FOX And USA Want WWE Brand Split To End
Networks want change to halt slumping ratings.
Despite WWE explicitly stating that the zany 'Wild Card' rule Vince McMahon announced on last night's episode of Monday Night Raw won't herald the end of the Brand Split, it looks like that's where we're headed - if the television networks involved get their wish.
Speaking on today's Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reported that both USA and FOX - current host of Raw and future host of SmackDown respectively - want WWE to put an end to their divided roster in the wake of dramatically dwindling ratings.
Last week's edition of Raw slumped to a record low for a non-holiday episode of the show, prompting fresh alarm in Titan Towers. It's understood that bringing Roman Reigns over to the red brand last night, as well as announcing a weekly cycling of talent, was the WWE Chairman's way of assuaging the fears of two stations surely feeling the immense pangs of buyer's remorse.
FOX reached a deal with WWE last year to bring SmackDown to their channel starting October, at a ludicrous cost of $205 million a year. Since negotiating the contract, the blue brands ratings have slid to unprecedented levels.
The current brand extension began in May 2016, and after a few years of separate PPVs, has gradually began to fade with superstars and championships turning up on opposite shows arbitrarily. Even if we don't have a formal end of the split, we're already in the throes of an effective one, reminiscent of the demise of its original incarnation.