8 Reason Why The Shield's WWE Reunion Is Doomed To Fail
2. It's A Cynical Ratings Grab
This is a tricky time of year for WWE. It's too early to start building WrestleMania hype, which prevents them from using the year's biggest event as a marketing tool, and the NFL is back in full flow, putting Raw in direct competition with Monday Night Football every week. The company's ratings struggles are bad enough without these extra challenges, and they must work harder than usual to maintain their audience throughout autumn.
Knowing this, it's easy to understand why WWE decided to spring The Shield's reunion in October. It's not because they wanted to tell a cool story: it's because they're trying to salvage ratings, which speaks volumes.
The angle has began relatively strongly, but WWE's creative team are notoriously bad at following up on hot starts, and if their focus is on ratings, not artistry, what chance does the storyline have of succeeding?
This is all speculative, of course, but the warning signs are there. Anyone who's been watching WWE for any length of time knows that long-term storytelling isn't one of their strengths, but this is cynical, even by their standards. Still, what else should we expect from a company that believes philanthropy is a marketing tool?