Mr. McMahon has effectively ended the brand split, albeit on a very small scale, with a confusing new concept he’s personally calling the “Wildcard Rule”.
After Smackdown Live stars Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan and WWE Champion Kofi Kingston kicked off this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw, the boss announced that from now on, three Superstars from one brand may now appear on the other….sometimes…
The new rule is incredibly ambiguous, and it didn’t help that a very in-character McMahon intentionally delivered the news as if he just randomly crapped the idea out of the aether live on the air, so even he sounded confused in trying to explain the concept to the WWE Universe.
Basically three, and ONLY THREE, people from Raw can show up on Smackdown every week, and vice versa. We’re not sure why the number is limited to three, or how those people are decided, but it’s worth pointing out that just one month after WrestleMania, when the company generally draws its highest ratings of the entire year, both Raw and Smackdown delivered all-time low viewership for last week’s episodes.
UPDATE: Since we originally posted this article, Shane McMahon, Elias and Lars Sullivan have each appeared on tonight’s episode of Raw. Either WWE doesn’t know how to count to three, or they’ve already changed how the rule they LITERALLY JUST ANNOUNCED works.
UPDATE #2: They have changed how the rule they literally just announced works. After being confronted by Lars Sullivan backstage, Mr. McMahon changed the Wildcard Rule so that four Superstars can now cross brands each week. Apparently Elias does not count.