Peacockery Pick: The Top 25 Moments in WWE SmackDown History

Tonight, it’s the top 25 moments in WWE SmackDown history! Well, of sorts. Airing in October 2023 as a Sunday afternoon special, this condenses decades of content into an hour special. This is, of course, also a WWE production which means that your mileage on the rankings may vary. Let’s get into it!’

Our host is the lovely Jackie Redmond from the WWE Studios. As we celebrate 25 years of SmackDown, she’s here to take us through the 25 best moments. We have several special guests tonight including Rey Mysterio, Becky Lynch, Kofi Kingston, Seth Rollins, Charlotte Flair.

Jackie notes these were picked by the Academy of Sports Entertainment and based on historical significance, rarity and the “wow” factor.

25: The DX Express Explosion – Oh, these move FAST. I guess they have to cram 25 into an hour. We get some video clips of Stone Cold and his crane causing trademark Stone Cold Vehicular Destruction, this time exploding the DX Express into flames. Man, they really loved that bus for about a week too. Ah well.

24: Sexy Kurt – In an effort to prove he is better than Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle decides to sing his version of “Sexy Boy.” The topper, of course, is having Sensational Sherri in-ring with him to perform “Sexy Kurt.” I wish we would have gotten more from Sherri in this time period. I don’t know if it is a “top 25 ever” moment, but it is fun.

23: Celebrating Eddie – From 2004, Eddie Guerrero celebrates winning the WWE Championship. Lots of confetti, zoomed in shots, and Eddie declaring that “we” are the WWE Champion. Well let me go update my LinkedIn.

Back in the studio, Jackie says Eddie’s celebration is a mix of Deion Sanders and Michael Jordan. Rey Mysterio joins us via Skype (or comparable video service, does the WWE use Microsoft Teams?) to tell us that it was a very special moment. Rey says that on that night, it was such a loving moment and he told Eddie he loved him.

22: Money Mella – It’s 2018 and Carmella cashes in Money in the Bank on Charlotte Flair. I’ll never forget how she had to scream at the referee for two minutes for him to understand that she was cashing in. Carmella gets the pin and the gold.

21: Brock’s Forklift – We’re in modern times with the Bloodline in the ring and Paul Heyman warning Roman Reigns that Brock Lesnar is “here.” They run to the back, Roman gets into his limo and Cowboy Brock smashes through the window with the forks of the forklift. I’m not sure he’s forklift certified. The Bloodline escape, Brock flips the limo and then tears the door off the truck they run into as well. Why not!

This Friday, Roman returns to SmackDown and the season premiere.

We get a segment of “Classic Rock,” with various moments. Remember when he came back a few weeks ago and then disappeared again?

20: Dead Man Riding – 2005 and Randy Orton RKOs the Undertaker in the ring. As Randy goes to get a crowbar out of a low rider, which was in the entry way for “reasons,” Randy knocks Taker out over the trunk of the car. Then Randy backs the car with Taker on the back through the SmackDown entrance, causing random explosions and fire. And then we move onto the next number, so Taker might have survived to go wear Thin Blue Line t-shirts to NXT.

19: The Man in the Cage: 2017 and we have Alexa Bliss defending the SmackDown Women’s Title in a cage match against Becky Lynch. This was a really good match if you’re in the mood for a Becky cage match. La Luchadora, who has appeared several times before, attackes Becky to help Alexa win. She unmasks to show herself as Mickie James, though we don’t get shown that part of the story.

Becky joins Jackie via video. Becky says that steel tastes like victory and she wants the match to be remembered as the last time she will lose a cage match.

18: Bayley Turns – Angry over losing the Women’s Title, Bayley slashes the Bayley Buddies, rolls up Charlotte to win the belt and says screw the fans. I wasn’t sure this was the right move at the time, but it definitely was.

17: Long May They Reign – Undisputed Tag Team Champions The Usos defend against the New Day (Woods and Kofi). With a win, they become the longest reigning champs in history. There isn’t a Usos-New Day match that doesn’t lean “good to great,” and this one is no exceptions. Usos win and secure the longest reign ever. Yeet.

We get a segment called “LOL,” complete with TikTok-like borders and emoticons. “Buckle Up, Teddy,” food fights, the milk truck, Ucey, and assorted moments.

16: All Hail King Booker – In a moment Jackie notes puts Kings Charles’ coronation to shame, William Regal crowns Booker T as king. Booker declares Sharmell as queen and we see lots of balloons and lots of “All hail King Booker.”

15: Iron Men – Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle face off in an Iron Man match. Brock wins by a fall to become champion and yes, of course it’s a match to seek out if you haven’t seen it before.

14: Home Invasion – Lots of crime on this countdown. We go back to 2021 with Seth Rollins breaking into Edge’s house. I wonder how many people were wondering how a match against Luchasaurus sounded at the time. Seth acts like a menace and Edge calls the family to tell them to stay away.

Jackie has Seth with us via video, who says his regret is not taking more time to dig deeper into their fridge. Insert Seth cackle here.

13: Angelic Shawn – Shawn Michaels appears in Undertaker-style white trenchcoat and hat. Taker attacks but Shawn escapes, noting he has “eternal light.” Top 13 ever? Huh.

12: Hindered – Jinder Mahal, WWE Champion. Remember that? Well, in this case we’re in the UK with a title defense against AJ Styles. I have little memory of how the match actually was, but AJ wins and ends the reign.

11: Tribute to the Troops – 2003 and the crew has traveled to Baghdad to perform for the troops. Honestly, I thought this would have been higher. The actual wrestling on the shows was always the least notable part.

We take a moment to look at the mushy love-filled moments in SmackDown history, such as Eddie and Chyna, the wedding of Teddy and of course Dawn Marie and Al Wilson. I was hoping Al Wilson would be #1 on this list, but I guess we can’t have everything.

10: Sami and Kevin – Kevin Owens returns to save Sami Zayn from an attack by the Usos. Yep, that’s ten apparently.

9: Kofimania – New Day celebrate Kofi Kingston winning the big title. Balloons, celebration and a ton of cheers. I think Kofimania as a whole maybe more than this particular segment ranks up there, but here we are.

Kofi joins us via video. His favorite part of Kofimania is that it actually happened. He never believed it was going to happen until it happened. He is both impressed and concerned that Big E can do the splits. Me too.

8: Price Check on a Jackass: Stone Cold attacks Booker T in a grocery store. Steve drinking the milk is one of the more iconic images, so I get this.

7: Rey Attacks Dom Dom: Dominic Mysterio insults his mother at ringside, which finally leads daddy Rey to punch him. The heat was getting was surprising, and it has only grown tenfold. All hail Dom Dom.

6: Press Start – The first episode of SmackDown premieres. Rock and Triple H battle for the WWE Title. Shawn Michaels and his itty bitty referee shorts cheat to help Hunter keep the gold. First episode, it fits.

Did you know? Over 115 championships have changed hands on SmackDown. Now you do! This is miles ahead of former “did you know” graphics.

5: Implosion – Big meaty men slapping meat battle between Big Show and Brock Lesnar, but that’s just the setup for maybe the coolest visual in the show’s history. The entire ring collapses as Brock superplexes Big Show. Still one of the coolest looking things they’ve done. They’ve tried to repeat it a few times since but it’s just not the same.

4: The Queen’s Return – Charlotte Flair returns in 2022 to challenge Ronda Rousey for the title and wins her fourteenth Women’s Title. We get a nice voice clip of my pal Samantha Irvin announcing the win. I don’t know if this is #4 of all-time.

Charlotte joins us via video and the moment was special to her because of the fans. She thought she had ring rust.

SmackDown in Hollywood as we look at some of the celebrities that have appeared. Jojo Siwa! Three 6 Mafia! Sarah Silverman! Cindy Margolis! All the stars are here.

3: SmackDown on FOX – Well, this seems biased. SmackDown debuts on FOX in 2019. Rock appears as he does when he’s not being called out by Roman. We don’t touch on the Brock-Kofi thing or Tyson Fury.

2: Ruthless Aggression – Kurt Angle issued a challenge to anyone in the locker room, answered by a guy named John Cena. Cena tells Kurt he has RUTHLESS AGGRESSION and they have a good match. Cena gets the Undertaker handshake of respect backstage. Bron Breakker could never.

We can barely see him, but John Cena joins us via video. He says that night was stressful and he had no idea the impact his moment would have.

1: Tribal Dissolution – Yes, of course it’s Bloodline. We get a brief history of the Bloodline’s run, then lead into Roman asking the Usos to apologize. A superkick later and the Usos are out of the Bloodline. Well, kinda. You know where we are now.

John rejoins us to say he thinks the Bloodline deserves the #1 spot. We get some hype for the season premiere with Roman and John and we are out.

Not a bad 45 minutes of viewing, really. Definitely a debatable list, but it was an easy watch. It’s good to throw on as something in the background if nothing else.