5 Reasons why WWE might currently be in panic mode
WWE has experienced some of its biggest problems recently regarding the ratings for both Raw and SmackDown. Raw suffered its lowest ratings in late 2018 and although they have slightly risen in 2019, they are still among the lowest in the show's history.
And even though the SmackDown product has been much better than Raw since the brand split, its ratings have also suffered the same fate. It has also dropped to some lows that haven't been seen before in WWE.
Because of the ratings issues and several other factors, whether they will admit it or not, the WWE is in a panicked state of operation. If that wasn't the case, then we wouldn't have been 'gifted' the totally random 'Wildcard Rule' that Mr. McMahon made a big deal about creating on this week's Raw.
That's the reason for wanting to have AJ Styles and Roman Reigns being featured on both shows, as if that would help greatly increase the struggling ratings. The easiest thing to do would be to let more superstars have some creative freedom so that they come across more natural.
Whether or not you are on board with Bray Wyatt's new direction, you have to at least respect the effort that Wyatt puts into 'the Firefly Funhouse' segments. They could also have better storylines rather than the Usos shaming the Revival in various ways.
Despite WrestleMania being only a month ago, it's luster has worn off and things haven't risen to levels that are acceptable for the WWE to feel safe and comfortable. A lot of the problems aren't easy fixes, but pushing different superstars would help. Newer faces help the product evolve rather than pushing the same four or five wrestlers.
Since the problem is a multi-layered one, there isn't one sole reason why WWE is currently in a tough spot. Here are five reasons why WWE seems like it might be in panic mode regarding the current state of its product.
#5 All Elite Wrestling and other competitions
WWE hasn't had any viable competition since WCW closed its doors in the early 2000s. The main competitor was gone, so WWE was able to keep things going along at the same pace for much of the 2000s and 2010s. But wrestling as a sport and business evolved a lot during that period, and promotions like Ring of Honor, Major League Wrestling and Impact started to garner national attention.
They still weren't major threats to the WWE, but with the sport evolving so much every year, some promotions seemed to be cultivating their own stars. The WWE would soon sign them, but the fact that other promotions could churn out great wrestlers started to show the WWE that there were still competitors to deal with.
Once the Elite helped grow New Japan Pro Wrestling outside of Japan, it also started to threaten WWE's international influence. NJPW had been around almost as long as WWE and now its biggest acts were leaving to start their own promotion. While the jury is still out as to how successful AEW will be, they have the billionaire backing of a family with pockets deeper than the McMahons.
They can offer more money to superstars and offer possibly more creative freedom to any superstars unhappy with how they are being handled in their current promotions. If WWE wasn't worried about the young upstart promotion, then they would have released any unhappy superstars that have asked for their releases. Instead, they have offered them more money in order to keep people with them rather than letting them go to their competition.