Why WWE Has New "Brand-To-Brand Invitation" Rule

Last night's WWE Raw saw the announcement that wrestlers will once again be permitted to cross between main roster brands, as Drew McIntyre outlined a "brand-to-brand invitation" system allowing Raw and SmackDown to extend invitations to wrestlers on the other side, softening the brand split.

SmackDown's Baron Corbin became the first wrestler to receive such an invitation. The olive branch was accepted, with WWE's 'King' now set to wrestle McIntyre on next week's Raw.

While no further details were announced on the show itself, the Wrestling Observer claims that the system is a response to Raw and SmackDown's accelerated viewership declines since entering the Empty Arena. This has been corroborated by POST Wrestling's John Pollock, who writes that the networks came up with the idea, hoping to stop the viewership rot.

All wrestling ratings are down, though Raw and SmackDown have posted the sharpest declines in the key 18-49 demographic, dropping 37.8% and 37.5% respectively since the ongoing global health crisis forced them into empty buildings. For comparison, NXT has fallen 30.4% and AEW Dynamite 22.9%.

Effectively a reincarnation of the maligned Wild Card Rule of 2019, it remains to be seen if these brand-to-brand invitations will open the floodgates or trigger only a single crossover at a time.