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Vince McMahon is the talk of the WWE Universe after he broke his own Superstar Shake-Up rules on the May 6 episode of Raw by introducing a ‘Wild Card Rule’ which will enable Superstars from Raw and SmackDown Live to appear on the opposing brand.
Confused? Everybody else was, too, so here is the official explanation from WWE.com:
"The latest wrinkle in the ongoing Superstar Shake-up emerged this Monday on Raw when Mr. McMahon announced a new ‘Wild Card Rule’ in which a limited number of Superstars from Raw or SmackDown would be invited to cross brand lines for one-night-only appearances, with unauthorized jumps to be penalized by fines or even potential firing."
The ‘Wild Card Rule’ was originally supposed to feature just three Superstars on the opposing brand during the same night, but the rule was broken within two hours when Elias and Lars Sullivan joined Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston in appearing on Raw.
Michael Cole excitedly told everybody at the end of the broadcast that Raw Superstars could appear on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, so it is safe to assume that this ‘Wild Card Rule’ will be in place on several shows in the coming weeks.
In this article, let’s take a look at four of the biggest questions that need answering following Mr. McMahon’s surprising announcement on Monday.
#4 Why is the ‘Wild Card Rule’ even in place?
WWE’s storyline explanation for the ‘Wild Card Rule’ appears to be that Roman Reigns showed up on Raw and complained that the authority figures are not allowing the WWE Universe to run the show, so Vince McMahon is trying to appease everyone by letting Reigns, as well as other SmackDown Live Superstars, appear on Raw.
In reality, last week’s Raw television ratings hit an all-time non-holiday low in America, so these new storyline rules have almost certainly been put in place in order to increase viewership.
With a less predictable weekly product and more high-profile names available to appear on Raw, viewing figures are bound to improve, right?
#3 Should WWE end the brand split?
Over 30 WWE Superstars appeared on both the Raw and SmackDown Live brands between the 2018 and 2019 Superstar Shake-Ups, making the whole idea of a Shake-Up seem completely pointless.
Since the 2019 roster changes took place across two nights on the April 15-16 episodes of Raw and SmackDown Live, we have seen Andrade, Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, Cesaro, Samoa Joe, Jinder Mahal, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel move brands and/or appear on both shows, and that was before five SmackDown Live Superstars rocked up on Raw this week.
Why, after such big promotion of this year’s post-WrestleMania Shake-Up, has every single episode of Raw and SmackDown Live featured yet another new addition from the opposing brand?
The only logical explanation is that WWE is looking to end the brand split, with the last few weeks planting the seeds for that to happen at some point later this year.
#2 How often will the ‘Wild Card Rule’ occur?
WWE cancelled a live event in Corbin, Kentucky that was supposed to take place on Monday, hence why so many SmackDown Live Superstars were available to appear on Raw this week.
Moving forward, Raw and SmackDown Live will take place in the UK next week, which means live events are scheduled to happen at exactly the same time that WWE’s weekly television shows are going to be filmed.
On Monday, for example, while Raw is being recorded in London, a SmackDown live event will take place in Bournemouth. The following night, while SmackDown is being recorded in London, a Raw live event will take place in Paris.
Long-term, it would not be at all surprising if WWE decided to have multiple Superstars appear on opposing brands on a weekly basis. But, at least as far as next week goes, it seems unlikely that the ‘Wild Card Rule’ will be enforced unless WWE films some backstage segments in advance involving Superstars from the other show.
#1 Where is Triple H?
Off-screen, Triple H is a very busy man. Not only is he the patriarch behind the phenomenon that is NXT, but he has been the Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative for WWE since 2013.
On-screen, “The King of Kings” stood in the ring with the McMahon family in December 2018 and informed the WWE Universe that they will now be the authority. Not Baron Corbin, not Paige, not him, not the McMahons – the fans will now be in charge of what we see on WWE television.
That comment was brought up this week by Roman Reigns, whose storyline explanation for his appearance on Raw was due to him having an issue with the power-crazy Mr. McMahon giving out unfair punishments and instructions over the last few months.
Shane McMahon has also been appearing on WWE programming lately – in fact, he has arguably been even more villainous than his father – but where is Triple H in all this?
HHH was the one who promised five months ago that the fans will be WWE’s voice from now on, so can we expect to see him show up in the coming weeks to give his opinion on what has happened recently?
