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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2015 8:04:40 GMT -5
Favourite time of watching, I remember 6 year old me thinking Kurt died when Big Show chokeslammed him off the most unsafe balcony ever. And Lesnar throwing Zach Gowen or whatever down a flight of stairs. I legit thought Kurt was dead. You know, as you do when you're 10. SD used to have such a cool theme in those days:
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Post by BrIaNMeRcY on May 7, 2015 8:53:30 GMT -5
I was definitely a Smackdown guy in 2002 and 2003. Once Benoit and Edge went to Raw in 2004, I found the Raw show to be better. But just thinking back to that era, I remember that if Raw was having a PPV this Sunday, the Smackdown before it would have a PPV like show for free on their TV show. Same if Smackdown was having a PPV this Sunday, Raw would have a huge PPV like show on Monday before it. Everyone looks back fondly at the Attitude Era, but I don't think the Ruthless Aggression Era gets the credit that it rightfully deserves either. It had a lot of great in ring action, and amazing story lines. And the matches weren't 2 minutes each with fake finishes and hokey stuff happening. Though I wonder if a DVD set on the Ruthless Aggression Era will ever come out. It is pretty Benoit heavy for most of it. I'd rather see the WWE upload all of the SmackDown's from July 2002-March of 2004 instead of doing a compilation set. This time period on SmackDown was so meticulously written that is was close to being what we crave to see. I remember being an eighth grader in 2002-2003, and looking forward to Thursday's every week. Watching SmackDown was my escape from the personal issues I was dealing with at the time. Summer 2002-2004 was a golden time for SD! I disliked GM Steph and the stories about wrestlers fawning on her, she's an Excellent heel but very unsuitable for a face role. Also Zach Gowan gnawed on my nerves something ferocious BUT...... man oh man those are small complaints compared to some of the UNREAL matchups this show gave us under Heymans excellent creative reign. You needed Stephanie McMahon as a face General Manager. You needed that balance between a face GM on SmackDown and a heel GM for RAW. People give credit towards Paul Heyman for being the head of creative during SmackDown's hot streak. However, it was David Lagana who really kept the ball moving in 2003. What I found most ironic about all of this is Stephanie McMahon "apparently" wasn't a fan of Heyman's style. When Stephanie was ousted as the GM, Heyman was put into that position. I wished SmackDown would have kept its hot streak going throughout 2004. Comparing SmackDown from late-2002 to mid-2004 is night and day.
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2015 9:04:07 GMT -5
I know this is about SmackDown!, but I just want to say that Eric Bischoff was the greatest GM that RAW ever had.
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2015 9:24:00 GMT -5
Rip giant fist
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2015 10:04:44 GMT -5
Another of my favourite moments was when El Gran Luchador cost Eddie the cage match against JBL. Then Eddie pulled his mask of and it was Kurt Angle! I couldn't believe it! Some damn good storytelling there.
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Post by kazoosandstreamers on May 7, 2015 11:48:40 GMT -5
Smackdown was must see tv back then for me.
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2015 17:28:44 GMT -5
I was definitely a Smackdown guy in 2002 and 2003. Once Benoit and Edge went to Raw in 2004, I found the Raw show to be better. But just thinking back to that era, I remember that if Raw was having a PPV this Sunday, the Smackdown before it would have a PPV like show for free on their TV show. Same if Smackdown was having a PPV this Sunday, Raw would have a huge PPV like show on Monday before it. Everyone looks back fondly at the Attitude Era, but I don't think the Ruthless Aggression Era gets the credit that it rightfully deserves either. It had a lot of great in ring action, and amazing story lines. And the matches weren't 2 minutes each with fake finishes and hokey stuff happening. Though I wonder if a DVD set on the Ruthless Aggression Era will ever come out. It is pretty Benoit heavy for most of it. I'd rather see the WWE upload all of the SmackDown's from July 2002-March of 2004 instead of doing a compilation set. This time period on SmackDown was so meticulously written that is was close to being what we crave to see. I remember being an eighth grader in 2002-2003, and looking forward to Thursday's every week. Watching SmackDown was my escape from the personal issues I was dealing with at the time. Summer 2002-2004 was a golden time for SD! I disliked GM Steph and the stories about wrestlers fawning on her, she's an Excellent heel but very unsuitable for a face role. Also Zach Gowan gnawed on my nerves something ferocious BUT...... man oh man those are small complaints compared to some of the UNREAL matchups this show gave us under Heymans excellent creative reign. You needed Stephanie McMahon as a face General Manager. You needed that balance between a face GM on SmackDown and a heel GM for RAW. People give credit towards Paul Heyman for being the head of creative during SmackDown's hot streak. However, it was David Lagana who really kept the ball moving in 2003. What I found most ironic about all of this is Stephanie McMahon "apparently" wasn't a fan of Heyman's style. When Stephanie was ousted as the GM, Heyman was put into that position. I wished SmackDown would have kept its hot streak going throughout 2004. Comparing SmackDown from late-2002 to mid-2004 is night and day. You definitely needed a face GM.....just not her man.
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2015 17:39:06 GMT -5
SD was my favorite show without a doubt from 2002-2007ish. Then again in 2009 It was just TV gold.
Just sooo many good things came from it. The rise of Cena, Batista eventually being the guy of the show, Angle, Guerrero, Matt Hardy, MVP, JBL and etc
It was must see TV.
RAW was...RAW. I've always hated HHH so the less of him, the better.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2015 1:26:46 GMT -5
Jamie Noble baby!
Jamie Noble boy!
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Infinite
Main Eventer
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Post by Infinite on May 8, 2015 3:50:43 GMT -5
02-04 Smackdown was my favorite crap. So many of my earliest and best wrestling memories come from that show.
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on May 8, 2015 11:23:23 GMT -5
For me it went like this...
Once the draft happened in April 2002, I was a Smackdown fan. All my faves were there, so I watched it. I would watch Raw but I never enjoyed it as much as Smackdown.
Then in January 2004 that changed when Chris Benoit went to Raw. I had a reason to enjoy both Raw and Smackdown. But once Edge came over to Raw in April 2004, and Shelton Benjamin - thus breaking up the WGTT - Smackdown became not as enjoyable. And seeing the Dudleys, RVD, Booker T and all these Raw guys that Triple H and Evolution destroyed go to Smackdown wasn't enough for me to want to watch it.
So from April 2004 on I was a Raw guy.
Though in June of 2005 I did get back into Smackdown again because Benoit being drafted there and that's when he had those wicked US Title matches with Booker, Christian, Orton, and such.
I still wish Raw and Smackdown were seen as 2 different shows. I have watched maybe 5 or 6 Smackdown shows since it went back to being everyone on each show again and no more drafts.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2015 12:12:40 GMT -5
The Draft used to be such a BIG deal back in the day. 2005 was my favourite because of the way it went over several weeks. I was shocked when Cena showed up on RAW and Batista showed up on SmackDown!, it was great TV.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2015 12:12:47 GMT -5
Some more Smackdown Moments!!
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Post by The Kevstaaa on May 9, 2015 7:55:51 GMT -5
When playing old Smackdown vs. Raw games, I always wanted to be Smackdown instead of Raw. As a lot of people have said, the show was pure gold during this era. You had the Smackdown Six, Brock Lesnar dominating, the Tag Title Tournament, the rise of John Cena, Eddie's title run, a personal favorite of mine in the World's Greatest Tag Team...I could go on and on.
I would like to touch on something that @monoxide23 said. 2009 was a great time too that I think often gets overlooked. There was a new Smackdown Six if you will, featuring CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, Edge, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio and John Morrison. These guys would match up in different ways and it was always great. That's without me including a guy like Shelton Benjamin and some others I can't think of.
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2015 8:03:57 GMT -5
Best time for WWE ever, in my opinion. Just so great. Awesome matches, funny skits, and an absolutely incredible roster..
Eddie Guerrero Chris Benoit Brock Lesnar John Cena The Undertaker Kurt Angle Edge Rey Mysterio Triple H Booker T WGTT Randy Orton Goldberg
The list goes on.. I'm slowly competing my DVD collection from this era, too.
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Post by A-Rob on May 9, 2015 14:10:10 GMT -5
Such a classic segment.
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2015 14:42:22 GMT -5
2002-2006 were the glory days of Smackdown. This
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Post by cordless2016 on May 9, 2015 19:40:39 GMT -5
For me it went like this... Once the draft happened in April 2002, I was a Smackdown fan. All my faves were there, so I watched it. I would watch Raw but I never enjoyed it as much as Smackdown. Then in January 2004 that changed when Chris Benoit went to Raw. I had a reason to enjoy both Raw and Smackdown. But once Edge came over to Raw in April 2004, and Shelton Benjamin - thus breaking up the WGTT - Smackdown became not as enjoyable. And seeing the Dudleys, RVD, Booker T and all these Raw guys that Triple H and Evolution destroyed go to Smackdown wasn't enough for me to want to watch it. So from April 2004 on I was a Raw guy. Though in June of 2005 I did get back into Smackdown again because Benoit being drafted there and that's when he had those wicked US Title matches with Booker, Christian, Orton, and such. I still wish Raw and Smackdown were seen as 2 different shows. I have watched maybe 5 or 6 Smackdown shows since it went back to being everyone on each show again and no more drafts. This is exactly how I feel about it. From April '02 - April '04 SD was gold. While Raw will always be presented as the "A" show, SD was simply the better show by a good few miles. Better talent, better stories, and better matches. The stories on SD were always staying fresh, with Lesnar, Angle, Taker, and Show rotating in the main event while Benoit, Guerrero, Edge, Cena, etc... were dominating the midcard while also jumping to the main event every once in a while. The show always had a fresh feeling while Raw was stagnant with HHH dominating every challenger and only HBK looking like a credible threat to him. Then in early 2004 it changed. Lesnar left, Angle got injured, Show took time off, and Benoit, Edge, and Benjamin got moved to Raw. In there place were Booker, RVD, and the Dudleyz. But after being dominated by HHH for the past 2 years and 3 of them being packaged for one HHH, it just sapped any star power they had and left SD with a big gap. I was slightly more pro-Raw than SD after this. Following the '05 draft I was back to SD after Batista, Orton, Benoit, Hassan, and Christian were brought over to help bring back some big names and in-ring talent. It seemed like the WWE were putting emphasis on SD again, but sadly by early 2006 SD was relegated to the "B" show and never got back to that high level it was at just a few years prior.
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Post by BrIaNMeRcY on May 9, 2015 20:42:57 GMT -5
For me it went like this... Once the draft happened in April 2002, I was a Smackdown fan. All my faves were there, so I watched it. I would watch Raw but I never enjoyed it as much as Smackdown. Then in January 2004 that changed when Chris Benoit went to Raw. I had a reason to enjoy both Raw and Smackdown. But once Edge came over to Raw in April 2004, and Shelton Benjamin - thus breaking up the WGTT - Smackdown became not as enjoyable. And seeing the Dudleys, RVD, Booker T and all these Raw guys that Triple H and Evolution destroyed go to Smackdown wasn't enough for me to want to watch it. So from April 2004 on I was a Raw guy. Though in June of 2005 I did get back into Smackdown again because Benoit being drafted there and that's when he had those wicked US Title matches with Booker, Christian, Orton, and such. I still wish Raw and Smackdown were seen as 2 different shows. I have watched maybe 5 or 6 Smackdown shows since it went back to being everyone on each show again and no more drafts. This is exactly how I feel about it. From April '02 - April '04 SD was gold. While Raw will always be presented as the "A" show, SD was simply the better show by a good few miles. Better talent, better stories, and better matches. The stories on SD were always staying fresh, with Lesnar, Angle, Taker, and Show rotating in the main event while Benoit, Guerrero, Edge, Cena, etc... were dominating the midcard while also jumping to the main event every once in a while. The show always had a fresh feeling while Raw was stagnant with HHH dominating every challenger and only HBK looking like a credible threat to him. Then in early 2004 it changed. Lesnar left, Angle got injured, Show took time off, and Benoit, Edge, and Benjamin got moved to Raw. In there place were Booker, RVD, and the Dudleyz. But after being dominated by HHH for the past 2 years and 3 of them being packaged for one HHH, it just sapped any star power they had and left SD with a big gap. I was slightly more pro-Raw than SD after this. Following the '05 draft I was back to SD after Batista, Orton, Benoit, Hassan, and Christian were brought over to help bring back some big names and in-ring talent. It seemed like the WWE were putting emphasis on SD again, but sadly by early 2006 SD was relegated to the "B" show and never got back to that high level it was at just a few years prior. For years, I've always felt UPN moving SmackDown to Friday's was a real detriment. When SmackDown moved to Friday's, I forgot it was even on most weeks. However, I do remember watching the last Thursday edition SmackDown prior to the move to Friday's. Going back to 2003, you can't mention SmackDown without Velocity. I used to look forward to Saturday to watch Confidential and Velocity. I do remember there was some good stuff on Velocity. Don't get me started on RAW in 2003. Should they add those RAW's, it would be torture to watch.
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InKeD
Main Eventer
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Post by InKeD on May 22, 2015 13:02:51 GMT -5
Absolutely loving this thread. Seeing all the praise this time period is getting, really brings a smile to my face. These are the years that reeled me in as a life long wrestling fan. To think of the ammount of talent that I had the pleasure of viewing on a weekly basis is insane to me. You had Eddie Guerrero, The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Brock Lesnar, Rey Mysterio, Edge, John Cena, for a brief period, The Rock, that damn Mr. America guy who seemed oh so familiar. The list goes on and on, but even with that handful of names, they speak for themselves as some of the biggest names in the business. I could compile a list of all my favorite matches, and moments, but I'd end up writing a book. It was truely an awesome time to be a wrestling fan. It had just the right mix of entertainment, shock value, and good ol fassion 'wrasslin'. Was an absolute roller coaster of a ride for my 8-12 year old self.
My favorite thing about this time period was, each show had it's own identity. Comparing the two was almost night and day. They had a different mix of superstars, feuds, titles, even PPV's. As a fan you were able to get behind a particular show based of your prefrence. Much like a sports team, almost. It made things like, The Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, The Draft, Summerslam, Survivor Series, and any other time the two brands met, just that much more special and enjoyable as a fan.
Kind of sad to think what it is today, however. I use to never miss a show, not even Afterburn, nor Velocity. Now I haven't seen a Smackdown since mid 2014 and have the comfort in knowing I haven't missed anything. Smh, leave the memories alone.
Thank you for taking me on this nostalgia trip. Going to watch the few Smackdowns from 2003 that are on the network.
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