SmackDown 1000: Every WWE Legend That Appeared & What They Did

A WWE anniversary guarantees one thing, returning legends from the past. That was naturally the case on SmackDown's 1000th episode this week. A litany of stars who we rarely see or practically never see, but have all had a part to play in the blue brand's almost 20-year history. In case you missed the show, here's a rundown of every legend and returning Superstar that appeared on SmackDown 1000. Not every segment was a winner, so maybe this article will help you select what to catch up on and what you can give a miss.

What you must always remember if you're a WWE fan is it is all about the McMahons. We were reminded of exactly that as soon as SmackDown 1000 got going. Truth TV returned to SmackDown Live, and its guests were Stephanie, Shane, and Vince McMahon. Those names are listed in order of when they came to the ring, and also in ascending order of the pop they got from the crowd. Shane and Stephanie proceeded to argue about which of their shows is better, and their dad came out to put a stop to the bickering. The chairman then ended the segment by ordering a dance break.

If you were looking forward to seeing all the old General Managers return, we have bad news. If you had gone to the bathroom or even looked down at your phone briefly, you would have missed it. It started with the current GM, Paige hugging Vickie Guerrero. Teddy Long then quickly danced his way into frame. Then it ended with John Laurinaitis standing in front of them all. Extremely short, but maybe that's a good thing. The current Raw GM Kurt Angle also made an extremely brief appearance. Angle was sat at the announce desk for The Miz and Rusev's WWE World Cup qualifying match. However, that segment was cut very short thanks to these next guys.

Evolution. A well-advertised act for SmackDown 1000, but a confusing inclusion. Most of the stars who returned on Tuesday night were made famous by SmackDown, or in turn, added to the blue brand. Evolution did not. In fact, SmackDown 1000 marked the first time all four of them have ever been together on the show as they were very much a Raw creation. Batista was a SmackDown guy for a long time though, and the spotlight was on him for most of the segment. He closed things out by insinuating that he may return for a match versus Triple H somewhere down the line. We are certainly on board with that if WWE is.

Another man who SmackDown has a lot to thank for is Edge. An 11-time World Champion and Hall Of Famer, The Rated R Superstar might be the most underrated performer of his generation. Edge was on the show to host an edition of his talk show, Cutting Edge. His special guests were Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. When he just had the champ in the ring, he tried to convince her that she is headed down a bad path. Lynch obviously didn't listen, and when Flair joined her and Edge violence ensued almost instantly.

For Raw 25, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler returned to call some matches. Makes sense since they were the soundtrack to the show for much of its existence. That logic taken into account, you'd have expected Michael Cole and Taz to have been around on Tuesday. Sadly, they were not. Lawler and Booker T called the Tag Team Title match for some strange reason, though. That wasn't the weirdest cameo we were treated to during that match. Big Show slowly marched down to the ring and chokeslammed Kofi Kingston through Lawler and Booker's announce table. That opened the door for Sheamus to win the match inside the ring and capture the titles for he and Cesaro with an unexplained helping hand from the World's Largest Athlete.

Perhaps the biggest news of the night heading into SmackDown 1000 was the return of Rey Mysterio. A returning legend who is not back for one night only, he is sticking around for a while. His first match back was against Shinsuke Nakamura and we have only one hang up about it. Due to the time it started, we knew it wouldn't be as long as we wanted it to be. It was still a great match considering the length, and obviously, Mysterio was victorious.

That left just one advertised legend left to appear, The Undertaker. Considering the length of his entrance and the time until the end of the show, it was pretty clear that his contribution to SmackDown 1000 would be short and sweet. The Deadman simply explained to the fans that at Crown Jewel, D-Generation X is going to rest in peace.