In 2015,
WWE began to expand its content on the
WWE Network by presenting televised
house shows. These one-hour WWE Network-exclusive specials did not show the entire card, but only a select few matches. Smackville took place on July 27, 2019, at
Bridgestone Arena in
Nashville, Tennessee and featured wrestlers from the
SmackDownbrand. The one-hour WWE Network special of Smackville was
livestreamed.[1][2][3][4]
The card included nine matches, three of which were shown for the one-hour WWE Network special. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed
villains,
heroes, or
less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[5][6] Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the SmackDown brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television show SmackDown Live.[7][8]
On the May 21 episode of SmackDown,
Dolph Ziggler, who had been inactive since January's
Royal Rumble event, made a surprise return and attacked
Kofi Kingston. Ziggler, a
Raw wrestler appearing via the
wild card rule, later explained that it should have been him who got the opportunity to go to
WrestleMania 35 and win the
WWE Championship instead of Kingston.[9] Ziggler, who was in turn moved to SmackDown, then lost to Kingston at both
Super ShowDown and
Stomping Grounds.[10][11] On the June 24 episode of Raw, after Kingston had defeated both
Kevin Owens and
Sami Zayn in consecutive
singles matches, Kingston was randomly attacked by Raw's
Samoa Joe, who performed an "
uranage" on Kingston. As referees tended to the champion, Joe returned and applied the "Coquina Clutch" on Kingston.[12] Kingston would defeat Joe at
Extreme Rules.[13] On July 18, a WWE Championship
Triple Threat match between the three wrestlers was announced for Smackville.[14]
At
Money in the Bank,
Bayley won the women's
Money in the Bank ladder match and later that night cashed in the contract on
Charlotte Flair to win the
SmackDown Women's Championship.[15] On the June 4 episode of SmackDown, Flair competed in a triple threat match against
Carmella and Raw's
Alexa Bliss, who appeared via the wild card rule, in order to earn a rematch against Bayley for the title at Stomping Grounds. Bliss, however, won the match, thus Bliss earned the title match at Stomping Grounds,[16] but lost.[11] She and Cross then faced Bayley at
Extreme Rules in a two-on-one
handicap match for the title, but the two were defeated by Bayley.[13] On July 18, a SmackDown Women's Championship triple threat match between Bayley, Flair, and Bliss was announced for Smackville, though this match was not shown on the WWE Network special.[14]
During the Extreme Rules pre-show,
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated
Finn Bálor to win the
Intercontinental Championship.[17] A rematch was later scheduled for Smackville;[14] however, Bálor was removed from the match on July 27 after suffering an undisclosed injury and was replaced by
Ali.[18]
In addition to the matches, a musical performance by
Elias was also announced for the show.[14]