History YMMV / WWESmackDown

** The [[Wrestling/WWEPGEra PG-era]] and the end of the Brand Extension arguably made matters even worse; things of any major significance to the plot of a storyline rarely, if ever, happened on ''[=SmackDown=]'' anymore, and wrestlers appeared on both shows as they pleased. Things didn't get better until the second brand extension started. While initially off to a rocky start, it only took two weeks for it to be considered better than ''Raw'' almost nigh-universally.

* FaceOfTheBand:
** Well, okay he's technically not the ''{{Face}}'', but The Undertaker has been a major part of ''[=SmackDown=]'' since the first Brand Extension started. Hilariously, his eventual wife Wrestling/MichelleMcCool would be considered the female face of the brand towards the end of said brand extension. In her entire tenure with the company, she was only on the [=SmackDown=] brand and held four titles. This ended up playing a factor in her retiring as she was repeatedly accused of her relationship with Taker as the reason behind her being as such, to the point that one of the writers went as far as to suggest the brand be renamed "The Michelle [=McCool=] and Undertaker Show".
** Before Michelle came along, Wrestling/TorrieWilson was the face of the [=SmackDown=] Divas. At times she was also the ''only'' babyface Diva on there. Not bad for someone who, in direct contrast with [=McCool=], actually ''never'' held any title (though it's believed that the Divas Championship was conceived with the idea of Wilson being its first champion).
** With Taker and Wrestling/JohnCena being less involved, [[Wrestling/JonMoxley Dean Ambrose]] has been considered the top face of ''[=SmackDown=] Live'' during the first year of the new extension (which doesn't hurt that he was World Champion for nearly two months after the new extension began) with Wrestling/AJStyles (who would take the championship from Ambrose) as the top heel. As far as the midcard goes, Wrestling/TheMiz would be a lesser example. Wrestling/BeckyLynch is seen as the top face of the women's division.
** After ''[=WrestleMania=]'' 33 and the ''[=SmackDown=]'' after 'Mania, Wrestling/AJStyles has become this (especially after turning face by burying the hatchet with kayfabe General Manager Wrestling/ShaneMcMahon on the latter episode).
** After ''[=SummerSlam=] 2018'', Wrestling/BeckyLynch not only becomes this for the women's locker room but the entire division as well, with legions of fans cheering for her no matter how hard WWE tries to [[DesignatedVillain paint her as a heel]] while [[CreatorsPet promoting]] Wrestling/CharlotteFlair as their main star.

** Well, okay he's technically not the ''{{Face}}'', but The Undertaker has been a major part of ''[=SmackDown=]'' since the first Brand Extension started. Hilariously, his eventual wife Wrestling/MichelleMcCool would be considered the female face of the brand towards the end of said brand extension. In her entire tenure with the company, she was only on the [=SmackDown=] brand and held four titles. This ended up playing a factor in her retiring as she was repeatedly accused of her relationship with Taker as the reason behind her being such, to the point that one of the writers went as far as to suggest the brand be renamed "The Michelle [=McCool=] and Undertaker Show".

** After ''[SummerSlam=] 2018, Wrestling/BeckyLynch not only becomes this for the women's locker room but the entire division as well, with legions of fans cheering for her no matter how hard WWE tries to [[DesignatedVillain paint her as a heel.]]

** Well, okay he's technically not the ''{{Face}}'', but The Undertaker has been a major part of ''[=SmackDown=]'' since the first Brand Extension started. Hilariously, his eventual wife Wrestling/MichelleMcCool would be considered the female face of the brand towards the end of said brand extension. In her entire tenure with the company, she was only on the [=SmackDown=] brand and held four titles. This ends up playing a factor in her retiring as she was repeatedly accused of her relationship with Taker as the reason behind her being such, to the point that one of the writers went as far as to suggest the brand be renamed "The Michelle [=McCool=] and Undertaker Show".

** Well, okay he's technically not the ''{{Face}}'', but The Undertaker has been a major part of ''[=SmackDown=]'' since the first Brand Extension started. Hilariously his eventual wife Wrestling/MichelleMcCool would be considered the female face of the brand towards the end of said brand extension. In her entire tenure with the company, she was only on the [=SmackDown=] brand and held four titles. This ends up playing a factor in her retiring as she was repeatedly accused of her relationship with Taker as the reason behind her being such, to the point that one of the writers went as far as to suggest the brand be renamed "The Michelle [=McCool=] and Undertaker Show".

** While nowhere near as drastic, many feel ''[=SmackDown=]'' has fallen firmly back into "B-Show" territory after ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 33''; the loss of talents like [[Wrestling/JonMoxley Dean Ambrose]] and Wrestling/TheMiz (and with them their feud for the Intercontinental Championship) was bad enough for many, but the writing is widely agreed to have taken a sharp downturn in quality on top of Wrestling/JinderMahal becoming WWE Champion in a reign which, if it wasn't already, has quickly become known as a debatable all time low for the championship. This largely ended along with both the end of Wrestling/JinderMahal's title reign and the rise of Wrestling/TheUsos as one of the most popular tag teams in the company as a whole, as well as Wrestling/ShinsukeNakamura 's ascent to the main event.

** Well, okay he's technically not the ''{{Face}}'', but Wrestling/TheUndertaker has been a major part of ''[=SmackDown=]'' since the first Brand Extension started. Hilariously his eventual wife Wrestling/MichelleMcCool would be considered the female face of the brand towards the end of said brand extension. In her entire tenure with the company, she was only on the [=SmackDown=] brand and held four titles.

** The six hard-working women who created a fun women's divison in 2016 (Becky Lynch, Naomi, Nikki Bella, Carmella, Alexa Bliss and Natalya) are nicknamed "The New [=SmackDown=] Six".

* DorkAge:

** While [=SmackDown=] is usually praised for its wrestling-focused show, the show's roster, and thus, quality, was decimated in 2004. The show lost most of its main players from the previous two years: Wrestling/BrockLesnar left the company, Wrestling/ChrisBenoit went to RAW during his angle, Wrestling/{{Edge}} (who missed a year due to neck surgery) returned on RAW rather than [=SmackDown=], Wrestling/TheUndertaker began to cut his schedule, and Wrestling/KurtAngle was injured for most of the summer, shuttling him into a GM role. Their once-vaunted tag team division was now reduced to Wrestling/{{the Dudley Boy|z}}s (with one foot out the door in the company), Wrestling/{{Rico|Constantino}} & Charlie Haas, and Wrestling/BillyGunn & [[Wrestling/BobHolly Hardcore Holly]]. The Cruiserweight Division, one of the unique staples of the Blue Brand, was phased out due to Wrestling/{{Vince|McMahon}}'s concerns over their frequent injuries due to the heavy schedule, and ended up going into the hands of Wrestling/{{Jacqueline}}, Chavo Guerrero ''Senior'', and [[Wrestling/ChavoGuerreroJr Chavo Jr.]] winning it back from Jacky with one hand behind his back (on [[Wrestling/JudgmentDay PPV]]). Their newcomers mostly flamed out in that time span; while they hit a home run with rookies like Brock Lesnar and Wrestling/JohnCena in 2002, new faces like Mordecai, Rene Dupree, Kenzo Suzuki, and Nathan Jones all failed to make an impact. And finally, you had [[Wrestling/WWEToughEnough Tough Enough 4]], which played out like a male version of the [[Wrestling/WWEDivaSearch Diva Search]] rather than the well-received reality show of before. The show got so bad that Creator/ScottKeith ended his run of doing reviews of the show and the show's fall arguably helped the company fall out of favor with the IWC for several years.

** Both its midcard and the show as a whole. ''[=SmackDown=]'' offers more in-ring wrestling than promo-heavy ''Raw'', meaning some of the company's underlooked talent get a lot of time to shine by putting on some stellar 10-15 minute matches, and the emphasis on matches over promos tend to be a reason why the IWC usually favors it over ''Raw''. The tag-team division in 2002, dubbed the "[=SmackDown=] Six" by the IWC, also gained notoriety for putting on some incredible matches with each other in either singles or team competition, consisting of a murderer's row of talent including Wrestling/KurtAngle, Wrestling/ChrisBenoit, Wrestling/{{Edge}} (breaking through as a singles star), Wrestling/{{Rey Mysterio|Jr}} (back when his knees were healthy and could fly around the ring), Wrestling/EddieGuerrero [[AndZoidberg and his nephew]] Wrestling/{{Chavo Guerrero|Jr}}.

** While [=SmackDown=] is usually praised for its wrestling-focused show, the show's roster, and thus, quality, was decimated in 2004. The show lost most of its main players from the previous two years: Wrestling/BrockLesnar left the company, Wrestling/ChrisBenoit went to RAW during his angle, Wrestling/{{Edge}} (who missed a year due to neck surgery) returned on RAW rather than [=SmackDown=], Wrestling/TheUndertaker began to cut his schedule, and Wrestling/KurtAngle was injured for most of the summer, shuttling him into a GM role. Their once-vaunted tag team division was now reduced to the Dudley Boyz (with one foot out the door in the company), Rico & Charlie Haas, and Wrestling/BillyGunn & Hardcore Holly. The Cruiserweight Division, one of the unique staples of the Blue Brand, was phased out due to Vince's concerns over their frequent injuries due to the heavy schedule, and ended up going into the hands of Jacqueline, Chavo Guerrero ''Senior'', and Chavo Jr. winning it back from Jacky with one hand behind his back (on PPV). Their newcomers mostly flamed out in that time span; while they hit a home run with rookies like Brock Lesnar and Wrestling/JohnCena in 2002, new faces like Mordecai, Rene Dupree, Kenzo Suzuki, and Nathan Jones all failed to make an impact. And finally, you had Tough Enough 4, which played out like a male version of the [[Wrestling/WWEDivaSearch Diva Search]] rather than the well-received reality show of before. The show got so bad that Creator/ScottKeith ended his run of doing reviews of the show and the show's fall arguably helped the company fall out of favor with the IWC for several years.
** The PG-era and the end of the Brand Extension arguably made matters even worse; things of any major significance to the plot of a storyline rarely, if ever, happened on ''[=SmackDown=]'' anymore, and wrestlers appeared on both shows as they pleased. Things didn't get better until the second brand extension started. While initially off to a rocky start, it only took two weeks for it to be considered better than ''Raw'' almost nigh-universally.
** While nowhere near as drastic, many feel ''[=SmackDown=]'' has fallen firmly back into "B-Show" territory after ''[=WrestleMania=] 33''; the loss of talents like Wrestling/DeanAmbrose and Wrestling/TheMiz (and with them their feud for the Intercontinental Championship) was bad enough for many, but the writing is widely agreed to have taken a sharp downturn in quality on top of Wrestling/JinderMahal becoming WWE Champion in a reign which, if it wasn't already, has quickly become known as a debatable all time low for the championship. This largely ended along with both the end of Wrestling/JinderMahal's title reign and the rise of Wrestling/TheUsos as one of the most popular tag teams in the company as a whole, as well as Wrestling/ShinsukeNakamura 's ascent to the main event.

** During the fall of 2016, Wrestling/HeathSlater and James Ellsworth became immediate fan favorites. Despite no longer wrestling, Wrestling/DanielBryan's position as GM has been very favorably received.

** In the summer of 2017, Breezango emerged as fan favorites due to their "Fashion Police" gimmick and hilarious skits that show off their incredible comedic talents and add a little bit of silliness in the ultra-serious world of sports entertainment and for demonstrating some genunely funny comedy when for years Raw's attempts at comedy skits have been considered to have fell flat.

** With Taker and Wrestling/JohnCena being less involved, Wrestling/DeanAmbrose has been considered the top face of ''[=SmackDown=] Live'' during the first year of the new extension (which doesn't hurt that he was World Champion for nearly two months after the new extension began) with Wrestling/AJStyles (who would take the championship from Ambrose) as the top heel. As far as the midcard goes, Wrestling/TheMiz would be a lesser example. Wrestling/BeckyLynch is seen as the top face of the women's division.

** Well, okay he's technically not the ''{{Face}}'', but Wrestling/TheUndertaker has been a major part of ''[=SmackDown=]'' since the first Brand Extension started. Hilariously his eventual wife Wrestling/MichelleMcCool would be considered the female face of the brand towards the end of said brand extension. In her entire tenure with the company, she was only on the [=SmackDown=] brand and held three titles.