411’s The Top 25 Moments in WWE SmackDown History Report

-SmackDown will have their season premiere this coming Friday, so FOX broke out this show to celebrate and to fill content on a early Sunday window when they didn’t have a 1 PM NFL game (in my area at least). Speaking of the NFL, Go Niners! Let’s get to it!

-Show opening is full of nostalgia as you would expect. ROCK PEOPLE’S ELBOW SLIDE! UCEY! GROCERY STORE BRAWL! RUTHLESS AGGRESSION!

-Jackie Redmond (looking great) welcomes us to the show and she tells us it would take 3 months of watching 24 hours a day to view every episode of SmackDown. Besides counting down the Top 25 Moments, we will have guests: Becky Lynch, Kofi Kingston (don’t ask about Brock), John Cena, Seth Rollins, Charlotte Flair, and Rey Mysterio.

-The rankings were selected by the Academy of Sports Entertainment (that’s made me laugh) and criteria is as follows: historical significance, rarity (huh), and the WOW factor.

25. DX Express: April 27, 2000
-Steve Austin drops concrete divider on the DX Bus and blows it up nice and good. Of all the Austin using vehicles to inflict damage, this was probably my least favorite. Cole yelling “Austin 3:16 says I just wrecked your bus” is pretty cheesy as well.

24. Sexy Kurt: March 24, 2005
-YES! Kurt Angle was in a feud with Shawn Michaels and was trying to prove he could do everything Shawn did but better. He brought out Sherri and then had Sherri help him sing Shawn’s theme, but changed the words. So awesome! “I’ll make your ankle hurt.” Fantastic and still makes me laugh.

23. Eddie Guerrero WWE Title Celebration: Feb 19, 2004
-Eddie beat Brock Lesnar the previous night for the WWE Title and he had this emotional party to celebrate. Seeing Eddie on my screen is always a win. “We are the WWE Champion.”

-Back to Jackie as she brings in our first guest (via satellite), Rey Mysterio. Rey says Eddie’s WWE Title Celebration was a special moment for everyone. Rey says he was a spectator and was just so happy. He hugged Eddie and told him he loved him. We see photos of Eddie and Rey together over the years. I can’t stop smiling!

22. Carmella Cash In: April 10, 2018
-Charlotte gets attacked by The Bellas and then Carmella cashes in the first Woman’s Money in The Bank contract. I mean, historically it is important as she was the first woman to Cash In. Wishing her the best as she continues with her pregnancy!

21. Brock Lesnar Forklift: March 18, 2022
-Brock terrorizes The Bloodline with a forklift and then rips the door off a truck. Weak choice!

-Becky Lynch up next!

-FOX Commercials!

-Classic Rock: A montage of various Rock moments. I mean it’s only fair because it is his show! Could probably do a Top 25 of just Rock SmackDown moments!

-Jackie mentions Rock’s return a few weeks ago has a staggering 175 million views on social media.

20. Orton Sends Taker to Hell: Nov. 29, 2005
-Randy Orton and Taker were feuding and things went crazy as Orton dumped Taker into a car and threw it into reverse so that it crashed into The SmackDown set. More explosions. So far the academy is all in on vehicular damage.

19. Cage Match: Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss: Jan. 17, 2017
-Back in the early days of the second brand split. This feud helped turned Bliss into a viable star in the division. Bliss gets the win thanks to the help of a masked woman. They don’t show the reveal here, but it was Mickie James.

-Becky Lynch joins us and says they had history that night even if she lost. For her it was the last time she would ever lose a steel cage match. They show highlights from the Steel Cage match against Trish. Becky again notes she hasn’t lost a cage match since the one to Alexa.

18. HEEL BAYLEY: Oct. 11, 2019
-Bayley turns heel as she destroys her inflatable buddies and breaks the harts of six year old girls in ponytails across the world. It has been a change for the better. Bayley ends up beating Charlotte the same night for the Title.

17. The Usos Make History: Nov. 11, 2022
-The Usos defeat New Day in a great match that clinches their record breaking run as Tag Team Champions. They break the longevity record held previously by New Day.

-FOX commercials!

-LOL Moments: Milk Truck (not that one), Heyman signing Cena’s theme, Dance Break, Orton mid-air split, UCEY! Still not sure how they didn’t completely break. Speaking of breaking: KURT ANGLE SINGING JIMMY CRACK CORN. It ends as it should with…DAMN!

16. Coronation of King Booker: May 26, 2006
-The day before my 25th birthday! The gimmick that saved Booker’s WWE run. He took the King of The Ring gimmick and ran with it like no other. Queen Sharmell!

15. Iron Man: Sept 18, 2003
-Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle have a fantastic Iron Man Match. Even crazier is Angle telling the story of finding out his sister died of an overdose and went out to have the match in her honor. Lesnar survives the ankle-lock and wins 5-4 to become the new WWE Champion.

14. Seth Rollins Home Invasion: Oct. 1, 2021
-Edge watches in horror as Seth Rollins breaks into his home. Seth drinks some OJ, eats an apple and just generally becomes a creep. Fun moment, but I wouldn’t say 14th best in history.

-Seth Rollins joins the show and says many words can describe the moment: genius, creepy. He says if he could do it again he would have taken more time to dig into the refrigerator and gotten into a cake or cookies that Beth made. They talk fashion as they show some of Seth’s fit and sees what it would look like on Jackie.

13. Shawn Preaches: March 27, 2009
-Shawn Michaels does his best Taker impression, but is dressed in all white. Taker interrupts through the ring, but Shawn gets away. This was all in the build to Mania 25 and I was there to see their incredible match.

12. AJ Styles Wins WWE Title: Nov. 7, 2017
-Our long national nightmare is over as AJ Styles ends the reign of Jinder Mahal on a taped episode of SmackDown from The UK. I believe this was the first time the WWE Title changed hands outside of North America. AJ ran with that Title during his second run and the match with Brock a few weeks later was fantastic.

11. Tribute to The Troops: Dec. 25, 2003
-The very first time the WWE put on a show for the troops and in this case they flew to Baghdad, Iraq. It has become a traditional show since though I think they do all the shows in The US now.

-FOX commercials!

-For Better or Worse: Video package of all the craziness involving love. AL WILSON!

10. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens Reunite: March 17, 2023
-Sami tries to plead with Jey after turning on Roman, but it’s all for naught as The Usos attack. Kevin Owens saves his old friend and they hug which sets up what would end up being the Main Event for Night One of WrestleMania.

9. Kofi-Mania: April 9, 2019
-Kofi-Mania ran wild in 2019 and the WWE listened and ran with it as Kofi beats Daniel Bryan to become WWE Champion. This moment is for his WWE Title Celebration wit the rest of New Day and his children.

-Kofi Kingston is here and is raising the roof! Kofi says his favorite part was that it happened. It was organic and he never let himself believe that it would actually happen. We see Kofi celebrating with his sons and New Day at WrestleMania after winning the WWE Title. They discuss Big E doing a split and it does look insane that a dude that big can do something like that without tearing every muscle in his legs.

8. Grocery Fight: Dec. 13, 2001
-WOOOOO! Booker T and Austin have a fight inside a local grocery store and it is glorious. I say fight, but really it was Austin beating Booker’s ass all over the store while making food jokes. I have no clue how they didn’t laugh throughout the entire fight. Austin coming out of the milk section is fantastic. Austin: “Price check on a jackass.”

7. Rey Punches Dom: March 24, 2023
-The pop was great and they did a wonderful job building to the moment, but there is some recency bias with this one. Dom runs down his mother and that is where Rey draws the line as she punches Dom in the face. Cole probably had a cigarette after this moment.

6. SmackDown Debut: August 26, 1999
-This would be the first episode after the success of the pilot episode. The Rock and HHH for the WWE Title closes the show and Shawn Michaels superkicks The Rock to help HHH retain.

-FOX commercials!

-Did you know? Championships have changed hands over 115 times in SmackDown history.

5. RING COLLAPSE: June 12, 2003
-Brock defends the WWE Title against Big Show and then IT HAPPENS! Brock delivers a superplex and the ring implodes. Look at the reaction from the crowd and props to the ref for selling it like a champ. Sadly, they don’t include Taz’s “Holy Shit.” Yes, I know it was bleeped, but he was saying what we were all thinking. Great stuff!

4. Charlotte Returns: Dec 30, 2022
-Really? Charlotte returns and beats Ronda for the SmackDown Women’s Title. Again, really? Moving on!

-Charlotte is our next guest and she says the fans made the moment as they were excited to have her back. She calls it a plus that she beat Ronda. Charlotte felt she was rusty and she was nervous about her new music.

-FOX commercials!

-Celebrity Moments: I forgot they were able to get some many of these people.

-Jackie notes SmackDown was put in the dictionary in 2007.

3. FOX Premier: Oct. 4, 2019
-FOX paid crazy money for SmackDown and the first show featured The Rock chumming it up with Becky Lynch to torture King Corbin. I guess, we won’t cover Brock SQUASHING Kofi.

2. John Cena Debuts: June 27, 2002
-Kurt Angle issues an open challenge and some punk kid named John Cena, who has RUTHLESS AGGRESSION, answers the call. After the match, Taker gives Cena props in the back. I think it worked out for the kid.

-John Cena is our final guest and he says the night was extremely stressful. He was just trying to get a spot on the roster and notes that era almost didn’t work out for him as he was nearly released. He learned a lot and says you can’t have a finish without a start.

1. The Bloodline Explodes: June 16, 2023
-Jey Uso tells Jimmy he is out and he is out too and superkicks Roman in the face to the joy of everyone in the arena and watching at home. Captivating moment and the Bloodline story hasn’t really gotten back on track since that moment.

-Cena is back and he feels that moment being #1 is warranted. Man, Roman couldn’t even be bothered to Zoom in for this show.

-Jackie wraps things up and plugs next week’s season premiere of SmackDown where Roman Reigns will finally return.

-This was fine for a one hour fluff piece full of nostalgia. Some awful choices and way too many from the last two years or so. I am sure you all can rattle off the moments that weren’t covered, but it’s their list. For a show on a Sunday afternoon when FOX didn’t have football this was fine. Thanks for reading!