- WWE certainly grabbed the biggest news headline of the year so far after the company announced late yesterday that it has decided to leave The CW Network and move to a different place. Smackdown! is set to air on CW until the conclusion of the 2007-08 season and then moves to a new, unannounced home. Smackdown! made its debut in 1999 on the UPN and has been one of the most successful programs on the network ever since. UPN later changed its name to the CW Network after it merged. "We are grateful to Les Moonves, Dawn Ostroff, and their entire organization for bringing WWE Smackdown! to millions of viewers for so many years," the statement said.