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What’s the story?
Vince McMahon introduced the 'Wild Card' rule on Monday Night RAW, and it has left the WWE Universe confused. The chairman 'came up' with the rule live on the show after Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston made their way to the ring despite being SmackDown Live Superstars.
Wrestling Observer Radio now have an update on the new rule and claim that it was forced on WWE. The report suggests that USA Network and FOX Sports asked the company to do it as they wanted multiple Superstars from the other brand on their show.
In case you didn’t know…
WWE's brand split has not gone the way they wanted it. Not only have they been changing the Superstars multiple times, but they have also not managed to stick to one proper storyline for them.
Roman Reigns, despite being drafted to SmackDown Live during the Superstar Shakeup, was the one who kicked off RAW last night. The 'wild card' rule has now been brought in after Vince McMahon introduced it.
With this rule, 4 Superstars from both shows will be allowed to go to the other brand on a given night. Apart from the selected stars, nobody else is allowed to move or use this wild card.
The heart of the matter
Fox Sports and USA Network have forced WWE to introduce this 'Wild Card' rule, and Dave Meltzer made it clear on Wrestling Observer Radio:
“Fox wanted more storylines that are going to be on both RAW and SmackDown. You know, NBC Universal was real upset about the ratings especially in the third hour and was asking questions about: ‘Our ratings are this, this, and this why’d we give away Roman Reigns?'”
What’s next?
It looks like we will be seeing the top stars working on both shows despite the Superstar Shakeup. So, in short, the Shakeup does not apply to the top stars, but still, they will be made a part of it just for the excitement.
