7 Things that have likely led to WWE's decline in ratings
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect Sportskeeda's views.
WWE would like the fans to think that everything is okay and that they have everything under control regarding their ratings. But, once they hit the lowest mark in the history of Raw in late 2018, WWE panicked with its moves during the holiday season.
They first advertised that six Superstars from NXT—Heavy Machinery, EC3, Nikki Cross, Lars Sullivan, and Lacey Evans—would debut in the new year. When WWE was forced to have them show up sooner rather than later, it made the appearances of the new Superstars seem strange.
The wrestlers did not all have matches but merely showed up randomly backstage for a few seconds. Once it was apparent that the handling of the newer stars was slightly mishandled, it caused 'the Chairman' to call up the top four Superstars from NXT in Ricochet, Aleister Black, Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa.
Those stars appeared on both shows more frequently than the previous six stars that had previously debuted. As things built towards WrestleMania 35, the episodes were straightforward in order to present the matches that would highlight the Show of Shows.
After 'Mania, however, things began to go South again. The Superstar Shake Up provided new stars to different shows but left some divisions lacking, like the Raw Women's Division and the SmackDown Tag Team Division.
To help the ratings from dropping even further, WWE instituted the 'Wildcard Rule.' It was explained as a way to have several top stars and a mid-carder each week show up on both shows. It also gave a reason why Roman Reigns was going to show up weekly on both Raw and SmackDown.
When even that didn't stop the ratings problem, the '24/7 Title' was recently introduced. Even if WWE intended for it not to be taken seriously, it isn't a title that will ever be held in the same regard of holding a title like the Intercontinental Championship.
Since the ratings' issues will likely continue until WWE truly addresses its issues, there are several things that they could change in order to stop their issues with ratings. Will they try some necessary things in order to stop the floodgates from exploding instead of truly examining the underlying issues?
Here are seven things that likely led to WWE's current problem with the decline in ratings. These are merely suggestions because although they have the potential to help improve things, they might be harder to actually pull off rather than follow in theory.
#7 Segments like the recent ones with The Usos/Revival
WWE writers―or a particular person in charge―might have thought that the segments where The Usos pulled high-school pranks on The Revival were hilarious. Comedy has a place in wrestling and works when done right and with taste.
Those segments adhered to neither of those things. They were likely done to make The Revival look silly because they declined to re-sign new contracts with WWE. The duo revealed that they were unhappy with how things were being handled and asked for their releases earlier this year.
Since WWE doesn't want to outright release the talented team, they think the best route is to make them look foolish in front of the whole world. I tune into Raw each week for those one or two matches that make it all worthwhile. Having to sit through segments like those were embarrassing as a fan and an adult. It's probably part of the reason why some people have tuned out.