Original subtitles

- The Rock is going to do to you exactly what he does best,

and that's lay the smackdown on your candy ass.

♪

- It's been over a quarter of a century since The Rock uttered

those iconic words.

It inspired another platform for unforgettable WWE moments.

- The word SmackDown has become a show.

It's become an institution.

- Debuting in 1999, SmackDown quickly cemented itself

as must-see TV.

- The ring just imploded.

- Today, we celebrate the first chapter in the historic and

thrilling run of SmackDown.

- It's Austin.

The Rattlesnake is here.

From monumental matches-

- Rock Bottom.

- -to the classic confrontations

that continue to live on in our heads rent-free.

- All hell has broken loose.

- This is WWE's greatest moments.

- Acknowledge me.

- My God.

- Stone Cold with a beer bath.

- This is surreal.

- Look at this.

- He slammed him.

- Welcome, everyone, to WWE's greatest moments,

the celebration of those core memories from

Sports Entertainment's vast, incredible history.

I'm Michael Cole, and on this edition, we're checking

ourselves into the SmackDown Hotel to relive the most iconic

moments from the first decade of the beloved blue brand.

And where better to start the countdown

than the very beginning?

1999 to be exact when WWE introduced a television pilot

called SmackDown.

The concept proved so successful it was launched as a series,

and as they say, the rest is history.

- The most exciting Sports Entertainment

series on television.

This is SmackDown.

- So, at the height of the attitude era, WWE decides to

introduce SmackDown, which goes to show just how huge Raw

was that it wasn't enough.

They needed a different show to just show more.

[crowd chants "Rocky"]

- Huge crowd on hand here, Kemper Arena, chanting

for The People's Champion.

[The Rock's music]

- Oh.

- Oh, here he comes.

- What?

They're going to get The Rock.

He's coming out here.

- Oh, this is going to be very, very interesting here on our

premier broadcast of SmackDown.

- When you're launching a brand-new show, you want to come

out of the gate with the very best.

- Kansas City, welcome to the doghouse.

- They had APA, the Big Show.

They had Mankind, they had Ken Shamrock, they had The Rock.

Those are heavy-hitting names.

- The title on the line right here, Triple H against The Rock

and Shawn Michaels will be the special referee.

[bell rings]

- Rock Bottom.

We're going to have a new champion.

- The most electrifying move.

- What the hell?

Shawn Michaels just super kicked The Rock.

- Shawn Michaels super kicking The Rock so Triple H could win.

Huge.

- There's the Pedigree.

Look at this collusion.

[bell rings]

- It got people excited.

It got people invested in SmackDown

and what it was going to be.

Like, that era of SmackDown just really started with a bang.

- Triple H still the champion

- Destruction in the WWE is commonplace.

But on a 2003 edition of SmackDown, as the Big Show faced

Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship, the two giants

would wreak havoc in one of the most memorable SmackDown

endings in history.

- So, to have Big Show, to have Brock in the ring, these two

massive titans, it felt like a Godzilla battle.

- Big Show's in a land where he doesn't belong, in those ropes.

Here comes Brock.

Oh, whoa.

- Wait a minute.

- No.

- Oh, my God.

- No.

- Lesnar with the-

- No.

- -with the clubbing blows to the back.

- No freaking way.

- Is he setting Big Show up for--

- Superplex.

- No, he can't do this.

- That's a 500-pound superplex.

- Brock Lesnar to the top rope.

- No.

Top rope.

A 500-pound super--

- Oh, superplex.

Oh, my God.

- Holy [bleep].

What the hell?

- The ring just imploded.

The ring blew up.

- When Brock and I broke the ring, it was really something

special and magical because no one saw that coming.

- Brock Lesnar and Big Show are down and out.

A superplex imploded the ring.

- It's one of those moments where you can see and feel the

breath leave the room and everybody

[gasping]

And then cheers.

It's crazy.

- That is a moment you will not forget.

- What a night.

Goodnight from Orlando.

Our number eight moment is sure to pump you up.

Yes, Hollywood megastar Arnold Schwarzenegger made a memorable

appearance on SmackDown in 1999, and a surprise confrontation

with Triple H, The Governator resurrected his alter ego

issuing an hasta la vista, baby, that shocked the WWE Universe.

- Ladies and gentlemen, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

- Arnold, Arnold.

[laughing]

- They love him.

- Arnold Schwarzenegger being on SmackDown was

a huge moment in the WWE.

You're talking about the Terminator himself.

You're talking about a huge box office star.

- It is my pleasure on behalf of WWF fans all over the world to

present to you this World Wrestling --

Championship belt.

- When the biggest movie star in the world is at SmackDown and

wants the best seat in the house for the main event,

you put him on commentary.

- It's amazing.

[bell rings]

- Look at that.

They already started.

- Here we go.

Oh, man.

- I can smell what he's cooking.

The dirtiest fight I've ever seen.

- Arnold Schwarzenegger, he just handed Austin a chair.

Austin with help from Schwarzenegger.

Oh my.

- I had to do that.

It was ridiculous.

The guys were using the chairs all the time.

- Wait a minute, here comes Triple H.

All hell has broken loose.

- One of my favorite things, I just remember almost in tears

laughing so hard when he hit him with that back hand.

- Schwarzenegger all over Triple H.

Schwarzenegger hammering away on Triple H.

- Triple H wasn't ready for that.

Sorry, Hunter.

[laughing]

but you were not ready for that beating that Arnold gave you.

- I'm sure Triple H still feels it to this day.

- The WWE Universe loves a good generational dream matchup.

On a 2002 edition of SmackDown, fans got just that

when "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan faced off against Brock Lesnar.

This is the biggest match of Brock Lesnar's career.

- Hulk Hogan versus Brock Lesnar is an opportunity to be minted

a long-term main eventer.

- Tonight, The Next Big Thing is going experience Hulkamania.

- It's the spring of The Next Big Thing.

- Everything's on the line.

Finish him.

- He's built to go.

He's an animal.

I mean, you see those traps coming up.

It's a gut check.

- Driving Hogan into the mat.

- F5.

- The F5 plants Hogan.

Now the vice-like grip by Lesnar.

Hollywood Hulk Hogan is hurt.

The blood trickling from the mouth of Hogan.

- Hogan's busted up on the inside.

- It's over.

[bell rings]

- Look at Heyman.

This monster has squeezed the life out of Hulk Hogan.

- Any fan watching WWE in 2002 thought Brock Lesnar was

The Next Big Thing.

- This is enough.

- After the match with Hulk Hogan, everyone knew Brock

Lesnar was The Next Big Thing.

- The destruction of a legend.

Moving right along to our number six moment when "Stone Cold"

Steve Austin's pension for causing chaos gave us one of the

most explosive moments in WWE history.

This can only mean one thing, King.

- The DX Express.

- I don't know why people who beep at "Stone Cold" Steve

Austin feel a need to show off fancy new vehicle.

[laughing]

It's like he's going to destroy this somehow.

- I don't think Austin's here tonight, okay.

- Of course not.

- But I got a funny feeling about tonight.

I know he's not here.

I just think we should cover all the bases.

- Get him, get him, get him.

Shane.

Shane, Shane, Shane.

Okay, it's a cardboard.

Shane.

It's a damn cardboard cutout.

- He's here under our noses.

- We got this.

- Oh come on.

- Snake.

- It's a snake.

It's a damn rattlesnake.

- "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, get your ass out here now.

- It's Stone Cold.

- He's in the parking lot.

- You don't wanna be a target for "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

Stone Cold definitely took offense

to their gorgeous new bus.

- It seems the only thing I've ever been good at

is tearing [bleep] up.

- Anytime Stone Cold's around, you know, you kinda know, like,

something's gonna happen.

You know, he's up to something.

- I guess what I'm saying is I'm good at deconstruction.

- What?

- That's the DX Express.

The DX Express bus just exploded.

Do you believe that?

- It's something that I think everybody on the roster wants to

do at some point in time.

Use some heavy machinery and just blow something up.

- He's demolished the DX Express.

- Holy cow.

- And that's the bottom line 'cause Stone Cold said so.

- During the early years of SmackDown, one of the most

feared in-ring competitors was Olympic gold medalist

Kurt Angle, but Kurt also had some serious comedic chops.

Coming in at number five, Kurt's unforgettable rendition of HBK's

iconic theme, Sexy Boy.

[Shawn Michaels' music]

- The best thing about a superstar theme

is that it's catchy.

HBK is a prime example.

- Kurt Angle, in his feud with Shawn Michaels,

he said he could do anything

that Shawn Michaels can do, but better.

[Shawn Michaels' music]

- What the hell?

- HBK?

- The Showstopper.

- Wait a minute.

That's Kurt Angle.

- I said that I would outdo Shawn Michaels.

Tonight, I'm gonna prove that

I'm a better entertainer as well.

I was probably just as good if not better

than Shawn at that time.

- That's Sensational Sherri.

- What the hell?

- She was Shawn Michaels' manager.

- The original songstress behind Shawn Michaels' Sexy Boy music.

- And that, of course, brought us to Sexy Kurt.

- Hit the music.

- Oh.

Oh, Shawn.

I think I'm cute I got gold medals I've got the moves That

makes them all tap out The Angle Slam The Angle Lock

Marty Jannetty still can't walk I'm just a sexy Kurt

- Sexy Kurt.

- I'll make your ankle hurt.

- Ankle hurt.

- It was so bad it was a classic, instantly.

- Now that's how you do an entrance.

- Heading into our number four moment, we jump to February of

2004 when Eddie Guerrero defied the odds when he defeated Brock

Lesnar for the WWE Championship, setting the stage for an epic

celebration on SmackDown.

- Frog Splash.

[crowd yells "One, two, three"]

- Eddie Guerrero does it.

- You work so hard all your life, you know, for something.

And sometimes this dream seemed

so unattainable to me, you know,

that it was hard for me to believe when

it actually happened.

- Wow.

- Hugging his father at ringside.

- How proud are the Guerrero family?

- I can't believe it.

- For the first time in his career,

Eddie Guerrero is WWE Champion.

- SmackDown being the place where Eddie was really able to

build his entire WWE career, there was nothing else

to do but celebrate this man.

Not just for beating Brock Lesnar, but for everything that

he had done on the way.

[Eddie Guerrero's music]

- A ticker tape-type parade for Eddie Guerrero on SmackDown.

- Once Eddie Guerrero came out, you could see in his eyes how

much passion he had for this business.

[Spanish language]

- He worked so hard for it.

Eddie was always dreaming that he just wanted to get that one

accolade to have that, you know, checked off on his list.

- For everyone that supported me, I say,

gracias, thank you.

[Spanish language]

[fireworks]

- Our number three SmackDown moment has the Big Boss Man

attempting to pay his respects at the funeral

of Big Show's father.

But this is the wild and unpredictable world of WWE.

So, perhaps, not quite the kind of condolences you'd expect.

- My father passed away when I was in college,

and he never got to see me become a WWE Superstar.

When I go into being part of a storyline, I commit 200%.

It was a way for me in a lot of ways to pay tribute to my dad.

Dad, I love you.

You were a good man.

- Dearly beloved-

- What in the hell is that?

- -why are we all out here today?

To watch the Big Show cry about his dear old daddy

for the very last time.

- Here comes Boss Man in a police car

with a megaphone on top of it.

It's like something straight out of the Blues Brothers.

- He's not sick, he's not suffering,

he's dead as a doornail.

- There are no lines.

there is no line of decorum.

What line won't you cross?

- Hey, Ms. Wight, now that you're a single woman, would you

like to go out with a man like me?

- No, you don't, you son of a bitch.

Not my momma.

No, you don't.

Hell no.

- I'm sorry.

[laughing]

-That's just- That was special TV there.

And I'm the morbid one, right?

- So, Boss Man attaches something to the casket and then

starts driving away with it and it's going through the grass.

The Big Show jumps on the casket to try to save it

and it's so ridiculous.

- I never thought in a million years they would show that whole

thing on TV because it was just so absurdly ridiculous.

Like, "They'll never put that on TV, this angle's too serious."

Well, they put it on TV.

But am I thankful for it?

Absolutely.

I mean, that's all you can do as an entertainer is try to go out

there and invoke an emotion out of them and make sure

that they had a good experience.

- The blue brand has seen its fair share of incredible debuts.

But on a 2002 episode of SmackDown, the WWE Universe

would witness the debut of one of the most colorful, exciting,

and high-flying superstars to ever step foot in a WWE ring.

- Who's this?

[Rey Mysterio's music]

- And making his SmackDown debut, from San Diego,

California, weighing in at 175 pounds, Rey Mysterio.

- In 2002, my buddy, my boy, Rey Mysterio Jr. makes his debut on

SmackDown against Chavo Guerrero.

- Top rope springboard.

Hurricanrana.

Cover.

- Three.

- Mysterio got him.

- Oh.

- But that wasn't the last of him we'd see that night.

- The main event of that episode was a steel cage match.

- Better get some more help out here.

[bell rings]

- Who's this?

Someone's coming out.

Let's see who it is.

- What the hell?

It's-It's Rey Mysterio.

He's scaling the cage.

Mysterio up high.

- What the hell is Mysterio doing?

Look at Rey.

Look at Mysterio.

- Oh, my God.

A crossbody from the top of the cage.

- When you see him make that dive,

when you see him put it on the line, you see his heart and

that's the guy that you always will pull for.

- You saw a highlight reel of Rey Mysterio that night.

That was the perfect debut for that man.

- And to this day, he can still do everything he used to do.

It doesn't look like he slowed down.

He was born to do that.

And his entire career he's shown it.

- Mysterio victorious tonight on SmackDown.

- Well, here it is, folks, our number one moment

on the countdown.

And this one's a real classic.

In 2001, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin took his hell-raising

antics outside the ring.

The infamous Green Frog Supermarket.

In pursuit of five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time,

five-time champion, Booker T.

- Honey nut.

No.

Check to see if they're fresh.

[laughing]

- Creative tells us, "Hey, man, you and Booker are gonna have

this brawl in a grocery store."

- Attention shoppers.

There's cans of whoop ass on aisle two.

That's aisle two.

- Whoop ass?

- I've never done anything like this before.

Man, I'm like, here's a blank canvas that Booker T and I are

gonna have an opportunity to paint together.

- Austin.

Attacking from behind.

Booker T may have just outsmarted Austin, King.

- Fighting in a grocery store, it can really be stupid.

- Uh-oh.

- That's not Austin.

- And I said, "Man, let's go out and really make

this thing memorable."

[yelling]

- You son of a bitch.

[yelling]

- Who allows pro wrestlers to fight in the grocery store?

- As he's beating Booker T up, he's able to do all the

catchphrases for the products that he's using on him.

- Do you have any Grey Poupon?

Huh?

Have some Grey Poupon.

- Austin was just perfect for-for that.

Like, it's just so many funny lines.

- When the moon hits your-

- Please.

Please.

- -eye, like a big pizza pie, that's amore.

- No.

- Huh, Book?

- So, they went into that back room.

He throws Stone Cold in the milk-

- Get your ass--

Get in there.

- -and then Stone Cold turns it back around on him.

- Oh, God.

Oh, God.

Oh.

- Stone Cold took a milk break in the middle

of this brawl with Booker T.

- Thanks, Book, you got milk?

[yelling]

Let's brawl.

- Oh, just comedic genius.

- I gotta see how much it costs.

- I heard when it was all said and done,

it was about $10,000 worth of damage.

I'm surprised it wasn't 10 times that

[laughing]

because they were all over the place.

- Price check on a jackass.

[groaning]

Oh, I'm gonna get you.

- Price check on a jackass.

A great piece of business as they say, and a perfect example

of the amazing and iconic moments generated over the last

25 years by the beloved blue brand, SmackDown.

That's gonna do it for this episode.

Thank you all for watching WWE's greatest moments.