Ranking all the Eras in the history of WWE Smackdown

In what can be termed as a massive milestone for WWE and the wrestling world, Vince McMahon's younger child, Smackdown Live, completed it's 1000 episodes this past Tuesday. In doing this, the show joined its sister show, Monday Night Raw, as only the second weekly television show to complete 1000 episodes.

Smackdown 1000 was a brilliantly produced episode, with some memorable appearances from some of the biggest stars in the show's history, taking every fan on a huge nostalgic trip. However, despite all the acclaim and praise, the show has earned in the last 19 years, the journey for the blue show has not been as smooth as Raw.

As a matter of fact, no show has seen more time slot changes, more airing day changes and more network changes in their lifespan than Smackdown. In fact, before the second Brand Extension in 2016, the show aired on tape delay for almost 17 years. These changes also reflected on the overall quality, with the show going through various ups and downs. As a big salute to Smackdown, here are the rankings of all such eras in WWE Smackdown's History.

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#7 The Forgotten Show (2014-2016)

With no separate storylines between the two shows, Filler content became the staple of Smackdown

Even though WWE's First Brand Extension ended sometime in 2011, there were still two World Titles in the promotion until 2013. This meant that, despite both World Champions appearing on Raw and Smackdown simultaneously, both shows had separate storylines and rivalries. However, the unification of both World Titles in December 2013 started the worst phase in the history of Smackdown.

With no separate storylines for the two shows and the same superstars appearing on them on a weekly basis, Smackdown turned into a less important show for the promotion and fans alike. Instead of showing important segments and matches on it, WWE saved them for Monday Night Raw and kept most of the filler material for the Blue Show.

Even though all the top tier superstars appeared on it during this period, none of their segments and matches served any purpose and were just there on the show to cover the two hour period. It's astonishing how well the show has recovered from this dark period.

#6 The Secondary Show (2011-2013)

Sheamus and Del Rio were the stars of this era

While slightly better than the period that succeeded it, the post first brand extension era of Smackdown was pretty disappointing in itself as well. With every superstar appearing on both the weekly shows, only the less important storylines and rivalries were given time on Smackdown as most of the prominent storylines featured on Raw.

Not only did this impact the overall quality of the show, but it also damaged the aura around the show's World Title - The illustrious World Heavyweight Title. What once used to be the most important title in the entire WWE became nothing more than a super Intercontinental Title that was mostly held by upper mid-card superstars such as Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler.

While the feuds that were carried out on Raw usually occupied the final few slots on pay per views, most of the feuds from Smackdown floundered in the mid-card. Things got even worse when the World Title match from Mania XXVII and Mania 29 were not even treated as main event matches. While the quality of the product did not deteriorate that much, it was abundantly clear that Smackdown was treated was the Secondary Show during this era.

#5 The Post 'Smackdown-Six' Era (2004-2006)

The phase featured the surprise elevation of two tag team specialists into main eventers

This Era can be best described in just three words - silence after storm. After a breathtaking period of 3 years (more on that later), the quality of WWE Smackdown had quite a dip following the 2004 Draft Lottery period. With Brock Lesnar departing from the WWE following Mania XX, an unexpected name in John Bradshaw Layfield emerged as the top heel on the show and dispatched the ever popular Eddie Guerrero to become the WWE Champion.

His 280-day reign is often regarded as one of the worst WWE championship reigns, as the quality of feuds and matches on pay per view and Smackdown dropped very fast. The transfer of Edge and Chris Benoit to Raw depleted the main event scene, with only The Undertaker, Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle worthy enough of being called legit main eventers. The mid-card, however, flourished during the early years, with John Cena and Booker T exchanging the United States Title.

The ascension of John Cena at WrestleMania 21 and the arrival of Batista and Randy Orton after the 2005 Draft brought some star power, but it came at the expense of Kurt Angle and John Cena's transfer to Raw. The lack of challengers marred Batista's first reign before it was halted by an injury, and the subsequent reigns by Kurt Angle and Rey Mysterio didn't help either. King Booker's character was a pleasant surprise, but his surprise ascension to the top of the ladder only reduced the quality of product that only started to improve after Batista regained the title at Survivor Series 2006.

#4 The Rock's Show(1999-2002)

Everything during this phase felt important.

This Era was pretty much the same as the period after the unification of the World Titles in 2013 in the way that both Raw and Smackdown had the same rivalries and storylines at the same time. However, unlike the latter phase, everything that happened during the first few years of the show felt important. Even though most of the work was carried out on Raw, the one hour of Smackdown featured a lot of in-ring action.

As the man who gave the show its name, The Rock was a prominent fixture of Smackdown during that phase. With the WWE product at its all-time high, other superstars like Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Triple H, Kane and Mick Foley were also part of some of the most memorable moments in the show's history. I mean, who can forget The Rock's WWF Title defence against Triple H? Or Mr. McMahon's surprise WWF Title win?

The one thing that made Smackdown a must watch show during that phase were the regular title matches and vital segments. Even during the Invasion in 2001, segments featuring top superstars from both sides became staples of the show, the most famous of which is Rhyno's gore to Chris Jericho through the Oval Set. Despite Raw being the priority, Smackdown never felt like a neglected show then.

#3 The A-Show (2016-Present)

The trio that turned Smackdown into the A-Show, again.

The reintroduction of Brand Extension in 2016 was the best thing that could have happened to Smackdown at that time. With the show struggling with legitimacy, not only did it start airing live for the first time in history, it became more wrestling-centric than it had been since 2011. The results started showing clearly on the weekly ratings, with Smackdown competing head-to-head with Raw every week.

Superstars such as AJ Styles, John Cena, Dean Ambrose, The Miz and Dolph Ziggler took the whole wrestling world by storm with their majestic work. AJ Styles, in particular, is considered the main reason why the show became a must watch again after years of obscurity. His first reign as WWE Champion, his rivalry with John Cena and Dean Ambrose, produced some of the best matches and segments in the history of the show.

Even though the show took a slight, well huge, dip in the main event scene during that horrific Jinder Mahal reign, it was very well complemented by some exceptional work in the Tag Team and United States Title division. In fact, the rivalry between The Usos and New Day was easily the best tag team rivalry in years. Add to the fact that we have already seen two great women rivalries in 2018, and you know that the show is currently enjoying one of the best phases in quite some time now.

#2 The Golden Era (2007-2011)

Edge and Taker were pivotal for SmackDown during this era

After a highly dull 12 months throughout 2006, The Undertaker's Royal Rumble match victory in 2007 began a phenomenal resurgence for the blue brand. Back at the top of the ladder on Smackdown, it was the first time in years that Taker was being positioned as the biggest superstar on a show, and the result of this soon started showing on the overall quality of the show.

His rivalries with fellow cornerstones of the show, Batista throughout 2007 and with Edge in the first half of 2008, added such a new flair and seriousness to Smackdown's quality that it started reflecting on other rivalries and storylines on the show. Often regarded as the Golden Era of the show, this period was the last time a match from Smackdown main evented WrestleMania. Even after The Undertaker took the part-timers role in 2009 and Batista moved to Raw, the show continued to feature better storylines than its sister show.

Edge's sensational work as a heel did wonders for the show, with his rivalries against Triple H and Jeff Hardy making up for some exceptional TV product. The Intercontinental scene also reached new heights in 2009, with Chris Jericho and Rey Mysterio killing it inside the ring on a weekly basis. Even though 2010 was a slightly low period, the show had a stunning return in the first half of 2011.

Often overshadowed by the Summer of Punk, the rivalry between Christian and Randy Orton was the last epic rivalry on the show before the well-documented downfall started in late 2011. From a pure storyline perspective, this was easily the peak of the show. However, it just fell short to a near perfect phase -the phase with which Smackdown will forever be associated with.

#1 The Wrestling Show(2002-2004)

The Period that turned these superstars into legends

It seems that Brand Extension has always ushered a magical phase for WWE Smackdown. However, no matter how hard WWE tries with its product on Smackdown at present or in the future, it is just impossible to topple this majestic era following the 2002 Brand Extension. With The Rock, who had been the star of the show since its inception, taking an indefinite sabbatical in mid-2002, a new force in the name of Brock Lesnar emerged to take the whole wrestling world by storm.

Throughout this period, while Triple H was using his backstage control to emerge as the face of Raw, Lesnar became the top star of Smackdown with his immense popularity and his stunning in-ring work. However, what really made the show a massive creative success was the mid-card and the tag team division. It was these superstars only who got promoted to the main event scene during this period only and continued their magic their as well.

As what became immensely popular as the 'Smackdown Six', the sextet of Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Eddie and Chavo Guerrero left everyone flabbergasted during the second half of 2002 with inarguably the best in-ring work in WWE history. Each of them benefited from this period, with Angle, Benoit and Eddie Guerrero becoming World Champions less than a year later.

Angle, in particular, became a megastar during this era, with his program against Brock Lesnar providing a breath of fresh air to the main event scene. Mysterio and Chavo became the stars of the cruiserweight division in 2003 and later became main event stars as well. Even the program between Mr McMahon and Hulk Hogan in 2003 was executed in a sensational way. And then there was The Undertaker, who started his long association with the blue show during this Era. Periods like this don't come that often, and the fans who enjoyed it then were lucky to have been part of an invaluable portion of history.