WWE Rumors: Reasons behind the “Greatest Wrestling Match Ever” branding for Backlash revealed (Exclusive)
Over the last few weeks, WWE programming has been experimenting with a storytelling method that sources within both WWE and Fox have confirmed is designed to produce favorable outcomes on search engines such as Google.
Both the branding of the match between Edge and Orton at Backlash and the recent drunk driving arrest storyline for Jeff Hardy have being written in a way so as to create a long-term dominance of internet airwaves. The branding of the "Greatest Wrestling Match Ever" has apparently been written so that a casual viewer is more likely to stumble upon Edge Vs Orton - rather than a match from an alternative wrestling company. Edge and Orton’s match has seemingly been selected for this purpose due to the longevity of both men's connection with the casual wrestling audience.
Separately, SportsKeeda has learned that the concept behind writing a storyline in which Jeff Hardy is arrested for drunk driving is to add kayfabe results to search engines and thus confuse a viewer who may have instead stumbled upon details of Jeff Hardy’s real-life past.
While there is no way to adequately remove the presence of key information about Jeff Hardy's previous alcohol and substance abuse issues, the WWE will undoubtedly be bolstered by both wrestling and mainstream media coverage of the Jeff Hardy storyline. The intention is to use popular search times that might have previously led to Jeff's prior arrest reports and instead have them refer to WWE storylines.
Recent WWE storylines will directly impact search engine results
Further analysis is available in the video above.
Sources were clear that this is far from the only reasoning behind the concept, but believe that it is something that we are likely to see more of in the future. There are a number of indications that the WWE are becoming more and more concerned with current ratings for RAW and SmackDown. There has been a greater number of recap packages, increased focus on recognized draws such as Edge, Orton, Shawn Michaels and Charlotte Flair and more blatant use of hooks before commercial breaks, such as pre-match attacks. Favorable rankings for the WWE on search engines are apparently the latest attempt to maintain viewership long-term.
The "Greatest Wrestling Match Ever" concept has proven unpopular with a backstage source informing me that they found the whole thing "ridiculous", insisting that "nobody’s happy about it." It has also proven unpopular with fans on social media. Regardless of the branding, the match has already been filmed and WWE Backlash is just a few short days away, so we will all have to wait and see just how good the match is.