WWE® Celebrates 15 Years of SmackDown® Tonight on Syfy
October 10 2014 - 9:19AM
Business Wire
WWE will air a special 15th Anniversary episode of SmackDown,
tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Syfy. With nearly 800 original episodes,
SmackDown is the second longest-running weekly episodic program in
U.S. television history, only behind WWE’s other flagship program,
Monday Night Raw®. Averaging 3.1 million viewers each week,
SmackDown beats all Friday primetime viewing on any cable
network.
As part of the 15th Anniversary show, Dwayne “The Rock®” Johnson
will appear in a special segment. Tonight’s SmackDown will be the
790th episode for the series. In comparison, Saturday Night Live
has aired 766 episodes since it began in 1975, Gunsmoke aired 635
episodes from 1955-1975, Lassie aired 591 episodes from 1954-1973
and The Simpsons has aired 552 episodes since it began in 1989.
As part of the festivities, celebrities including Ben
Roethlisberger, Cedric The Entertainer, Kyle Busch, Snoop Dogg,
William Shatner and others will share photos from their WWE
experiences on their social media platforms.
Prior to the 15th anniversary episode, fans can watch the WWE
Network special Edge and Christian’s 15th Anniversary SmackDown
Show that Totally Reeks of Awesomeness, featuring WWE Hall of Famer
Edge and WWE Superstar Christian, offering entertaining insight
into the greatest moments from SmackDown’s 15 year history. The
program is now available as part of WWE Network’s video-on-demand
library, containing more than 2,000 hours of content.
“DID YOU KNOW” FACTS ABOUT
SMACKDOWN
- The name SmackDown came from WWE
Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s popular catchphrase, “Lay the
Smackdown.”
- SmackDown has been broadcast from 170
different venues, in 148 cities and towns, in seven different
countries including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom,
Iraq, Japan, Italy and Mexico.
- It would take more than two months of
uninterrupted viewing to watch every episode of SmackDown
back-to-back.
- WWE Superstar John Cena® made his WWE
debut in June 2002 on SmackDown.
- WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock
Lesnar® competed in a 60-minute Iron Man match on SmackDown in
September 2003.
- Brock Lesnar and Big Show® fought to a
no contest when the ring collapsed after Lesnar superplexed Big
Show on SmackDown in June 2003.
- Stephanie McMahon was the first
SmackDown general manager while Teddy Long has the longest total
tenure as a SmackDown general manager.
- Mr. McMahon won his only WWE
Championship on SmackDown on September 16, 1999 when he defeated
Triple H® with Shane McMahon as special guest referee.
- The first Friday episode of SmackDown
was on September 9, 2005 and featured Batista® defeating JBL® in a
Bull Rope Match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE:WWE), is an integrated
media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment.
The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and
deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE
is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television
programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms.
WWE programming is broadcast in more than 170 countries and 35
languages and reaches more than 650 million homes worldwide. The
company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New
York, Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai,
Singapore, Dubai, Munich, Dubai and Tokyo.
Additional information on WWE (NYSE:WWE) can be found at wwe.com
and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go
to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.
Trademarks: All WWE programming,
talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves,
trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE
and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights
are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements: This
press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the
safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These
risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating
to entering into, maintaining and renewing key agreements,
including television and pay-per-view programming and our new
network distribution agreements; risks relating to the launch and
maintenance of our new network; the need for continually developing
creative and entertaining programming; the continued importance of
key performers and the services of Vincent McMahon; the conditions
of the markets in which we compete and acceptance of the Company's
brands, media and merchandise within those markets; uncertainties
relating to regulatory matters; risks resulting from the highly
competitive and fragmented nature of our markets; uncertainties
associated with international markets; the importance of protecting
our intellectual property and complying with the intellectual
property rights of others; the risk of accidents or injuries during
our physically demanding events; risks associated with producing
and travelling to and from our large live events, both domestically
and internationally; risks relating to our film business; risks
relating to new businesses and strategic investments; risks
relating to our computer systems and online operations; risks
relating to general economic conditions and our exposure to bad
debt risk; risks relating to litigation; risks relating to market
expectations for our financial performance; risks relating to our
revolving credit facility; risks relating to the large number of
shares of common stock controlled by members of the McMahon family
and the possibility of the sale of their stock by the McMahons or
the perception of the possibility of such sales; the relatively
small public float of our stock; and other risks and factors set
forth from time to time in Company filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. Actual results could differ materially from
those currently expected or anticipated. In addition, our dividend
is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things,
our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic
plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results
and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of
dividends, general economic and competitive conditions and such
other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant.
WWEMedia:Karen Varga-Sinka,
203-352-8619Karen.Varga-Sinka@wwecorp.comorInvestors:Michael Weitz,
203-352-8642Michael.Weitz@wwecorp.com
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