within the next few weeks and never seen on WWE TV again.
The Basham Brothers beat the APA in a boring match with help from their dominatrix manager Shaniqua. In a match that was never seen before and never to see again, Vince McMahon faced daughter Stephanie McMahon in an I Quit match. If Vince lost, he would step down as WWE CEO and if Stephanie lost, she would as Smackdown General Manager.
In something today's fans would find hard to believe, the crowd were really into Stephanie here, as she was over. Considering what it was, it was an okay match, Vince obviously won, Linda McMahon threw in the towel while Vince was choking Stephanie.
The Big Show beat Eddie Guerrero for the United States Championship next. It was a good match which Show dominated for the most part.
The main event was the first and only ever 'Biker Chain Match' between The Undertaker and WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. Whoever acquired the chain, got to use it. Lesnar beat Taker to retain his title with help from Vince McMahon.
The best match came earlier in the show, when Kurt Angle and John Cena faced off. This was a very exciting match, with lots of near falls. This was also Cena's best match since his WWE debut match a year and a half earlier, which was also with Kurt Angle.
#9 Judgement Day 2005
Judgement Day 2005 was the end of a good era for Smackdown, for a couple of years at least. Smackdown had an excellent roster from the beginning of the brand extension until 2005.
The show got a little bit shafted in the 2005 Draft compared to RAW, but the roster was still decent. Over the next year or so they would lose more and more stars, so Judgement Day was the last time for a couple of years where Smackdown had a stacked roster for a pay-per-view card.
The newcomer tag team of Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury, along with manager Melina, MNM, opened the show, defending the Tag Team titles with Charlie Hass and Hardcore Holly. Although Hass and Holly were a thrown together team, this was a nicely paced and energetic match that the crowd was surprisingly into. MNM took the win.
Carlito faced off with the Big Show next. For a big man vs cowardly heel math, this was still pretty good. This was one of those matches where Carlito showed just so much promise and such a shame that WWE didn't capitalize on it. Carlito picked up the win after his enforcer Matt Morgan hit Big Show with an F-5.
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Paul London retained his title over Chavo Guerrero in an enjoyable match.
Booker T beat Kurt Angle in a very good match. I was really happy this was a good one as the feud itself was pretty disturbing as it featured Kurt pursuing Booker's wife Sharmell for a sexual nature, including rape implications and S&M visuals. Thankfully the feud ended here.
Orlando Jordan retained the United States Championship over Jon Heidenreich in a useless match. This had the potential to be even worse, so thankfully it ended at the five-minute mark.
Rey Mysterio pinned Eddie Guerrero in a very exciting match, everything from the psychology to mat wrestling was on point here. Guerrero officially turned heel following the match with a brutal and dramatic beat down on Rey.
The best match of the night was the main event. WWE Champion John Cena retained his title over JBL in a brutal and exciting I Quit match. This was actually Cena's first great wrestling match since the aforementioned No Mercy 2003 clash with Kurt Angle.
#8 Armageddon 2006
Armageddon 2006 was a far better event than anyone thought it would be, due to some last minute surprises.
The show opened with a rare match, the Inferno match, making its first appearance in eight years. Kane would defeat MVP here. It wasn't a very good match but the live audience seemed to love the idea of someone lighting up.
The Boogeyman pinned The Miz in one of the worst matches of the year, this should have been saved as a squash for Smackdown. Benoit retained his United States Championship over Chavo Guerrero in a good match and Gregory Helms retained the Cruiserweight Championship over Jimmy Wang Yang in a decent match.
The Undertaker beat Mr. Kennedy in a Last Ride Match. This, I feel, is a pretty underrated match. I thought it was a very solid effort and the dive The Undertaker took off the stage was pretty fantastic. Taker won, of course, but Kennedy looked great.
The main event saw World Champion Batista team up with RAW's WWE Champion John Cena to defeat King Booker and Finlay. This was alright but nothing special. it was surprisingly short for a PPV main event, coming in at under 12 minutes.
The gem of the night came from the Tag Team Championship match. Champions Paul London and Brian Kendrick were scheduled to defend with Will Regal and Dave Taylor. Smackdown General manager Teddy Long announced he was going to give the fans a Christmas present by changing it to a Fatal Four Way Ladder match, also involving MNM and the Hardy Boyz. The four teams tore the roof off the building, it was a fantastic match.
It will, unfortunately, be best remembered for Joey Mercury suffering a gruesome legitimate nose injury after being hit by a ladder, that left he and the ring covered in blood.
#7 TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2016
WWE TLC served as the final WWE Pay-Per-View of 2016 and it was a good way to go out.
The show opened with a WWE Tag Team title match as champions Heath Slater and Rhyno defended their title against Wyatt Family members Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton. The 'Wyatts' came out on top in a short match to lift the gold.
Nikki Bella pinned Carmella in a decent match, another short one at just about 8 minutes, but still decent.
Up next, WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz defended his title with Dolph Ziggler is a Ladder match. This was a fantastic way to close the feud between them, which was arguably WWE's best feud of 2016. A lot of psychology, selling and back and forth action, this was a solid encounter.
Baron Corbin beat Kalisto in a chairs match. This was far better than anyone expected, due to the size difference.
Alexa Bliss would next defeat Becky Lynch for the Smackdown Women's Championship in a Tables match. They both put a lot of effort in here and it showed, this was a good match.
Finally, in the match of the night, WWE Champion AJ Styles retained his title in an excellent TLC match over Dean Ambrose. Other than the ending, James Ellsworth turning heel on Ambrose, this was a fantastic 30-minute main event.
In the closing moments, Styles hit an amazing 450 Splash out of the ring that drove Ambrose through a table, which was phenomenal. These two feuded for three months + because they always had the best match each night.
#6 Fastlane 2018
WWE Fastlane 2018 served as the final WWE single branded pay-per-view, and it was a fine way to go out.
Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura opened up the show with Rusev. The two had a very competitive back and forth match, one of the best WWE PPV opening matches in some time. Just a shame Rusev had to 'inspect the lights', on Rusev Day, of all days.
Up next Randy Orton made history as he officially joined the Grand Slam club when he pinned Bobby Roode to capture the WWE United States Championship. This was a pretty damn good match, perhaps Bobby Roode's best since he joined the Smackdown roster. Randy's 'RKO Out of Nowhere' gets thrown around a lot today, but this RKO really was out of nowhere.
Natalya and Carmella put away Becky Lynch and Naomi in a pretty standard women's tag team match, nothing special here. The Tag Team Championship match saw champions The Usos go to a no-contest with The New Day in a short but passable match when The Bludgeon Brothers interfered, beating up both teams.
Charlotte Flair retained her Women's Championship over Ruby Riott in a solid match. The Nature Girl helped make Ruby look really good here. Charlotte's after party was interrupted by Royal Rumble winner Asuka, who let it be known she was coming for her at WrestleMania.
The main event saw WWE Champion AJ Styles retain his Championship over Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and John Cena in an excellent main event, already a strong match of the year contender from WWE here. The action was fast-paced, went everywhere and everyone involved was allowed to look good.
#5 Judgement Day 2006
Judgement Day 2006 was a pretty solid event. Smackdown had much to prove with this event, they were reviving the King of The Ring tournament for the first time in four years, WWE's latest giant The Great Khali was poised to be dominant and this was WWE's last chance to turn Rey Mysterio's then horrible World title reign around.
The show opened up with MNM defending their WWE Tag Team Championships with Paul London and Brian Kendrick. This was a solid fast-paced opener with the right result, the previously misused London and Kendrick came out on top.
MNM's Melina had a surprisingly entertaining four-minute match with Jillian Hall, the fans that night didn't care for it but it was good while it lasted.
Gregory Helms retained his WWE Cruiserweight Championship over Super Crazy in a decent match, a nice mix of high flying and mat-based action. Mark Henry got a countout win over Kurt Angle. If Henry was going to beat Angle, at least it went down that way as this was at a time when Henry wasn't good in the ring. Angle got something good out of him here though.
Booker T defeated Bobby Lashley to become King of The Ring. The ending was a little screwy as Finlay aided Booker in his win, but up until that point it had been a pretty solid match. Booker was a great heel during this time, it really showed here.
The Great Khali pinned The Undertaker next. Not only the only dud of the evening, but possibly the worst match of 2006 here. Kahli pinned Taker after a boot to the chest, it was horrible. At least he looked like the monster WWE were hoping for.
The Main event saw Rey Mysterio pin JBL in a surprisingly exciting match, and one of the better matches of Bradshaw's career. This one finally proved that Mysterio's title reigns weren't a complete waste.
The best match of the night came earlier in the show, Chris Benoit and Finlay had a technical masterpiece, a fine encounter and one of the best WWE matches of 2006.
#4 No Way Out 2006
No Way Out will be best remembered for it's World Championship main event match and not much else, but I find that the undercard was pretty pleasing.
A Fatal Nine Way for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship opened up the show. Champion Gregory Helms retained over Super Crazy, Psicosis, Kid Kash, Paul London, Brian Kendrick, Funaki, Nunzio and Scotty 2 Hotty. It was a little rushed, but a fast paced passable opener overall.
Up next, JBL pinned Bobby Lashley in a fair match. Given it was Bradshaw and an under experienced Lashley, this could have been much worse.
In a non-title match, Tag Champs MNM faced Matt Hardy and surprise partner, Tatanka. The audience was very quiet for this one, and as it started off slow, it was hard to blame them. It eventually picked up towards the end to be a fun little match. Next was the United States Championship match with Booker T and Chris Benoit.
Fresh off their best of 7 series, this one potentially may not have had too much to offer, but it was surprisingly different to their past matches, and like their past matches, it too delivered in the ring. A solid technical encounter, Benoit took the title hone to a huge pop.
Rey Mysterio put his WrestleMania World title shot on the line next against Randy Orton. I was really hoping this would deliver as the storyline itself was really uncomfortable due to using Eddie Guerrerro's name in disturbing ways. Fortunately it did deliver, Orton and Rey had a steller match, it was very exciting. Orton scored the win with some heel tactics but it was still very good.
The match of the night was probably the best wrestling match of the entire year. World Champion Kurt Angle collided with The Undertaker and it was simply outstanding. So much back and forth action, near falls, reversals - it was 30 minutes of perfection. Angle scored the win with a nice reversal of the Triangle Choke into a Jackknife Rollup.
#3 No Way Out 2004
Another NO Way Out card that will be best remembered for an incredible main event, but also had an underappreciated undercard.
WWE Tag team Champions Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty opened the show defending their titles in Handicap match with the Basham Brothers and Shaniqua. This was pretty decent, considering it was man on woman, and the Brothers never really had any good performances in WWE.
Too Cool, I suppose you could call them, took the win after Rikishi flattened Shaniqua with his rear. Fittingly, she was never seen in WWE again.
A blindfolded Jamie Noble beat ex-girlfriend Nida in another man on woman match. There wasn't much wrestling here, but the live audience seemed to enjoy it for comedic reasons.
Charlie Hass and Shelton Benjamin defeated the APA next. This one, which was just about passable, was mostly Hass and Benjamin.
Hardcore Holly pinned Rhyno, in a physical match. The crowd was pretty hot for Holly actually; he had spent the end of 2003 up until just a few weeks prior to this event being featured in main event matches.
Up next, for the first time in quite a while, the WWE Cruiserweight Championship was shown respect by a good place on the card and nice build up. Rey Mysterio was to defend against Chavo Guerrero, who had been really getting over as a heel. This one was given plenty of time and featured some great in-ring psychology, a lot of back and forth exchanges and some great near falls. The late Chavo Sr. aided his son in defeating Mysterio for his first WWE Cruiserweight title.
A WWE Championship number one contender's match for WrestleMania 20 was next, pitting the Big Show, John Cena and Kurt Angle. All three men put in the effort here, and it showed, it was a solid match. In something we haven't seen since, Cena tapped out to Kurt for the win.
The main event was special - Eddie Guerrero vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Champiosnhip. Could the much smaller Guerrero come out on top over The Beast? As it turns out, yes.
This featured some fast-paced action, great psychology, Guerrero never looked weak but Brock still always looked strong. After being stalled by Goldberg, Guerrero reversed an F-5 into a Tornado DDT and one Frog Splash later, he was Champion. The fans went crazy for the huge, historic and emotional win.
#2 No Mercy 2006
No Mercy 2006 is a WWE Pay-Per-View that you never really here being mentioned by anyone these days and it is a shame, because it was a solid card with some excellent performances, from the matches at least.
Other than an awkward segment with Teddy Long, The Miz, Layla and Big Dick Johnson, everything else was mostly great.
Hometown boys Matt Hardy and Gregory Helms opened the show. The two had a pretty solid opener, which Matt won after a Twist of Faith. WWE Tag Team Champions Paul London and Brian Kendrick retained their titles over KC James and Idol Stevens in a surprisingly good match, when you consider how inexperienced James and Stevens were.
Idol Stevens found better success later as Damian Sandow. Up next, in his TV debut, MVP squashed a jobber. It was a waste of time.
In his biggest challenge to date, up and comer Mr. Kennedy faced off with The Undertaker. It was a pretty competitive match; Taker allowed Kennedy to look like a real challenge. The only bad thing here was the ending, which was Taker getting himself disqualified after hitting Kennedy with his US. title belt.
Next was a Falls Count Anywhere match with Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guererro. Considering the feud was uncomfortable, this needed to be a good match and thankfully it was pretty entertaining. Rey took the win with a cross body in the crowd stands.
The main event was a Fatal Four Way for the World Championship, with King Booker defending with Finlay, Bobby Lashley and Batista. This was an action packed thriller, although it did lack some selling, it was still highly entertaining. The match of the night came from an unadvertised one.
William Regal was ordered to go to the ring for a match with a surprise opponent, which was Chris Benoit, who hadn't been seen in about 6 months. The two had a technical scorcher; this was a hard-hitting war and the best possible match you can get out of, not even 12 minutes.
#1 Vengeance 2003
The first ever Smackdown only event, excluding the then UK exclusive Rebellion, was not just the best single branded pay-per-view in history but one of the best and most underrated WWE events of all time.
The show opened with the first ever United States Championship match, under the WWE banner. Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit had nothing short of a classic, easily the best PPV opening match since Bret and Owen Hart at WrestleMania X. This was a 10/10 performance, a technical collision that told a great story. Eddie took the win after a little help from Rhyno.
Jame Noble and Billy Gunn went one-on-one next. If Jamie won, he got to sleep with Torrie Wilson. The match went just 5 minutes, but for that time, it was surprisingly entertaining, they really made the most of it.
Bradshaw won a Bar Room Brawl, that had been presented by the APA. Featuring WWE Smackdown stars and the like of Doink The Clown, Brother Love and the Easter Bunny, this was pretty silly, but fun for the cameos at least.
Former WCW Tag Team Champions Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman reunited to challenge Charlie Hass and Shelton Benjamin for the WWE Tag Team Championships next. It was yet another 10/10 performance this evening, easily one of the best standard tag team matches of all time. A lot of fast-paced action and exciting near falls only added the thrilling action.
In a short match, Sable pinned Stephanie McMahon with help from A-Train. Although both are former WWE Women's Champions, they are also non-workers, but despite this, it was an entertaining match. Stephanie was pretty over here. The Undertaker took on an up-and-coming John Cena next in a match dubbed Old School vs. New School.
It was a pretty decent match; Cena hadn't had many good matches since his debut with Kurt Angle a year earlier, but this gave some hope that he could be a good performer one day.
Vince McMahon took on one-legged Zach Gowen next. This sounds like a bad one but it actually wasn't. Vince even bled pretty heavily which sold real well. The Chairman took a cheap win but Zach's performance was so good, and he received a standing ovation.
The main event was an excellent contest, a Triple Threat WWE Championship match with Champion Brock Lesnar defending against the Big Show and Kurt Angle.
Once again, a third and final 10/10 performance for the night, this was action packed with a dozen finishing moves, double teams, each man getting time to shine and a dramatic win for new WWE Champion Kurt Angle. It was an excellent match to end an excellent event.
