On August 26, 1999 the official debut episode of WWF SmackDown! aired on UPN from the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. In the main event, WWF World Heavyweight Champion Triple H (with Chyna) took on The Rock with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee. WWF SmackDown! was set up to compete against WCW’s Thursday night show, Thunder. SmackDown! first appeared on April 29, 1999 using the Raw set as a single television special on UPN. | Davenport Sports Network

On April 29, 1999 the debut episode of WWF Smackdown! aired on UPN from the New Haven Coliseum in New Haven, Connecticut. In the main event, Stone Cold Steve Austin & The Rock took on “The Corporate Ministry” (The Undertaker & Triple H). Originally airing on Thursday nights, Smackdown would move to Friday nights on September 9, 2005, and, after the merger of UPN and the WB, would begin airing on The CW in September 2006. The show would later move to MyNetworkTV in October 2008. On October 1, 201