Mid 20th Century
189-576: The Usos are a Samoan-American professional wrestling tag team consisting of twin brothers Joshua Samuel Fatu and Jonathan Solofa Fatu (born August 22, 1985), better known as Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso . They are signed to WWE , where Jey performs the Raw brand while Jimmy performs on the SmackDown brand. They are the three-time Raw Tag Team Champions and five-time SmackDown Tag Team Champions , making their team overall eight-time champions and holding
378-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
567-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
756-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
945-520: A six-person mixed tag team match at Fatal 4-Way . The Usos were scheduled to face The Hart Dynasty on the June 28 episode of Raw , but the match never started as The Usos instead attacked The Harts when they were entering the ring. The Usos defeated The Hart Dynasty for the first time in a six-person mixed tag team match on the July 12 episode of Raw when Jey pinned Smith. The Usos challenged The Harts for
1134-626: A virtual audience and enhanced arena production. WWE returned to hosting and touring shows for both the SmackDown and Raw brands in June 2021. Since the move to Fox, SmackDown has occasionally been pre-empted to FS1 due to conflicts with other Fox Sports programming airing in primetime, particularly the Major League Baseball postseason. In one instance in October 2019 due to the World Series , an hour-long version of
1323-497: A virtual audience displayed on a grandstand constructed from video boards. With the return to live shows in July 2021, a new universal stage was adopted by both SmackDown and Raw , with a high-resolution LED screen, and increasing use of augmented reality graphics for the television production. Notes On July 10, 2007, Merriam-Webster included the word smackdown in Webster's Dictionary . Merriam Webster defined
1512-736: A "pre-game" show. The move saw Syfy paying close to $ 30 million for the show as opposed to the $ 20 million paid by its former network MyNetworkTV. During the August 29, 2011 episode of Raw , WWE dissolved the brand extension, thus allowing performers to appear on Raw and SmackDown at any given time without restriction. The October 14, 2011, episode made SmackDown the second-longest-running weekly episodic television series of American television history (behind Raw , which surpassed that mark on August 1, 2005). On January 18, 2013, SmackDown celebrated its 700th episode. On October 10, 2014, SmackDown celebrated its 15-year anniversary. To help celebrate
1701-576: A "smackdown" as: The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the word smackdown in English back at least as far as 1990, but notes that a professional wrestling television show "popularized" the term. Throughout its broadcast history, the show has aired editions that have different themes. These include tributes to various professional wrestlers who have recently died or retired from actively performing, and episodes commemorating various show milestones or anniversaries. Although SmackDown has been
1890-497: A Fatal 4-Way at WrestleMania 35 , where they would retain. Two days later, on the April 9 episode of SmackDown , The Usos lost the titles to Hardy Boyz . As part of the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up , The Usos were drafted to the Raw brand. They entered a feud with The Revival ( Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson ) on Raw , while also entering a feud with Daniel Bryan and Rowan on SmackDown , thanks to WWE's new Wild Card Rule . On
2079-635: A Sin City Street Fight, but regained at Hell in a Cell . On the October 10 episode of SmackDown Live , The Usos claimed that they had respect for The New Day, turning into fan favorites again. At Survivor Series , they defeated Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus in an interbrand Champion vs Champion match . At Clash of Champions , The Usos retained the title in a fatal four-way tag team match against Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin , The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) and Rusev and Aiden English . At Royal Rumble , The Usos retained
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#17328015931432268-469: A WWE live event held at Hidalgo's Payne Arena . He was released the same day after posting a $ 500 personal recognizance bond. On February 14, 2019, Jonathan Fatu was arrested in Detroit, Michigan following a dispute with police officers when he, Joshua, and Trinity Fatu 's Dodge Journey rental vehicle were pulled over when driving the wrong way on a one-way street. Police claim that when they approached
2457-610: A WWE-oriented studio show ( WWE Backstage ) on FS1. From March 13, 2020, all WWE touring shows were cancelled indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic , with SmackDown , Raw , and pay-per-views being broadcast from a studio in the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida with no audience beginning that night. The ensuing episode also featured Triple H as a guest commentator, and an encore presentation of
2646-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
2835-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
3024-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
3213-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
3402-496: A clash of the generational wrestlers on February 18, The Rotundo Brothers teamed up with Wes Brisco to defeat The Usos and Donny Marlow. They continued their association with Marlow at the television tapings on February 25, when he accompanied them to ringside for a victory against Titus O'Neil and Big E Langston . In March, they were joined by Sarona Snuka, who began acting as their manager and on March 13, The Usos defeated The Fortunate Sons ( Joe Hennig and Brett DiBiase ) to win
3591-430: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . WWE SmackDown WWE SmackDown , also known as Friday Night SmackDown or simply SmackDown ,
3780-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
3969-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
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#17328015931434158-808: A few hours earlier in Ireland and the United Kingdom than in the United States (and a day earlier in Australia, Canada, Singapore, and the Philippines) due to time differences. For international broadcast listings, see below . The show celebrated its 15th anniversary on October 10, 2014, and the 1000th episode on October 16, 2018. The WWE Network ceased operations in the United States on April 4, 2021, with all content moved to Peacock which now has all previous episodes of SmackDown . Recent episodes are still available for on-demand viewing 30 days after
4347-484: A lackey, which Roman agreed to by saying Jey's trademark catchphrase "Yeet". The trio then threw up the ones, a pose made famous during their tenure in The Bloodline. At Crown Jewel on November 2, The Usos and Reigns lost to Sikoa, Tonga and Fatu in a Six-Man Tag Team match with Reigns being pinned by Sikoa. Despite the reunion, the twins maintain their separate identities and entrance themes. The pair starred in
4536-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
4725-451: A live 800th episode special on Syfy's sister channel USA Network , SuperSmackDown Live! , featuring a main event between Dolph Ziggler and Seth Rollins . In January 2015, SmackDown returned to a Thursday time slot. The return to Thursday nights was expected to help attract a younger audience to Syfy, as well as more premium advertising dollars from marketers, who tend to spend more to promote their products, especially film releases, on
4914-587: A losing effort. Throughout June 2011, The Usos continuous to complete victories with Gabriel and Slater in tag team matches, while managing to defeat them in two six-man tag matches while partnering once with Ezekiel Jackson and once with Trent Barreta. The Usos began performing the Siva Tau , a traditional Samoan war dance, as part of their ring entrance, using the dance to display their strength and energize themselves. They performed this entrance until they turned heel on September 6, 2016 on Friday Night Smackdown. On
5103-416: A manner reminiscent of athletic conferences ). In the 2004–05 season, SmackDown! had an average viewership of 5.1 million viewers, making it UPN's second-highest-rated series behind America's Next Top Model . With the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise , SmackDown! moved into its former timeslot on Friday nights for the 2005–06 season, beginning September 9, 2005. WWE subsequently announced that
5292-799: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
5481-561: A means of further highlighting their Samoan culture. During the following months, they competed for The Shield's WWE Tag Team Championship. At Money in the Bank The Usos challenged Rollins and Reigns for the titles, but were unsuccessful and participated in a triple-threat tag team match against the team of Cody Rhodes and Goldust and The Shield at the Hell in a Cell pay per view, which they failed to win. The Usos were involved in
5670-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
5859-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
The Usos - Misplaced Pages Continue
6048-580: A rematch the next night on Raw , The Usos did not regain the titles due to Natalya interfering for a DQ win. At the March 9 SmackDown tapings, Jey Uso suffered a legitimate shoulder injury. On the WrestleMania 31 pre-show, they competed in the fatal-four-way tag team match in which they lost and Jey further injuring his shoulder. After Jey Uso suffered an anterior shoulder dislocation on the left arm, he remained off WWE television for about six months. On
6237-401: A rematch to retain the titles. On January 16, 2022, they broke their previous record of 182 days as longest reigning SmackDown Tag Team Champions. At WrestleMania 38 , The Usos defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs to retain their championship. At WrestleMania Backlash , The Usos and Reigns defeated RK-Bro ( Randy Orton and Riddle ) and Drew McIntyre in a six-man tag team match. On
6426-544: A rematch, ending the feud. They retained the titles at Backlash against Breezango ( Tyler Breeze and Fandango ) and Money in the Bank against The New Day, but lost them at Battleground to The New Day, ending their 124-day reign. On August 20 at the SummerSlam pre-show, The Usos defeated The New Day to recapture the titles. Their reign ended on the September 12 episode of SmackDown Live after they lost to The New Day in
6615-807: A result of the charges, both brothers have been generally barred from entering Canada; they were given special permission to enter the country in February 2023 for the Elimination Chamber event in Montreal. The brothers were also barred from entering Wales for Clash at the Castle (2022) , which eventually led to the main roster debut of their brother, Solo Sikoa . Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
6804-470: A small LED board to the left side of the ring on SmackDown , similar to Raw . On the September 14, 2015 season premiere of Raw , the middle rope was colored gold. Throughout the month of October 2015, the WWE broadcast table, entrance ramp, and ring skirts were co-branded with Susan G. Komen for the cure of breast cancer. Also, the middle ring rope was pink to promote the fight against breast cancer. Following
6993-416: A special pink middle-rope in the ring. SmackDown ' s ring ropes were usually blue from 1999 to 2012 (although they were black for a period between 2001 and 2002). They remained blue until December 2012 when they were permanently changed to white, with all WWE programming now using white ring ropes. On August 22, 2014, SmackDown switched to a full 16:9 letterbox presentation, with a down-scaled version of
7182-566: A title match at Night of Champions. They failed to capture the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships in their rematch against Owens and Zayn on the April 28 episode of SmackDown . At Night of Champions , Jimmy turned face after he and Jey cost Reigns and Sikoa the match for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships, with Jimmy superkicking Reigns for mistreating them. Jimmy was officially excommunicated from The Bloodline for his actions at Night of Champions on
7371-717: A triple threat tag team match, but The Usos dropped the belts to The Bludgeon Brothers after Harper pinned Kofi Kingston. This ended their reign at 182 days, setting a record for the longest SmackDown Tag Team Championship reign. On the SmackDown after WrestleMania, The Usos would defeat the New Day to earn a rematch against the Bludgeon Brothers for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble . At
7560-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
7749-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
The Usos - Misplaced Pages Continue
7938-952: A wrestling match. The primary commentators for SmackDown are Michael Cole and Corey Graves . Additional commentary has been provided by Taz , Jim Ross , Josh Mathews , Mauro Ranallo , Tom Phillips and others since its creation. In addition to the Spanish-language Fox Deportes simulcasting with Fox live in the United States and broadcasts to American troops deployed overseas on AFN Sports 2 , SmackDown also appears on-air internationally. SmackDown airs live on Fox Sports in Mexico and across Central and South America since 2014. In Canada, SmackDown has historically been aired by Sportsnet 360 (SN360, formerly known as The Score), as part of network owner Rogers Media 's long-term deal with WWE. The program has historically aired sometimes in simulcast with
8127-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
8316-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
8505-442: Is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE . It airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network . SmackDown is the most viewed television show on Friday nights in the United States of America. Fox Deportes simulcasts the program with Spanish-language commentary. The show features characters from the SmackDown brand , to which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform. It
8694-741: Is considered to be one of WWE's two flagship programs, along with Monday Night Raw . SmackDown! debuted in Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri UPN on April 29, 1999, and was formerly broadcast on Thursday nights. The show moved to Friday nights on September 9, 2005, and began airing on The CW in September 2006, after the merger of UPN and the WB . The show later moved to MyNetworkTV in October 2008. On October 1, 2010, SmackDown moved to cable network Syfy , and eventually returned to Thursdays on January 15, 2015. The show then moved to
8883-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
9072-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
9261-576: The 20th Anniversary special. The episode also marked the return of SmackDown to Friday nights and the return of WWE programming to Fox for the first time since Fox aired the November 14, 1992 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event . The agreement came as WWE's previous broadcast deal with USA Network to air both SmackDown and WWE Raw was set to expire, and as Fox has increasingly emphasized live sports programming and non-scripted entertainment in
9450-851: The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal . This marked Jey's first major singles accolade in WWE. After Jimmy returned from injury on the May 7 episode of SmackDown , there was an initial strife between The Usos and Reigns before they all reconciled and formed a faction, with Jimmy turning heel in the process. During the Money in the Bank Kickoff pre-show on July 18, The Usos were successful in capturing their fifth SmackDown Tag Team Championship from The Mysterios ( Rey and Dominik ). At SummerSlam , The Usos would defeat The Mysterios in
9639-447: The Anoaʻi family ; they are first cousins once-removed from current and former WWE performers Afa Anoaʻi Jr. (Manu), Samula Anoaʻi (Samu), the late Matt Anoaʻi (Rosey), Joe Anoaʻi (Roman Reigns), Sean Maluta , the late WWE Hall of Famer Rodney Anoaʻi (Yokozuna), Lloyd Anoaʻi (L.A Smooth), Lance Anoaʻi , and Jacob Fatu . They are also the nephews of Sam Fatu (The Tonga Kid),
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#17328015931439828-656: The Battleground and SummerSlam pre-shows. Then, they entered an 8 tag team tournament to determine the inaugural holders of the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship . On the September 6 episode of SmackDown , The Usos turned heel for the first time since 2011 when they attacked American Alpha after losing to them in 28 seconds in the semi-finals. At Backlash , The Usos defeated the Hype Bros before facing Heath Slater and Rhyno in
10017-609: The Elimination Chamber PPV against the Outlaws but were once again unsuccessful, but they won the titles on the March 3 episode of Raw . On the WrestleMania XXX pre-show, The Usos successfully defended their titles in a Fatal Four Way Elimination match against Ryback and Curtis Axel , The Real Americans, and Los Matadores . The Usos then resumed a rivalry with The Wyatt Family, successfully retaining
10206-576: The Elimination Chamber after they attacked American Alpha. On the March 21, 2017, episode of SmackDown , The Usos defeated American Alpha to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, becoming the first team to have won both the Raw (formerly WWE Tag Team Championship) and SmackDown Tag Team Championship. On the April 11 episode of SmackDown Live , The Usos were successful in their first title defense by defeating American Alpha in
10395-560: The Elimination Chamber match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from the titular pay-per-view the previous Sunday. On August 17, WWE announced that SmackDown , Raw , and pay-per-views would move out of the Performance Center to the " WWE ThunderDome " at Orlando's Amway Center , beginning with SmackDown on August 21. The program continued to be broadcast behind closed doors, but with
10584-515: The FCW Florida Tag Team Championship . They made their first title defense at the March 18 television tapings by defeating The Dudebusters ( Trent Baretta and Caylen Croft ) to retain. They went on to successfully defend the championship against Percy Watson and Darren Young , Hunico and Tito Nieves , Skip Sheffield and Darren Young, and The Dudebusters, who they defeated by disqualification when Tamina pulled
10773-569: The NXT UK Tag Team Championship to become the longest reigning male tag team champions in WWE history, regardless of championship or roster status. At Survivor Series WarGames on November 26, The Bloodline (The Usos, Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa and Sami Zayn) defeated The Brawling Brutes, Drew McIntyre and Kevin Owens in a WarGames match . Tensions between The Usos and Zayn resurfaced in subsequent weeks. After Reigns retained
10962-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
11151-702: The Royal Rumble match , with Jey and Jimmy being the first and second entrants respectively. On the February 19 episode of Raw , Jimmy cost Jey a match for the Intercontinental Championship and attacked him after the match. Fed up with his brother's actions, Jey challenged Jimmy to a match at WrestleMania XL on the March 11 episode of Raw , which Jimmy accepted on that week's SmackDown . At Night 1 of Wrestlemania XL, Jey defeated Jimmy after Jimmy had pretended to apologize to Jey for his actions, in which Jey initially accepted which led to
11340-519: The Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble against Kevin Owens, The Usos proceeded to beat down Owens and handcuff him to the ring ropes. After refusing to hit Owens, Zayn then hit Reigns with a steel chair, turning face. Jimmy, Sikoa and Reigns attacked Zayn whilst Jey looked on and eventually left the ring in disgust. After the event, Jey declared on Instagram that "he's out" and did not appear on
11529-764: The WWE Raw Tag Team Championship three times and winning the Slammy Award for Tag Team of the Year in both 2014 and 2015. In 2017, they won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship on three occasions, followed by a fourth reign in 2019 and a fifth reign in 2021. They are the first team to win both the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships and the first team to hold them simultaneously as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship . In addition, The Usos have competed in
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#173280159314311718-470: The WrestleMania 32 kickoff show, The Usos defeated The Dudley Boyz, but the next night on Raw , they were defeated by the Dudleys in tables match. On the April 11 episode of Raw , The Usos defeated The Social Outcasts in the first round of a tag team tournament. Following the match, they were attacked by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson . The following week on Raw , The Usos lost to The Vaudevillains in
11907-406: The brand extension and split between Raw and SmackDown , it was announced that SmackDown would move to Tuesday nights and be broadcast live. On the July 11, 2016 episode of Raw , Vince McMahon named Shane McMahon the commissioner of SmackDown. Then next week on Raw , Daniel Bryan was revealed as the new SmackDown General Manager. On July 22, 2016, general manager Daniel Bryan revealed
12096-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
12285-707: The referee out of the ring to stop him from counting the pinfall . On June 3, The Usos lost the Florida Tag Team Championship to "Los Aviadores" (Hunico and Dos Equis ). On the May 24, 2010, episode of Raw , The Usos (with Jules now wrestling as Jey Uso) and Tamina made their debut as heels by attacking the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions , The Hart Dynasty ( Tyson Kidd , David Hart Smith , and Natalya ). The following week, Raw General Manager Bret Hart stated that he had signed them to contracts. That night,
12474-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
12663-413: The traditional Survivor Series elimination match at Survivor Series , teaming with Rey Mysterio , Cody Rhodes and Goldust in a losing effort against The Real Americans and The Shield . After a brief feud against The Wyatt Family , at the beginning of 2014, The Usos would go on a winning streak and began to demand a Tag Team Championship match from The New Age Outlaws . They received a tag title shot at
12852-423: The 15th anniversary, Stephanie McMahon came out first, then Laurinaitis and Long, respectively, the latter of which kept one-upping each other for the main event of the night until McMahon decided to keep the 15-man tag team match that Long suggested, on the condition Laurinaitis and Long be the captains of each team like at WrestleMania XXVIII . Long's team won the match. On December 16, 2014, SmackDown aired
13041-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
13230-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
13419-509: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
13608-517: The April 18 episode of Main Event , Jimmy Uso defeated Xavier Woods . Jimmy performed commentary while Jey was out with the injury. On the May 12 episode of Main Event , Jimmy Uso teamed with Zack Ryder to face Luke Harper and Erick Rowan in a losing effort. Jimmy Uso returned to action on the September 10 episode of SmackDown , teaming with Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in a six-man tag team against The New Day ( Big E , Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods). They won via disqualification after Jimmy
13797-485: The Ascension, but the Ascension ambushed The Usos and again delivered a beatdown. On the September 5 episode of NXT , the Ascension defeated The Usos. The Usos then teamed with Richie Steamboat to lose to The Ascension and Kassius Ohno on the October 17 episode of NXT . The Usos' feud with the Ascension was cut short when Cameron was released from WWE. At WrestleMania XXVIII , The Usos unsuccessfully challenged for
13986-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
14175-415: The August 11 episode of SmackDown , he explained that the reason for his actions was out of fear that if Jey had become the new Tribal Chief, the power would have corrupted him. Jey responded by superkicking Reigns, Sikoa, and finally Jimmy. Afterwards, he declared that he was quitting WWE. A few weeks later, Jimmy returned on the September 1 episode of SmackDown with a new theme song, while Jey moved to Raw
14364-525: The Day. As of August 3, 2012, the show has used the modified WWE HD universal set, which debuted at Raw 1000 on July 23. From September 21, 2012, until October 26, 2012, October 4, 2013, until November 1, 2013, October 3 and 31, 2014, and October 2 and 30, 2015, WWE worked in conjunction with Susan G. Komen for the Cure to raise awareness for breast cancer by adorning the SmackDown set with pink ribbons and
14553-699: The December 6 episode of Raw , The Usos were in a fatal four-way tag match and were eliminated, but Tamina stayed in the corner of Marella and Kozlov upon their winning of the WWE Tag Team Championship; as a result, she turned face and left The Usos. On April 26, 2011, both Usos were drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2011 Supplemental Draft . On the June 2 episode of Superstars , The Usos turned face when they competed against The Corre ( Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater ) in
14742-780: The January 26, 2007 episode of WWE SmackDown , Jon wrestled under the name "Jon Robinson" teaming with Adam Evans in a losing effort to Deuce 'n Domino . On December 12, 2008, the brothers made their professional wrestling debut as the Samoan Soldiers, at the NWA Prime Time event, defeating Killer Instinct (Jake Slater and Mike Stratus). In 2009, they worked in Texas. The Uso Brothers debuted in Florida Championship wrestling in January 2010, by defeating The Rotundo Brothers ( Duke and Bo ) on January 14. In
14931-633: The July 16 episode of Raw, The Usos made an appearance dancing with their father, Rikishi, after Rikishi made a "Blast from the Past" return defeating Heath Slater. On the September 7 episode of SmackDown , The Usos were unsuccessful in winning a Triple Threat Tag Team match for No# 1 contendership for the WWE Tag Team titles against The Prime Time Players, and Primo and Epico. On the June 3 episode of Raw , The Usos began to use face paint similar to their deceased uncle Eddie Fatu , also known as Umaga, as
15120-660: The July 29 episode of SmackDown , The Usos challenged David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty for the WWE Tag Team Titles, but were defeated. The Usos then began appearing on the fifth season of NXT in September 2011, by delivering post-match attacks on the team of Darren Young and JTG . The Usos then went on to defeat Young and JTG on the September 27 episode of NXT Redemption . However, just like how The Usos debuted on NXT, they were attacked after their win by another debuting tag team, Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks , and The Usos were defeated by Hawkins and Reks
15309-479: The July 3 episode of SmackDown and losing in the first round of a number one contender's tournament to The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) on the July 31 episode of SmackDown . After months of treading in the division, The Usos began to build momentum, starting with Survivor Series , where they, as Team SmackDown's captains, emerged from the 10-on-10 Survivor Series match as the sole survivors, giving SmackDown their only win over Raw. They would go on to challenge The Bar for
15498-584: The June 2 episode of SmackDown during Reigns' 1,000 days Universal Champion celebration. On the June 9 episode of SmackDown , Jey was given a United States Championship opportunity against Austin Theory by Heyman to entice him to leave Jimmy, but lost the match after Jimmy while saving Jey from Pretty Deadly , mistakenly attacked Jey while aiming for Sikoa who tried to attack Jimmy. On the following week's episode of SmackDown , Jey decided to side with Jimmy and left The Bloodline by kicking Reigns, turning face in
15687-528: The March 20 episode of Raw , a reunited Owens and Zayn challenged The Usos for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 39 , which The Usos accepted. On night one of the event on April 1, The Usos main evented WrestleMania for the first time in their careers, where they lost the titles to Owens and Zayn, thus ending their Raw reign at 316 days and their record SmackDown reign at 622 days. This match also marked
15876-734: The May 20 episode of SmackDown , they, with outside interference from Reigns, defeated RK-Bro to win the Raw Tag Team Championship, becoming the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions . This gave The Usos their third reign as Raw Tag Team Champions (and first reign with the title since 2014) and made them the first team to hold the Raw and SmackDown titles simultaneously. At Money in the Bank , The Usos retained their undisputed titles against The Street Profits in controversial fashion, with The Usos winning by pinfall despite Montez Ford's shoulder being off
16065-634: The May 7 episode of SmackDown Live , they failed to regain the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from Bryan and Rowan. At Money in the Bank , they defeated Bryan and Rowan in a non-title match. They proceed their feud with The Revival, where the two team would be trading wins with one another. On the June 10 episode of Raw , both The Usos and The Revival competed in a triple threat match for the Raw Tag Team Championship against champions Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder , which The Revival won. At Extreme Rules , The Usos challenged The Revival for
16254-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
16443-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
16632-463: The October 20 episode of SmackDown , the hooded figure, a similar tactic that happened in SummerSlam, who pulled Jimmy, was revealed to be Jey. They brawled each other before Jey was given a fine by SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis and was ejected from the arena along with Raw General Manager Adam Pearce . At Royal Rumble , on January 27, 2024, The Usos faced each other for the first time in
16821-536: The Ovaltron either to the left or to the right of the stage. In August 2001, as part of celebrating SmackDown! ' s second anniversary, the show received a new logo and set, which consisted of a fist centered above the entrance with the WWF/E scratch logo above it, and many glass panes along the sides strongly resembling shattered glass with two TitanTrons on each side. From September 23, 2004, to September 26, 2008,
17010-607: The Ring ( Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah , Saudi Arabia ), and August 31 for Bash in Berlin ( Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany ). On September 21, 2023, it was announced that SmackDown would return to USA Network in October 2024, following the expiration of WWE's contract with Fox. The agreement with NBCUniversal was reported to be valued at $ 1.4 billion over five years, an increase over
17199-713: The Samoan language. From 2011 to 2016, they performed the Samoan Siva Tau before their matches. Jonathan married fellow wrestler and longtime girlfriend Trinity McCray (Naomi) on January 16, 2014. She is also the stepmother of Jonathan's two children, Jayla and Jaidan. Joshua married his wife Takecia Travis in 2015. They have two sons together. Jonathan Fatu was arrested on September 29, 2011, in Hillsborough County, Florida and charged with DUI . A police officer observed Fatu at around 3 AM EDT driving
17388-420: The SmackDown Tag Team Championship in a triple threat match, which also included the New Day at TLC , but failed to capture the titles. On the January 29, 2019, episode of SmackDown , they defeated The Bar, The New Day and new SmackDown tag team Heavy Machinery ( Otis and Tucker ) to get a SmackDown Tag Team Championship match at Elimination Chamber , where they defeated Shane McMahon and The Miz, winning
17577-500: The U.S. airing and sometimes a day before. In 2005, when the taped show moved to Friday airings in the U.S., it remained on Thursdays in Canada for a period of time. During its return to Thursdays in the U.S. from January 2015 to July 2016, pre-recorded episodes of SmackDown aired on Wednesdays—one night earlier—due to conflicts with the channel's Thursday-night National Hockey League broadcasts. The program has aired in simulcast with
17766-488: The U.S. broadcast since it switched to a live format in July 2016, initially on Tuesdays and then moving back to Fridays in October 2019. Despite the move to Fox (which is widely carried on Canadian television providers), Rogers had not elected to simulcast SmackDown on its broadcast network Citytv to invoke potential simsub rights. As Rogers holds the rights to the National Hockey League broadcasts ,
17955-655: The Unified Tag Team Championship at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, but were unsuccessful. On the July 26 episode of Raw , Jey Uso went against Randy Orton in his first singles match on the brand in a losing effort. They received another shot for the Tag Team Championship at Night of Champions in a Tag Team Turmoil match , where they eliminated both The Hart Dynasty and the team of Vladimir Kozlov and Santino Marella before being eliminated by Mark Henry and Evan Bourne . On
18144-548: The WWE Tag Team Championship in a triple threat dark match against champions Primo and Epico and Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel when the defending champions retained their titles. At No Way Out , The Usos competed with Primo and Epico, Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd, and The Prime Time Players in a Fatal-4-Way Tag Team match to determine the Number 1 contenders for the WWE Tag Team Champions and were unsuccessful. On
18333-526: The animated film The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania! , which they play a role as Usobots, remaining in the same role. Jimmy was regularly featured in the reality television series Total Divas due to his marriage with Total Divas star Naomi. Jey has also made brief appearances. Jimmy has also appeared in his wife's music video for her song "Dance All Night", which was put on WWE's YouTube channel. The brothers are regularly featured on Xavier Woods ' YouTube channel UpUpDownDown , where Jimmy goes by
18522-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
18711-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
18900-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
19089-471: The brand split in 2016, the ropes return to its original blue color as well as debuting a new set. The post brand extension set was almost identical to the TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs set from 2009 to 2013 and caused some negative feedback among online fans for re-using an old stage design. A month after the new set debut, a more distinctive and elaborate stage was created for SmackDown. The stage used
19278-459: The brothers hugging in the ring during the match before Jimmy superkicked Jey, deceiving him in the process and trying to win the match for himself, but being unsuccessful in doing so. On the following episode of SmackDown , Jimmy was exiled from The Bloodline once more after he was attacked by the debuting Tama Tonga , which would allow Jimmy to recover from his injury. On the October 14 episode of Raw , Jimmy attempted to make amends with Jey, but
19467-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
19656-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
19845-548: The championship. He lost the title to Samoa Joe in a game of World Heroes . After being named the number one contender for the WWE Universal Championship in September 2020, Jey Uso was featured on an episode of the WWE Network mini documentary series WWE Chronicle . The Fatu brothers are of Samoan descent . As the sons of WWE Hall of Famer Solofa Fatu Jr. (Rikishi), they are also part of
20034-465: The championships against Harper and Rowan at Money in the Bank and Battleground . The Usos then dropped the titles to Goldust and Stardust at Night of Champions , ending their reign at 202 days. On the December 29 edition of Raw , The Usos recaptured the titles from The Miz and Damien Mizdow after feuding with them over Naomi's entertainment opportunities. However, they lost the titles at Fastlane against Tyson Kidd and Cesaro . Despite getting
20223-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
20412-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
20601-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
20790-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
20979-682: The episode aired on Fox the following Sunday afternoon. In conjunction with the 2023 Money in the Bank event, which was held at The O2 Arena in London, England , on July 1, the June 30, 2023, episode of SmackDown was held at the same venue, and broadcast live on BT Sport in local primetime hours for the first time. In 2024, the program aired episodes from other countries for the first time in conjunction with other WWE PPV's, including May 3 for Backlash France ( LDLC Arena in Décines-Charpieu, Lyon, France ), May 24 for King and Queen of
21168-410: The event on April 27, The Usos were defeated when Rowan pinned Jey Uso. On the May 22 episode of SmackDown , The Usos attempted to earn another title match at Money in the Bank , but were defeated by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. Following the loss, The Usos began failing to earn numerous title opportunities, including a tag team match against a returning Team Hell No ( Daniel Bryan and Kane ) on
21357-469: The event to assist Reigns in retaining his championship, and Jey would show up to prevent Reigns from hitting Zayn with a chair, which failed. On the March 6 episode of Raw , Jey showed up in the crowd during Jimmy's match against Zayn which Jimmy lost. Following the match, Jey hugged Zayn and then delivered a Superkick to the latter, affirming Jey's allegiance to The Bloodline. The Usos and Sikoa then attacked Zayn before Cody Rhodes ran out to save Zayn. On
21546-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
21735-445: The final episode of the fifth season of NXT on June 13, The Usos defeated Johnny Curtis and Michael McGillicutty. The Usos then started a feud with The Ascension ( Conor O'Brian and Kenneth Cameron ) on the August 15 episode of NXT , with a match between the two tag teams ending in the Ascension being disqualified; the Ascension then conducted a post-match attack on The Usos. On the August 29 episode of NXT , The Usos called out
21924-491: The final three episodes of SmackDown to FS1 to accommodate the premiere of Fox College Football in its former time slot. On May 9, 2024, USA Network announced that SmackDown would return to the channel on September 13, 2024, retaining its Friday-night timeslot. Starting in 2025, SmackDown will be exclusive on Netflix outside of the United States which includes Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom. WWE taped SmackDown on Tuesday evenings to air on Thursday evenings on UPN
22113-579: The first episode of Outside the Ring , where they cooked a traditional Samoan barbecue. Together, The Usos made their video game debut in WWE '13 as a DLC . The Usos were not in WWE 2K14 but returned in WWE 2K15 , and have continued to appear in WWE 2K16 , WWE 2K17 , WWE 2K18 , WWE 2K19 , WWE 2K20 , WWE 2K22 , and WWE 2K23 . They also appeared uncredited in Countdown with Dolph Ziggler , Roman Reigns , and Big Show , as well as
22302-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
22491-419: The first singles championship opportunity of his career. He was defeated at Clash of Champions when Jimmy appeared and threw in a towel on Jey's behalf. Jey then received a rematch at Hell in a Cell in an "I Quit" Hell in a Cell match but lost again. After Hell in a Cell, Jey aligned with Roman Reigns, thus turning heel in the process. On the April 9, 2021, special WrestleMania edition of SmackDown , Jey won
22680-472: The first time a tag team match main evented WrestleMania since its inaugural show. The critically acclaimed match was rated five stars by Dave Meltzer and became the eighth main roster WWE match to receive five stars and the first match in The Usos' careers to receive such a rating. Following their loss, Reigns started ignoring them and depending on Sikoa instead, with Reigns inserting himself and Sikoa into
22869-557: The following episode of SmackDown . Jey would show up on the February 10 episode of SmackDown to retain the SmackDown Tag Team Championship with Jimmy against Braun Strowman and Ricochet . Before the episode ended, Reigns, through Heyman, informed The Usos to stay at home for the following week's episode of SmackDown and Elimination Chamber in Canada . This was meant to write off The Usos as they may not be able to enter Canada due to their DUI history , where DUI charges are taken more seriously there. However, Jimmy would be present for
23058-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
23247-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
23436-546: The group in September of that year until he was excommunicated in April 2024, and was subsequently replaced by Tama Tonga . Peers and critics have described the Usos as one of the greatest professional wrestling tag teams of all time. They hold the record for the longest male tag team championship reign in WWE history at 622 days, which was accomplished in their fifth reign with the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship . They are overall eight-time tag team champions in WWE, capturing
23625-473: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
23814-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
24003-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
24192-621: The late Eddie Fatu (Umaga), as well as the late Afa and Sika Anoaʻi . Their brother, Joseph "Sefa" Fatu , also performs in WWE under the ring name Solo Sikoa; he has performed in NXT 2.0 and made his main roster debut on Clash at the Castle on September 3, 2022. They are also related through a blood brotherhood between their great-grandfather Reverend Amituana'i Anoaʻi, Pita (Peter) Maivia , James (Jimmy) Snuka , James Reiher-Snuka (Deuce) Sarona Snuka Polamalu (Tamina), and Dwayne Johnson (The Rock). Their stage name " uso " means "brother" in
24381-540: The latter being known as Jey and Rhodes confronted Jimmy and Sikoa after Roman Reigns' entrance music plays in a faceoff. However, they lost the titles back to Bálor and Priest in a rematch on the October 16 episode of Raw thanks to interference from Jimmy, ending their reign at 9 days. This, however, gave Jey the distinction of holding the SmackDown Tag Team Championship for the most cumulative days across his six reigns at 1,011 days (1,010 days as recognized by WWE). After Jimmy attempted to attack John Cena with Solo Sikoa on
24570-485: The main event of several pay-per-views, including Night 1 of WrestleMania 39 , which was the first time a tag team championship was defended in the main event of a WrestleMania , and the second time that a tag team match was the main event of Wrestlemania. Joshua Samuel Fatu (Josh) and Jonathan Solofa Fatu (Jon) were born in San Francisco, California on August 22, 1985 (Jonathan is the older twin by 9 minutes),
24759-479: The main roster the following year. While on the main roster, they have been managed by their cousin Tamina Snuka and Jimmy's wife, Naomi . From July 2021 to June 2023, they were part of The Bloodline with their real-life first cousin once removed and group leader Roman Reigns and younger brother Solo Sikoa . Jimmy left the group in June 2023, with Jey following suit two weeks later; only for Jimmy to rejoin
24948-438: The mat. A rematch between the teams was scheduled for SummerSlam with a special guest referee, later revealed to be Jeff Jarrett . On July 18, The Usos surpassed the 365-day mark as SmackDown Tag Team Champions, becoming the first team to hold the titles for a continuous reign of one full year. At SummerSlam, The Usos successfully retained against The Street Profits. At Crown Jewel on November 5, The Usos successfully retained
25137-468: The match at WrestleMania, Jimmy suffered a legitimate knee injury, putting him out of in-ring action indefinitely. On the September 4 episode of SmackDown , after Big E was attacked and injured in a storyline, Jey took Big E's place in a fatal 4-way match against Matt Riddle, King Corbin, and Sheamus where the winner would earn a Universal Championship match at Clash of Champions against Roman Reigns, who turned heel recently. Jey won by pinning Riddle to earn
25326-452: The match. On the November 30 episode of Raw , The Usos competed in a tag team #1 contenders match against Lucha Dragons , which ended in a double disqualification when The New Day attacked both teams. Later that night, Stephanie McMahon told The Usos that they would be inserted to the tag team championship match at the TLC pay-per-view if Roman Reigns defeated Sheamus during the main event of
25515-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
25704-442: The native HD feed on a 4:3 SD feed. Although the graphics were re-positioned, SmackDown continued to use a variation of the graphics package that had been in use since its first HD broadcast in January 2008, until the show moved to Thursday nights on January 15, 2015, when an all-new graphics package (now optimized for the 16:9 format) and intro video were introduced along with a revised SmackDown logo. On March 26, 2015, WWE added
25893-446: The new SmackDown logo on his official Twitter page, renaming the show SmackDown Live . On April 10, 2018, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon announced that Daniel Bryan was back as a full-time WWE wrestler and named Paige the new general manager. On June 26, 2018, Fox announced a five-year agreement to air SmackDown , in a deal worth $ 205 million per year. SmackDown would debut on October 4, 2019, with its first episode being
26082-527: The next night at Payback with the remixed version of its former entrance theme, thus disbanding The Usos. Despite being disbanded, the brothers began a long-intense feud. After Jey won the Undisputed Tag Team Championships with Cody Rhodes at Fastlane , they went on to retain their titles against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn and Austin Theory and Grayson Waller on the following week's episodes of Raw and SmackDown , with
26271-467: The next week. In the following months and into 2012, The Usos exchanged wins with Hawkins and Reks on NXT, while continually losing to Primo and Epico on SmackDown. They also feuded with JTG, who had become Tamina's boyfriend. In March 2012, The Usos began a feud with Darren Young and Titus O'Neil , after they mocked The Usos' pre-match Siva Tau. Although The Usos beat Young and O'Neil in tag team matches, they were continually defeated in singles matches. On
26460-413: The nickname 'Uce' and Jey goes by the nickname 'Jucey'. In May 2019, Jimmy unsuccessfully challenged Kofi Kingston in a game of ClayFighter for Kingston's UpUpDownDown Championship. A month later, Jey challenged Kingston for the title in a game of Tetris , where Jey defeated Kingston to win the championship. Jimmy would then defeat Jey in a two-out-of-three game of The King of Fighters XIV to win
26649-417: The night as consumers head into the weekend. The last SmackDown airing on a Friday night had 2.43 million viewers with a 0.7 share. On January 7, 2016, SmackDown moved to USA Network, remaining on Thursday nights. With the move, all top three WWE programs— Raw , SmackDown and Tough Enough —would air on the same network for the first time ever. On May 25, 2016, as part of the re-implementation of
26838-519: The original SmackDown stage. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , all WWE programs suspended touring shows from mid-March 2020 through mid-July 2021. All SmackDown broadcasts were filmed behind closed doors with no in-person spectators, initially from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, before returning to an arena setting with a closed set known as the " ThunderDome "—which featured a larger-scale production more in line with its PPV shows, but with
27027-416: The original air date. WWF SmackDown! was set up to compete against World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s Thursday night show, Thunder . SmackDown! first appeared on April 29, 1999, using the Raw set as a single television special on UPN . On August 26, 1999, SmackDown! officially debuted on UPN. Like Thunder , SmackDown! was recorded on Tuesdays and then broadcast on Thursdays. The new WWF show
27216-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
27405-544: The previous agreement. As part of the agreement, WWE would also produce four primetime specials for NBC per-year. With it later being later reported in September 2024 that the specials would be wrestling shows under the Saturday Night's Main Event branding marking the first such shows since 2008. The original date of SmackDown 's return to USA Network was October 4, 2024, the fifth anniversary of its premiere on Fox, however, Fox had originally planned to move
27594-525: The process. The Usos then superkicked both Sikoa and Reigns. At Money in the Bank , The Usos defeated Reigns and Sikoa in a "Bloodline Civil War" tag team match with Jey pinning Reigns. This is Reigns' first direct pinfall loss since December 2019 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs . At SummerSlam , Jimmy appeared to have turned on Jey by pulling him out of the ring while he was trying to pin Reigns and superkicked him, allowing Reigns to defeat Jey. However, on
27783-523: The program is occasionally pre-empted to OLN during the Stanley Cup playoffs. All archived broadcasts of SmackDown are available on the WWE Network . Rogers Media secured the rights to Canadian WWE programming until 2024, after which in January 2025 the rights go to Netflix , but will not air on the Canadian iteration of USA Network , which will relaunch on the former Discovery Channel space at
27972-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
28161-500: The record for the longest male tag team championship reign in WWE history at 622 days. The Usos are members of the renowned Anoaʻi family of Samoan wrestlers. Trained since childhood by their father, WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi , the twin brothers Joshua and Jonathan debuted in WWE's then- developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in 2009, where they became FCW Florida Tag Team Champions , and wrestled as Jules Uso and Jimmy Uso (The Uso Brothers). They were moved to
28350-539: The same time. SmackDown airs live in the MENA region on Shahid Saturday mornings, and later on the same day, a one-hour version airs on MBC Action at 8PM Egypt Standard Time . SmackDown airs live in Australia on Saturday late mornings/early afternoons and Sunday afternoons on Fox8 and Friday nights on 9Go! as a one-hour version, and airs live in New Zealand on Sky 5 and Sunday nights on Sky Open as
28539-495: The same week. However, SmackDown had aired occasional live specials on Tuesday nights (which are then replayed in its usual Thursday night timeslot). The show began broadcasting in HD beginning with the January 25, 2008 episode of SmackDown , where a new set (which became universal for all WWE weekly programming) debuted. Following the first broadcast in HD, the exclamation mark used since
28728-400: The season premiere of SmackDown on MyNetworkTV was the highest-rated program in that night on the network, with 3.2 million viewers. On March 20, 2009, SmackDown celebrated its 500th episode. On October 1, 2010, as part of a new broadcast deal with NBC Universal , SmackDown moved to Syfy , retaining its Friday night timeslot. Prior to this premiere of SmackDown , Michael Cole hosted
28917-573: The second-largest show in the WWE, the company's use of the term went beyond its namesake program. During the 2000 U.S. election campaign, the WWE launched the SmackDown! Your Vote program. The name was also used when WWE released its 2015 film The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown! and WWE Network 's show Kitchen SmackDown! . The wrestlers featured on WWE take part in scripted feuds and storylines . Wrestlers are portrayed as heroes , villains , or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in
29106-408: The secondary theme, then a swap was made, as "Born 2 Run" was used as a secondary theme, when "This Life" is used as SmackDown's main theme. Prior to November 2, 2012, SmackDown opened with " Know Your Enemy " by Green Day while "Hangman" by Rev Theory served as the secondary theme song. Upon SmackDown ' s debut on Syfy in 2010, it replaced the previous theme song "Let it Roll" by Divide
29295-447: The semi-final round. On the May 2 episode of Raw , The Usos and Roman Reigns were defeated by AJ Styles , Gallows and Anderson in a six-man tag team match when Styles pinned Jey Uso. At Extreme Rules , The Usos were defeated by Gallows and Anderson in a Texas Tornado match. Later that night, they helped Roman Reigns retain his title in the main event. On July 19, at the 2016 WWE draft , The Usos were drafted to SmackDown working on both
29484-559: The show in 5 minutes and 15 seconds, which he won by disqualification. At TLC, The Usos competed in a losing effort. The Usos won a Slammy Award on the December 21 episode of Raw for " Tag Team of the year". At the Royal Rumble , The Usos unsuccessfully challenged The New Day for the WWE Tag Team Championship. In February, The Usos entered a feud with the Dudley Boyz after they put The Usos through tables after defeating The New Day and Mark Henry in an 8-man Tag team Tables match. On
29673-410: The show would be renamed Friday Night SmackDown! to emphasize the new scheduling. In January 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment announced that UPN and The WB would merge to form a new network known as The CW that fall. As part of the announcement, The CW announced that it would renew Friday Night SmackDown! for two more seasons as part of its launch schedule—which drew from
29862-457: The show's inception disappeared from all references pertaining to "SmackDown", including the official logo, which resembles the 2001–2008 logo, but with a darker blue scheme. The early set included an oval-shaped TitanTron entrance and stage (dubbed the "Ovaltron") which made it stand out from the Raw Is War set with its rectangular Titantrons. Later productions gained the ability to move
30051-732: The sibling USA Network on January 7, 2016, and later that year, beginning on July 19, SmackDown began broadcasting live on Tuesday nights. SmackDown ' s move to Fox on October 4, 2019 marked the show's return to Friday nights and over-the-air broadcast television (as well as the second time SmackDown has aired on a Fox-owned network). On September 13, 2024, the show returned to USA Network. SmackDown has been broadcast from over 100+ arenas, 100+ cities and towns, and nine countries: United States , Canada , United Kingdom , Japan in 2005, Italy in 2007, Mexico in 2011, and France , Saudi Arabia , and Germany in 2024. Prior to switching to its current live format, taped episodes premiered
30240-729: The sons of Talisua Fuavai and professional wrestler Rikishi . They have six brothers and a sister, including Solo Sikoa . The Fatu brothers are of Samoan descent. As the sons of WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi , they are also part of the Anoaʻi family; they are first cousins once-removed from former WWE performer Afa Anoaʻi Jr. The brothers attended Escambia High School in Pensacola, Florida , where they played competitive football. They continued their football careers at University of West Alabama , where they both played linebacker . Jonathan played one season (2003), while Joshua played from 2003 to 2005. On
30429-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
30618-501: The strongest programs of its two predecessors. On September 22, 2006, Friday Night SmackDown! aired its first ever episode on The CW. The CW declined to renew SmackDown , resulting in the series being picked up in October 2008 by MyNetworkTV , a second new network that had been formed by Fox Entertainment Group to take on former UPN and WB affiliates who were not selected to join The CW. Retaining its previous Friday-night time slot,
30807-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
30996-503: The theme song for SmackDown! was "Rise Up" by Drowning Pool , with variations, making it the longest tenured theme song used in the program. Whenever SmackDown! shared the arena with Raw during the 2005–2007 period in a form of a supershow, the SmackDown! stage utilized all or some components of the same set from Raw . From November 2, 2012, until April 18, 2014, SmackDown began using "Born 2 Run" by 7Lions as its theme song , with "This Life" by CFO$ and Cody B. Ware serving as
31185-537: The titles against The Brawling Brutes ( Butch and Ridge Holland ). On the November 11 episode of SmackDown , they retained their championships against The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods), thus ensuring that they would become the longest reigning male tag team champions on WWE's main roster, a record previously set by The New Day at 483 days. On November 14, 2022, The Usos officially broke The New Day's record for main roster tag team championships, and then on November 28, they broke Gallus ' record of 497 days with
31374-435: The titles against Gable and Benjamin in a two out of three falls match , winning 2–0. They would renew their rivalry with the New Day, culminating in a title match at Fastlane , which would end in a no-contest due to interference from The Bludgeon Brothers . At WrestleMania 34 , The Usos wrestled on the main card of WrestleMania for the first time, where they defended the titles against The New Day and The Bludgeon Brothers in
31563-452: The titles for a record fourth time. On the March 26 episode of SmackDown , The Usos were a part of a tag team gauntlet match in which they forfeited to former longtime rivals the New Day as a show of respect and to help Kofi Kingston earn a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania. As a storyline punishment for their deed, they were scheduled to defend the titles against The Bar, Aleister Black and Ricochet , and Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev in
31752-559: The titles, where they were unsuccessful. Following Jimmy's arrest for DUI , the duo would be off television for the remainder of the calendar year. On the January 3, 2020 episode of SmackDown , The Usos made a surprise return once again as part of the SmackDown brand, aiding Roman Reigns from an attack by King Corbin and Dolph Ziggler . The Usos then challenged for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania 36 , where they were unsuccessful again. During
31941-412: The tournament finals, but were defeated. The Usos faced the new champions at No Mercy , where they were defeated again. As part of their heel turn, they began a street-like, thuggish gimmick. The Usos participated in a 5–on–5 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination match at Survivor Series , where they lost to Cesaro and Sheamus of Team Raw. The Usos would reignite their feud with American Alpha following
32130-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
32319-561: The trio cut a promo , stating that they were looking for respect for their families. They were interrupted and attacked by The Hart Dynasty, who were seeking revenge for the surprise attack the previous week. The Usos attempted to attack The Hart Dynasty again on the June 7 episode of Raw , but The Harts were ready and gained the upper hand. The Usos made their in-ring debut for the brand on the June 17 episode of Superstars , defeating Goldust and Mark Henry . Three days later they made their pay-per-view debut by losing to The Hart Dynasty in
32508-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
32697-455: The vehicle, they could smell alcohol from the inside. Officers then requested Trinity, the driver, to exit the SUV so that they could speak with her. Officers then claimed that Jonathan Fatu, Trinity's spouse, exited the vehicle while officers were speaking to Trinity and removed his shirt, then proceeded to walk towards the officers, prompting one of the officers to pull out his taser . The situation
32886-457: The wake of its then-upcoming sale of its in-house studios to Disney . Fox had hoped to acquire Raw for the Fox network and SmackDown for FS1 . However, amid a competitive bidding situation, NBCUniversal focused its efforts on renewing Raw , freeing up Fox to pursue SmackDown . In particular, Fox promised a larger amount of promotion for SmackDown during its sports programming , as well as
33075-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
33264-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
33453-528: The wrong way down a one way street. The officer pulled Fatu over and gave him a field sobriety test, which Fatu failed. Fatu was also given a breathalyzer and blew a .18, twice the legal limit in the state of Florida. Fatu was convicted and sentenced to probation. On March 13, 2013, Fatu was arrested for violating his probation by driving with a suspended license. Joshua Fatu was arrested in January 2018 for DWI in Hidalgo County, Texas after performing at
33642-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
33831-412: Was a new design with multiple LED side panels on each side with a titan-tron in a semi circle in the center. The new set also introduced LED floor panels on the entrance ramp. Feedback was more positive for this set design. With the shift to Fox, both Raw and SmackDown introduced new sets during their "premiere week". The new set featured a large TitanTron screen, with semi-arches partially resembling
34020-567: Was again arrested, this time near Pensacola, Florida , and was charged with DUI . He was taken into custody and booked into the Escambia County corrections center at approximately 3:00 A.M. CDT . Fatu was later released from custody on $ 1,000 bond and was due to appear in court on August 15. Fatu was found not guilty by an Escambia county jury on the DUI charge after a trial that concluded on December 18, 2019. On July 5, 2021, Jonathan Fatu
34209-472: Was arrested after being pulled over at approximately 10:35 PM CDT in Pensacola. Officers claim Fatu ran a red light after they clocked him going 50 in a 35 MPH zone. They administered a breathalyzer and Fatu's BAC came back at .202 and .205, well above Florida's legal limit of .08. Fatu was booked on a misdemeanor DUI charge along with citations for speeding and running a red light. Bond was set at $ 500. As
34398-484: Was attacked by The Wyatt Family ( Bray Wyatt , Braun Strowman and Luke Harper ). Jey Uso returned on the November 2 episode of Raw alongside his brother Jimmy as a surprise return to team up with their cousin Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Ryback against Seth Rollins , Kevin Owens and The New Day in a Survivor Series elimination tag team match, The Usos along with Reigns, Ambrose and Ryback were victorious in
34587-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
34776-650: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
34965-434: Was pushed away. On the October 25 episode of SmackDown , Jey assisted Jimmy and Reigns in taking out The Bloodline - now led by Sikoa who consisted of Jacob Fatu , Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa , the brothers then embraced in the ring, reuniting The Usos. On the November 1 episode of SmackDown , Jey agreed to team with Reigns and Jimmy against The Bloodline at Crown Jewel , but only if Reigns treated him as an equal rather than
35154-432: Was quickly calmed down, however, and Fatu was placed under arrest and charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice . In March 2019, it was revealed that Fatu's attorney struck a plea deal with prosecutors, and as per the condition of the agreement, Fatu pleaded no contest to interfering with a government employee and he was ordered to pay a $ 450 fine. In the early morning hours of July 25, 2019, Jonathan Fatu
35343-594: Was so popular that WCW moved Thunder to Wednesdays so that it would not compete directly. 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". In March 2002, WWF implemented the " brand extension ", under which Raw and SmackDown! would have separate rosters of performers that are exclusive to their respective programs and events, and be positioned in-universe as competing "brands" (in
35532-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
35721-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
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