5 WWE changes we need to see as part of Vince McMahon's 'new beginning'
Vince McMahon took part in a WWE earnings call this week to discuss the company’s 2019 finances and SmackDown Live’s move to FOX later in the year.
The big story to emerge from the call came via WWE co-president George Barrios, who said that the spot for the sixth hour of live weekly programming, which is currently taken up by 205 Live, is being re-evaluated. That has led many people to speculate that the sixth hour could be taken up by SmackDown Live, making it a three-hour show.
McMahon added that the company will have “a whole new beginning” in late September 2019 – the week before SmackDown Live moves to FOX on October 4 – and he even suggested that storylines will improve.
He said (via The Motley Fool):
"The promotional value alone notwithstanding rights fees and what have you, promotional value alone in terms of FOX, in terms of commitments from NBCU is something we've never seen before, not even close, it's extraordinary.
"It's going to kick us into again an element we've never seen before in terms of promotion with everything, WWE talent, storylines, you name it! So it's a rising tide situation that we're really looking forward to and having that carry on throughout the year."
With those comments in mind, let’s take a look at five changes we need to see as part of this “new beginning”.
#5 No more roster changes
If WWE does decide to add a third hour to SmackDown Live, potentially ending 205 Live in the process, then roster changes will be needed for the current Superstars in the cruiserweight division.
Besides that, there is no reason to swap any more Superstars between Raw and SmackDown Live before the 2020 Superstar Shake-Up.
Since last week’s Shake-Up took place, we have already seen Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, Andrade, Samoa Joe, Cesaro, Jinder Mahal, The Singh Brothers and The B-Team move brands, which completely defeats the purpose of having a two-night Shake-Up.
We also saw over a dozen Superstars appear on opposing brands before WrestleMania 35, which never used to happen when the roster changes really felt like they meant something in 2016-17.
Moving forward, it would make much more sense from a storyline perspective if Raw Superstars stayed on Raw and SmackDown Live Superstars stayed on SmackDown Live. Alternatively, if WWE wants to mix the rosters up as frequently as they did in 2018-19, then perhaps they should ditch the idea of a Shake-Up altogether.