WWF SmackDown!

On August 26, 1999, SmackDown! officially debuted on UPN as a weekly, two-hour, primetime show, marking the debut of WWF professional wrestling on broadcast TV . As a second WWF show complementing Raw , Smackdown! increased the exposure to the company's superstars and the storylines and its airing on the UPN network expanded the accessibility of WWF television to audiences without a cable subscription.

Smackdown! was also conceived to compete against World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s Thursday night show, Thunder , and like Thunder it was recorded on Tuesdays and then broadcast on Thursdays. Smackdown! quickly became UPN's most watched show and is credited for saving the network.

5 million as of late 1999, almost as many as the WWF's flagship show Raw . The new WWF show was so popular that WCW moved Thunder to Wednesdays so that it would not compete directly. However, some advertisers pulled after citing what they thought was the show's overly crude nature on broadcast television, and combined with a Parents Television Council campaign led to bad publicity for WWF. On November 30, 1999, Vince McMahon announced changes that will lead to "less aggression, less colorful language, less sexuality" on Smackdown!

Throughout the show's early existence, The Rock routinely called SmackDown! "his show", in reference to the fact that the name was derived from one of his catchphrases , "Layeth the Smack down".