5 WWE Superstars who were on SmackDown 1 and SmackDown 1000
August 26 1999 saw the SmackDown brand become a part of WWE’s efforts to increase its hold over the pro wrestling world. Even though the pilot of the brand was televised on April 29 1999, the actual first episode didn’t come until almost four months later.
Today, SmackDown is at par with WWE’s flagship brand Raw and has some of the greatest wrestlers competing on the brand. We can see wrestlers like Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Charlotte Flair, AJ Styles, Becky Lynch, Asuka, and Jeff Hardy battle it out week after week to entertain the fans.
With such a strong roster, SmackDown hasn’t lost much of its fame and glamour which was started by The Rock, Triple H, Big Show, Kane, The Undertaker, Chyna, and Mankind.
There have been many past and present superstars who have been monumental in the brand’s success. This has led to the iconic 1000th episode of the brand on 16 October 2018 in Washington DC.
SmackDown 1000 was a celebration of the years of success of the brand itself, and the superstars who made the success possible. Here are 5 superstars who were present at the first SmackDown episode, and returned for the 1000th episode.
#5 Edge
The August 26 1999 edition of SmackDown saw Edge fight in a match against his arch-rival Matt Hardy. Edge was accompanied by his longtime friend Christian, while Matt Hardy saw his brother Jeff Hardy accompany him to the ring.
The match was a dark match, which means it was not televised at the time. However, it was an important one which was just at the beginning of a new brand that was going to soon become parallel with Raw in the coming years.
After interferences from both men’s partners during the match, it was Edge who came out victorious at the end of the bout.
Edge returned with The Cutting Edge talk show on SmackDown 1000, where he invited the current SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch to the ring.
The Rated R Superstar had some advice for the Irish Lass Kicker, which was not taken seriously by the latter. In the end, she was attacked by her foe Charlotte Flair to close out the segment.
SmackDown was missing Christian, Matt Hardy, and Jeff Hardy at the iconic show, however, the presence of Edge was surely welcomed.