Several reliable sources have recently reported that WWE officials were not happy about how the weekly programming witnessed declining in viewership. The post-Wrestlemania season has not been a success for both Raw and Smackdown with big gaps in pay-per-view events. So Vince McMahon was irate about the host platforms sending him warning about the declining in ratings.
WWE Faced Backlash After Sending Roman Reigns To Smackdown
Reason Why Vince McMahon Introduced Wild Card Rule In WWE
As an emergency step, Vince McMahon issued the wild card rule for both WWE Raw and Smackdown that may come as a short-term solution for WWE TV ratings. Via this rule, superstars between these two shows can cross brands on a weekly basis. Four such names can appear on their opposite shows to make the programs interesting. But this could create a big problem for WWE TV in due course.
As described on Wrestling Observer Radio, Vince McMahon’s new WWE Wild Card Rule could end up leading to issues for the company. WWE often advertises superstars and big matches to sell out house shows for a couple of months ahead. But the wild card rule may book the already advertised names for TV tapings forcing them to miss the live event shows.
This could cause a backlash among those fans who buy tickets to watch the shows live in person. Check out more from wrestlingINC.com,
“The Wild Card Rule will potentially cause issues for WWE live events, such as false advertising. Due to the way WWE creative operates these days, WWE likely won’t plan out these weekly Wild Card Rule appearances in advance, which could lead to incidents where Superstars have been advertised for live events, for weeks or even months, but they’re pulled from those live events to appear on TV at the last minute.”
The source added that WWE is not likely to confirm the Wild Card Rule appearances in advance for WWE Raw or Smackdown Live. But it’s almost certain that Roman Reigns will make appearances on both the show quite often since the host platforms demand this. He was back in this past episode of Raw as USA Network was not happy about WWE removing him from Monday Nights.
Hopefully, these changes help WWE TV ratings to get the needed boosts for months to come. Earlier to the wild card rule innovation, WWE has made recent hires to help bring live event business back up which has also seen low ticket selling in recent times. During the Quarter1 2019 earnings conference call, WWE officials seemed confident on bringing back the business where it belongs. For now, only time will tell whether this wild card rule can ensure a long-term positive effect.
