On September 13, 2001 WWF Smackdown! aired live on UPN from the the Compaq Center in Houston, Texas, marking the first public gathering after the terrorist attacks on September 11th. A regularly-scheduled taping for that week's episode was to occur on September 11, but was cancelled due to the attacks. WWF staff, including Vince McMahon, elected to go on with the episode as a live broadcast instead, which would feature exhibition matches with no effect on storylines. McMahon emphasized that the