RUMOR: WWE And TV Networks At Odds Over New Rule

We’re doing this again. Currently, WWE’s two major television shows have their own unique rosters. That can make for some problematic situations as the wrestlers are going to be able to face the people on their roster and their roster alone. As a result, WWE tends to come up with ways around the Brand Split, which makes the whole thing a little less important in the first place. That is the case again now, and it might not be going so smoothly.

During this week’s Monday Night Raw, Drew McIntyre announced that he would be facing SmackDown’s King Corbin on next week’s SmackDown. This new concept is called the Brand To Brand Invitational, but it sounds a lot like the previously disastrous Wild Card Rule. It turns out that it is pretty similar, but this version has some more actors in play for the whole thing.

According to Sportskeeda.com, WWE, USA and FOX all have different feelings on the Brand To Brand Invitational. USA likes the idea of the Wild Card Rule returning, as it allows more top stars to appear on their shows. The network is also unhappy about the lack of the 24/7 Title, which was USA’s idea but now is on SmackDown, even if Rob Gronkowski has not appeared in nearly two months.

On the other hand, FOX is still pleased with the audience that SmackDown is drawing and does not want to shake things up, or make some of the show’s top stars available elsewhere. FOX was not pleased with the original roster after the Brand Split in the first place and WWE may not want to anger them further. Finally, WWE likes the idea of the rule returning as it could help to stabilize their shaky television ratings.

The original rule was uh, out there. Check out some instances of it in action:

Opinion: I’m not sure what to expect from something like this as WWE never has a tendency to be able to stick with something like this for very long. On top of that though, it isn’t exactly getting off to a good start with Corbin, who is far from the most popular name in the company. Maybe this can help things out a bit, but don’t be surprised if it’s a lot of the same people showing up week after week.

Do you like the idea of the new rule? How long will it last? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for “GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES” to sign up. Thank you for reading!