{"id":94111,"date":"2021-06-16T16:00:19","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T20:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=94111"},"modified":"2021-06-16T11:11:12","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T15:11:12","slug":"resurrection-smackdown-live-part1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/06\/16\/resurrection-smackdown-live-part1\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Years of Live: The Resurrection of SmackDown Live Pt. 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">At the start of 2016, World Wrestling Entertainment brought back the Brand Extension once again separating the WWE superstars into two brands, Raw and SmackDown Live.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Prior to this, <strong><em>SmackDown<\/em><\/strong> hadn\u2019t really had its own edge and personality since 2011, as WWE decided to make <strong><em>Raw<\/em> <em>\u201cSupershow&#8221;<\/em><\/strong> incorporating Smackdown branded stars into the show, therefore leaving the Brand Extension obsolete.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">After WrestleMania 32, with a roster size increasing due to the hype of NXT call ups of <strong>Neville<\/strong>, <strong>Sami Zayn,<\/strong> and <strong>Kevin Owens<\/strong>, the acquisition of talent like <strong>AJ Styles<\/strong> and the Good Brothers of <strong>Karl Anderson<\/strong> and <strong>Luke Gallows<\/strong>, plus the returns of <strong>Chris Jericho<\/strong>, <strong>John Cena,<\/strong> and <strong>Seth Rollins<\/strong> later in the year, the main event picture for the WWE Championship was very loaded, so at the time the draft was needed.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins - WWE Championship Match: SmackDown Live, July 19, 2016\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zCuKOuz4BlE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">At first Smackdown Live seemed to have a disadvantage due to the uneven roster sizes with Raw being three hours and Smackdown being two and the Cruiserweight division being selected to showcase on Raw. Smackdown had an uphill battle to face, but the centerpiece of their plans had the one thing that mattered and that\u2019s then-WWE Champion, <strong>Dean Ambrose<\/strong>. Let\u2019s look back on Smackdown Live, in part one of our series looking back at five years of Smackdown Live.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><b>July 2016 to WrestleMania 33: The Rise of Smackdown Live<\/b><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><em>Smackdown Live<\/em><\/strong> started strong right off the bat as then-Smackdown Live Commissioner, <strong>Shane McMahon<\/strong> and then-General Manager <strong>Daniel Bryan<\/strong> drafting the aforementioned WWE Champion as a sense of leverage against rivals Raw. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Starting at <strong><em>Battleground 2016<\/em><\/strong>, WWE&#8217;s best pay per view of that year, Ambrose defeated former Shield mates and Raw counterparts Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in a triple threat match for the title.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Despite, Raw having a roster size advantage, Smackdown had reliable and consistent talent with a solid track record. AJ Styles, John Cena, <strong>Randy Orton<\/strong>, <strong>Dolph Ziggler<\/strong>, then-Intercontinental Champion <strong>The Miz<\/strong> and cornerstones for the women\u2019s division moving forward in <strong>Becky Lynch<\/strong>, <strong>Alexa Bliss<\/strong> &amp; <strong>Naomi<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">After <strong><em>SummerSlam<\/em><\/strong>, the tides started to turn for the Blue Brand as Smackdown Live had hosted that year\u2019s <strong><em>Backlash<\/em><\/strong>. With two new championships being debuted. The team of <strong>Heath Slater<\/strong> and <strong>Rhyno<\/strong> in a feel-good story would win the tag titles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Becky Lynch would become the third Horsewoman and first NXT Women\u2019s call-up to win the Smackdown Live Women\u2019s Championship without holding the NXT Women\u2019s Championship defeating <strong>Natalya<\/strong>, Naomi, <strong>Nikki Bella<\/strong>, <strong>Carmella,<\/strong> and Alexa Bliss in an elimination match.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">AJ Styles would continue his rise on the main roster winning his first WWE Championship against Dean Ambrose, a title he would hold until <strong><em>Royal Rumble 2017<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p3\"><b>SmackDown Heating Up<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><a id=\"VE0t1kDkS31No2XjQ-psvg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ie\/detail\/520472720\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'VE0t1kDkS31No2XjQ-psvg',sig:'Lbxf9ouOvRzKUBhu2qA2nUrraXARPk-Z4kDBol5M8nc=',w:'396px',h:'594px',items:'520472720',caption: true ,tld:'ie',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">SmackDown would also continue to showcase the mid-card a bit more consistently compared to its Red Brand counterpart.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Then-Intercontinental Champion, The Miz would re-establish himself as one of the best acts in WWE due to his infamous <strong><em>Talking Smack<\/em><\/strong> promo versus then-General Manager Daniel Bryan. Plus the rivalry between him and Dolph Ziggler maintained much-needed intrigue for the title that was the clear match of the night at <strong><em>No Mercy<\/em><\/strong> of that year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The <strong>Bray Wyatt<\/strong>\/Randy Orton rivalry seeds were planted at this time as the long-term booking would establish this rivalry as one of the key rivalries and storylines throughout the rest of the 2016-17 WWE Schedule. Even <strong>James Ellsworth<\/strong> would be a key component of SmackDown programming turning an enhancement talent into a prominent figure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Fast forward to <strong><em>Survivor Series 2016<\/em><\/strong>, a show that was built on the back of fantasy warfare and the booking of the Men\u2019s Survivor Series match between Raw Superstars, then-Universal Champion, <strong>Kevin Owens<\/strong>, then-United States Champion, <strong>Roman Reigns<\/strong>, <strong>Chris Jericho<\/strong>, Seth Rollins and <strong>Braun Strowman<\/strong> versus then-WWE Champion AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, and Shane McMahon. In 52 minutes of great action, Smackdown was survived by Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt establishing themselves as the brand of dominance, despite the tag team, Cruiserweight, and women\u2019s matches not going in their favor. Raw may have technically won the night 3-2 (adding the Sami Zayn vs Miz match) but Smackdown won the fans over.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Show after show, Smackdown would continue to make do with what they had. New champions were crowned with Alexa Bliss and Naomi getting themselves in the spotlight for the Women\u2019s division. <strong>American Alpha<\/strong> would establish themselves as a team of the future and the booking of the WWE Championship remained a bright spot.<\/p>\n<p>With SmackDown Live only having one match on the 2017 Royal Rumble Card with Raw\u2019s Women\u2019s, Cruiserweight and Universal Title matches filling out the main card alongside the Rumble match. John Cena and AJ Styles\u2019 third match would easily be the best match of the calendar year in a near 5-star affair with the two poster children of the last decade, completely stealing the show.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"337\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-59604\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/12\/Bray-Wyatt-Wins-WWE-Championship.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/12\/Bray-Wyatt-Wins-WWE-Championship.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/12\/Bray-Wyatt-Wins-WWE-Championship-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Then came <strong><em>Elimination Chamber<\/em><\/strong>. Alongside, Backlash 2016, this was the best-booked show that made clear the future of the brand. Orton\u2019s sleeper match with the late-Luke Harper was an underrated gem of a match of that entire year, which set up Orton\u2019s WrestleMania plans. Three women\u2019s matches showcased the best of the Smackdown Live Women\u2019s division with James\/Bliss, Natalya\/Nikki Bella, and Bliss\/Naomi all taking place on this show. The night was capped off by one of the best Elimination Chamber matches in recent memory (which would be surpassed by the WWE Title Chamber in 2019) that effectively set up matches for the following <strong><em>WrestleMania<\/em><\/strong> event in Orlando.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Bray\u2019s 1st WWE Championship win put him over as a credible threat by effectively eliminating the last two WWE Champions in John Cena and AJ Styles and would set up him versus Orton for the title. Dean Ambrose\u2019s feud with <strong>Baron Corbin<\/strong> would be set up for their Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania. Cena and The Miz would reignite their feud against each other with their respected spouses (then-spouse in Cena\u2019s case) and Styles\u2019 chase for the WWE Title would end up getting the best of him as the \u201cPhenomenal One\u201d would feud with Commissioner S. McMahon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">At the start of the Draft, Raw appeared to have a clear advantage, but with the booking, the relaxed and neutral approach from the \u201cauthority figures\u201d and the stars that overachieved and then some, the first era of SmackDown Live was a true shock to the system that reinvigorated SmackDown.<\/p>\n<p><em>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. Ultimate Warrior fan? You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/watch.wwe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WWE Network<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Peacock<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Looking to talk wrestling, pro football, or any number of sports? Head on over to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/boards\/index.php\" target=\"_self\">LWOS Boards<\/a>\u00a0to engage in conversation with fellow fans!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At the start of 2016, World Wrestling Entertainment brought back the Brand Extension once again separating the WWE superstars into two brands, Raw and SmackDown Live. Prior to this, SmackDown hadn\u2019t really had its own edge and personality since 2011, as WWE decided to make Raw \u201cSupershow&#8221; incorporating Smackdown branded stars into the show, therefore [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2484,"featured_media":17615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2192,26,4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wrestling","category-smackdown","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe"],"modified_by":"Alex Richards, LWOF Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2484"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}