Why WWE Has Lost 1 Million Viewers
In emphasising the Shake-Up over everything else, WWE are telling you that the Raw after 'Mania doesn't matter as much as it used to. A shame, but a potentially unavoidable shame.
WrestleMania's fallout is the operative time to hold this mini-draft because everybody should be looking for a fresh start after the 'Show Of Shows,' which remains WWE's season finale, and there's no better way to give a wrestler that than by having them move home. Hold it in May or June and WWE would be faced with an elongated version of the one currently faced by wrestlers in that week-long gap between 'Mania and the Shake-Up itself: performers would be left spinning their wheels in placeholder storylines because they could be on the move a few months later.
Such is life when your roster is split in two.
There's no obvious solution to this. Holding the Shake-Up on the post-'Mania Raw and SmackDown shows would be chaos. Scrapping the brand split outright isn't an option, as it would leave swathes of WWE Superstars stuck with nothing to do and destroy all parity between the company's two main roster shows. Going back to the days of big, game-changing surprises would certainly help, but how many big, game-changing surprises do WWE have left to deliver in 2019? There's no Goldberg or Lesnar to call on to return. The Rob Van Dams and f*cking Carlitos of the world are all that's left.
Indeed, the Superstar Shake-Up makes it nigh-on impossible for the Raw after WrestleMania to ever reclaim its lost lustre. WWE have adjusted their priorities, and while there are plenty of things they could've done to jazz this year's shows up (debuting the Undisputed Era, for one), their mystique is gone forever.
Shocking debuts and big call-ups are the past; beach balls and AEW chants are the future.
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