Friday Night SmackDown Season 2 Premiere

Last updated

Friday Night SmackDown: Season 2 Premiere
Promotion WWE
Brand(s) Raw
SmackDown
DateOctober 16, 2020
City Orlando, Florida
Venue WWE ThunderDome at Amway Center
Attendance0
SmackDown special episodes chronology
 Previous
SmackDown's 20th Anniversary
Next 
New Year's Revolution

Friday Night SmackDown: Season 2 Premiere was a special episode of WWE's weekly television program SmackDown that took place on October 16, 2020, and commemorated the program's second season's premiere. It was broadcast live on Fox, and marked the 1-year celebration of return to Friday nights (thus being renamed Friday Night SmackDown).

Contents

The broadcast featured current WWE wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands as well as Hall of Famers and Legends from the past. [1] The main event saw Roman Reigns retain the WWE Universal Championship by defeating Braun Strowman by technical submission. In other matches, Lars Sullivan defeated Jeff Hardy in the opening bout, The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) teamed up for the last time as a stable to defeat Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura and Sheamus, and The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) defeated Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode via disqualification to retain the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship.

Background

Production

SmackDown! made its debut as a professional wrestling television special for the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) on UPN on April 29, 1999, and made its debut as a weekly program for the network on August 26. Over the years it had shifted networks; before its move to Fox, SmackDown had previously aired on its sister syndication service MyNetworkTV from October 2008 to September 2010. [2] [3] On June 26, 2018, WWE announced that SmackDown would move to Fox on Friday nights beginning in 2019, under a five-year contract valued at $205 million per-year. Amid a competitive bidding situation, NBCUniversal and USA Network chose to focus on retaining Raw. The move to pursue SmackDown came as part of Fox's increasing focus on live sports programming and non-scripted entertainment, in the wake of the then-upcoming sale of its film and television studios to Disney. The network's founder Rupert Murdoch promised extensive promotion of the program during its sports telecasts, and proposed a weekly WWE studio show on its cable network FS1. [4] [5]

On September 26, 2019, WWE announced that Michael Cole would be returning to SmackDown for the first time since 2008 to lead the commentary team alongside his former Raw colleagues Corey Graves and Renee Young. [6] The following night, Fox aired a special, SmackDown's Greatest Hits, which featured memorable moments from the program's 20-year history. [7] Booker T and Young hosted a half-hour kickoff special prior to the premiere, joined by Fox Sports reporter Charissa Thompson as "blue carpet" correspondent. [8]

Storylines

The show included six matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, [9] [10] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live (with this broadcast renaming the latter to Friday Night SmackDown). [11]

Event

Preliminary matches

In the first match, Jeff Hardy faced Lars Sullivan. Hardy performed a dropkick and an enzuigiri on Sullivan. Sullivan performed a shoulder block on Hardy. Sullivan attempted a frog splash, but Hardy rolled out of the way, causing Sullivan to land face-first onto the mat. Hardy performed a sitout jawbreaker, an inverted atomic drop, and a Whisper in the Wind on Sullivan but the latter kicked out at one. At ringside, Hardy attempted a maneuver with the steel steps on Sullivan, but the latter caught him and slammed him onto the ring apron, avoiding a countout at an 8-count. Hardy performed a Twist of Fate on Sullivan. As Hardy climbed to the top turnbuckle to perform another senton bomb, Sullivan caught him and performed a Freak Accident on him to win the match.

After that, The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) faced Cesaro, Sheamus and Shinsuke Nakamura in a six-man tag team match. Kingston performed a dropkick off the turnbuckle on Cesaro. Big E performed a powerbomb on Woods onto Sheamus. Kingston performed a frog splash on Sheamus for a near-fall. Cesaro performed a European uppercut on Big E. Big E performed a uranage on Sheamus. Cesaro performed a clothesline on Woods at ringside. Kingston performed a suicide dive on Cesaro and Nakamura. Sheamus performed a Brogue kick on Big E. Kingston performed an enzuigiri and a headbutt on Sheamus. The end saw Big E perform a Big Ending on Sheamus to win for his team.

In the penultimate match, The Street Profits defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championships against Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler. Dawkins performed a shoulder block, a leapfrog, and a dropkick on Ziggler. Roode performed a vertical suplex on Dawkins for a near-fall. Roode knocked Ford off the ring apron and performed another vertical suplex on Dawkins. Ziggler performed a leg drop on Dawkins but Ford broke up the pinfall at a two-count. In the end, Roode and Ziggler double teamed on Ford, resulting in The Street Profits retaining their championship by disqualification.

Main event

In the main event, Roman Reigns defended the Universal Championship against Braun Strowman. At ringside, Reigns performed a headbutt on Strowman. He then drove Strowman into steel steps. Reigns also avoided a countout at a 5-count before once again leaving the ring to continue attacking Strowman. Reigns slammed Strowman's head onto an announce table. Strowman attacked Reigns with a knee to the midsection before driving the latter into a ringpost, over the announce table, and then over the barricade. Back in the ring, Reings attempted a Superman punch, but Strowman countered and attempted a running powerslam on Reigns, who also countered and drove Strowman into a corner. As Reigns attempted a spear, Strowman caught Reigns. However, Reigns was able to perform a guillotine choke, in which Strowman passed out, therefore retaining the championship.

Aftermath

Results

No.ResultsStipulationsTimes [12]
1 Lars Sullivan defeated Jeff Hardy Singles match 4:20
2 The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) defeated Sheamus, Cesaro, and , Shinsuke Nakamura Six-man tag team match 14:45
3 The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) (c) defeated Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode by disqualification Tag team match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship 1:30
4 Roman Reigns (c) (with Paul Heyman) defeated Braun Strowman by technical submission Singles match for the WWE Universal Championship 10:40
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

    See also

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheamus</span> Irish professional wrestler and actor

    Stephen Farrelly is an Irish professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Sheamus.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudio Castagnoli</span> Swiss professional wrestler

    Claudio Castagnoli is a Swiss professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Blackpool Combat Club and one-third of the AEW World Trios Champions. He also performs for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former two-time ROH World Champion. He has previously performed under the ring name Antonio Cesaro in WWE from 2011 to 2022.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">SummerSlam (2017)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

    The 2017 SummerSlam was the 30th annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on August 20, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for the third consecutive year.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Survivor Series (2017)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

    The 2017 Survivor Series was the 31st annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on November 19, 2017, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. After the 2016 event had several interpromotional matches between the two brands, the theme of the 2017 event became brand supremacy, and every match of the main card involved wrestlers of the Raw brand facing wrestlers of the SmackDown brand.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Otis (wrestler)</span> American professional wrestler

    Nikola Bogojević is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Otis and is the second leader of Alpha Academy.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Rumble (2018)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

    The 2018 Royal Rumble was the 31st annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on January 28, 2018, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the third Royal Rumble held at this venue after the 2004 and 2015 events, and was the first to include a women's Royal Rumble match, and consequently, two Royal Rumble matches, which is now standard for the event.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">The Bar (professional wrestling)</span> Professional wrestling tag team

    The Bar, originally simply known as Cesaro and Sheamus, was a professional wrestling tag team in WWE. They were record setting four-time Raw Tag Team Champions and former SmackDown Tag Team Champions, making their team overall five-time champions in WWE.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Survivor Series (2018)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

    The 2018 Survivor Series was the 32nd annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. The event took place on November 18, 2018, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The theme of the event was brand supremacy, where all but one match involved wrestlers of the Raw brand facing wrestlers of the SmackDown brand.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Hell in a Cell (2018)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

    The 2018 Hell in a Cell was the 10th annual Hell in a Cell professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on September 16, 2018, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Previously, Hell in a Cell was held annually in October, thus the 2018 event was the first to not have occurred during that month. The event returned to the October slot the following year, but in 2021, the event series was moved up to June.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Money in the Bank (2018)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

    The 2018 Money in the Bank was the ninth annual Money in the Bank professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on June 17, 2018, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, and was the second Money in the Bank held at this venue after the 2011 event.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">SummerSlam (2018)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

    The 2018 SummerSlam was the 31st annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. The event took place on August 19, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for the fourth and final consecutive year.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Rumble (2019)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

    The 2019 Royal Rumble was the 32nd annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. The event took place on January 27, 2019, at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. During the event, WWE reported there were 48,193 people in attendance.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Greatest Royal Rumble</span> 2018 WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

    WWE Greatest Royal Rumble was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by the American company WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. The event took place on April 27, 2018, at the King Abdullah Sports City's King Abdullah International Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It was the first in a series of WWE events held in Saudi Arabia in support of Saudi Vision 2030, the country's social and economic reform program. At the event, all men's main roster championships at the time were defended, in addition to a 50-man Royal Rumble match, titled the Greatest Royal Rumble match.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Crown Jewel (2018)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

    The 2018 Crown Jewel was the inaugural Crown Jewel professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by the American company WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on November 2, 2018, at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It did not get a DVD release, but it is available on the WWE Network.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Extreme Rules (2019)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

    The 2019 Extreme Rules was the 11th annual Extreme Rules professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. The event took place on July 14, 2019, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The concept of Extreme Rules is that the event features various hardcore-based matches.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Clash of Champions (2019)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

    The 2019 Clash of Champions was the third Clash of Champions professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. The event took place on September 15, 2019, at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. As per the theme of the event, all championships available across the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands at the time were defended.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Elimination Chamber (2020)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

    The 2020 Elimination Chamber was the 10th Elimination Chamber professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on March 8, 2020, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">WrestleMania Backlash (2021)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

    The 2021 WrestleMania Backlash was the 16th Backlash professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on May 16, 2021, from the WWE ThunderDome, hosted at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida. It was WWE's first pay-per-view to present the ThunderDome from the Yuengling Center during the COVID-19 pandemic, following a four-month residency at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was also the first Backlash to livestream on Peacock. From 1999 to 2009, the concept of the Backlash pay-per-view was based around the backlash from WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania. The 2021 event returned Backlash to this original position as the post-WrestleMania pay-per-view, and it was in turn renamed to "WrestleMania Backlash" as it was based around the backlash from WrestleMania 37.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 WWE Draft</span> WWEs intra-brand draft

    The 2020 WWE Draft was the 15th WWE Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between their Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The two-night event began on the October 9 episode of Friday Night SmackDown and concluded on the October 12 episode of Monday Night Raw. Both shows were broadcast from the WWE ThunderDome, hosted at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, with SmackDown airing on FOX and Raw on USA.

    References

    1. "Steve Austin Added To The WWE SmackDown FOX Premiere". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
    2. Wallenstein, Andrew (February 8, 2008). "CW, "SmackDown" Part Ways". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on May 2, 2008. Retrieved February 9, 2008.
    3. "MyNetworkTV crowns WWE its new programming champ". WWE.com . February 26, 2008. Archived from the original on February 29, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
    4. Littleton, Cynthia (August 20, 2019). "WWE's 'NXT' Moves to USA Network as Wrestling Competition Heats Up". Variety. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
    5. "How Fox Bodyslammed Rivals to Win WWE Rights". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
    6. "WWE TV schedule: Changes to announce teams for Raw and SmackDown, new WWE Backstage studio show". CBSSports.com. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
    7. Rueter, Sean (September 13, 2019). "Fox and TNT to air hype shows ahead of SmackDown and AEW premieres". Cageside Seats. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
    8. Hernandez, Kristian. "Behind the Mic: WWE Steps Into the Ring on Friday Night With New Backstage Crew". Sports Video Group. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
    9. Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
    10. "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on March 19, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
    11. Steinberg, Brian (May 25, 2016). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
    12. Powell, Jason (October 16, 2020). "10/16 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review of the "season premiere" with Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman for the WWE Universal Championship, New Day's farewell match vs. Sheamus, Cesaro, and Shinsuke Nakamura, Lars Sullivan vs. Jeff Hardy, Street Profits vs. Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode for the Smackdown Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 16, 2020.