This week we said farewell to SmackDown Live as the show moves from USA to FOX on Oct. 4. After years being nothing more than a RAW recap show SmackDown Live was launched in 2016 with a full brand split, separate championships, and superstar draft.
The show quickly became a favourite for the “hardcore” fan by producing stellar wrestling matches and becoming the “land of opportunity”, a place where wrestlers who hadn’t been given that chance, were now able to catch that break and no one benefitted of that opportunity that the women.
It became so popular that the “SmackDown Six” was quickly formed and dominated the show week after week. From this created many eyes on the division. Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Carmella, Naomi, Natalya, and Nikki Bella would make the blue brand the “A” show for women’s wrestling. Whereas Natalya and Nikki Bella already had their accolades in the past, this time period was still refreshing to see them involved.
Becky Lynch was the first SmackDown Women’s Champion and went on to become a mega-star and arguably the biggest name in wrestling. Alexa Bliss became the first women to hold the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships.
Carmella won the first (and second) Women’s Money in the Bank match, successfully cashing in to capture the Women’s Championship. Nikki Bella would also have an insane feud with Carmella that would culminate into a no disqualification match at the TLC pay-per-view.
Naomi felt the glow on way to winning the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Wrestlemania 32. Asuka finally got hands the gold on the blue brand in the first-ever Women’s Tables, Ladders and Chairs match and Natalya was rewarded for the years of hard work with an overdue title run.
Charlotte solidified her dominance in the women’s division, by becoming a 9-time Women’s Champion. Of course, this also involves the RAW brand, but she has made a staple of herself on SmackDown.
More recently the SmackDown Women’s Championship was part of the Wrestlemania main event, in which Becky Lynch became “Becky 2-Belts” before losing to Charlotte at Money in the Bank 2019, who then instantly lost it to Bayley as she cashed in her contract.
SmackDown Live truly lived up the moniker of being the “land of opportunity” bringing success and prominence to many of the WWE’s women’s roster and with a new dawn on the horizon could the new ‘Friday Night SmackDown’ have the same impact? Only time will tell but if the “four horsewomen” situation is anything to go by, I would say yes.
WWE announced that the Four Horsewomen, Raw Women’s Champion, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair will team up to face off against SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley and Sasha Banks as SmackDown debuts on FOX.
To kick things off with a bang, WWE is bringing a stacked show, full of WWE legends, Brock Lesnar vs Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship, Shane McMahon vs Kevin Owens in a “Loser Leaves Town” Ladder match and now The WWE Horsewomen in tag-team action.
WWE making this one of the marquee announcements and attractions of the big-money-move to FOX is a huge deal and proves just how vital the quartet are. The women’s division has never been stronger with the four horsewomen riding high upon its top tier. However, it the tier just below them that needs prominence bringing to it and hopefully, the move to FOX will bring just that.
The upcoming draft will have a massive effect upon the roster and with FOX holding all the chips I am expecting the SmackDown side to come out with the stronger division.
What do you think FOX’s Friday Night SmackDown has to offer the division and who do you want to end up on the blue brand?
