SmackDown is a brand of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE that was established on March 25, 2002.

As a result of the brand extension, an annual "draft lottery" was instituted to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the lineups.

was the home brand for many top WWE stars including Eddie Guerrero, Batista, Big Show, John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), Kurt Angle, Edge, The Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, John Cena, and Torrie Wilson.

General Manager Theodore Long scheduled a six-man elimination match between Booker T, Chris Benoit, Christian (replacing Big Show, who was picked by Raw in the lottery), John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Muhammad Hassan and The Undertaker to crown the first SmackDown!

Long decreed a battle royal for the vacant title, which was won by Kurt Angle, who was on the Raw brand, but switched to the SmackDown!

(which was taped on April 4), Long revived the King of the Ring tournament after a four-year hiatus as a SmackDown!

The tournament ended at Judgment Day with Booker T as the winner, defeating Bobby Lashley in the final.

However, Edge was attacked by Batista on the June 30 episode of Raw and immediately afterwards CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to become World Heavyweight Champion, bringing the World Heavyweight Championship back to Raw for the first time since 2005.

Michelle McCool became the inaugural champion by defeating Natalya on July 20 at The Great American Bash.

[6] As a result of the 2009 WWE draft in April, then WWE Champion Triple H was drafted to Raw while the World Heavyweight Championship also moved to the Raw brand after Edge lost the title to Cena at WrestleMania 25, once again leaving SmackDown without a world title.

[10] In a 2013 interview with Advertising Age, Stephanie McMahon explained that WWE's decision to end the brand extension was due to wanting their content to flow across television and online platforms.

[12] The 2016 WWE draft took place on the live premiere episode of SmackDown on July 19 to determine the rosters between both brands.

On the November 7, 2017, episode of SmackDown, AJ Styles defeated Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship.

[17] On April 10, 2018, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon announced that Daniel Bryan was back as a full-time WWE Superstar for the roster after his in-ring return at WrestleMania 34, therefore "graciously accepted Daniel's resignation as SmackDown General Manager".

McMahon then named Paige, who had retired from in-ring competition due to injury the night before on Raw, as the new SmackDown General Manager.

[18] When SmackDown moved to FOX beginning with the October 4, 2019, episode, it eventually replaced Raw as the "A" Show.

[19] As a result, SmackDown became the home for the WWE's top stars such as Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, Drew McIntyre and the Usos.

The following year during the 2018 Superstar Shake-Up, the United States Championship was moved to Raw, but returned to SmackDown the next night.