WWE's 'Wild Card Rule' Claims Another Live Event Casualty

This Monday's WWE SmackDown live event in Lowell, Massachusetts has been cancelled, with the [...]

This Monday's WWE SmackDown live event in Lowell, Massachusetts has been cancelled, with the likely reason being the recent development of the "Wild Card Rule" on WWE programming.

Since WWE changed up the booking of RAW and SmackDown stars in response to low ratings and a request from FOX, several of the SmackDown brand's top stars have been working both RAW and SmackDown. This has been problematic for the house shows scheduled for the SmackDown brand opposite of RAW on Monday nights.

The main reason for the Lowell cancellation was listed as "a scheduling conflict." This is the second SmackDown house show in two weeks to be cancelled for this reason. The May 6th event in Corbin, Kentucky was also cancelled, and that was the night Vince McMahon announced the new "Wild Card Rule."

The full statement from the Tsongas Center, where this Monday's event was to take place, reads as follows:

"The WWE Live event scheduled for Monday May 20th at Tsongas Center in Lowell, MA has been cancelled due to a scheduling conflict."

Fans who had made arrangements to attend the show were obviously disappointed and took to Twitter to express their dismay.

It's important to note that the show was not simply postponed to a later date. It has been explicitly cancelled, with the Tsongas Center box office giving instructions for refunds.

"Any tickets purchased via credit card will be automatically refunded. Please allow 5-7 business days for the refund to take place. Tickets that were purchased with cash at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell Box Office must be returned to the point of purchase in order to be refunded. We apologize for the inconvenience."

The rationale for the cancellation makes sense, though it is certainly frustrating for the fans who had expected to attend a live event in just days to have that show cancelled on such short notice.

If you have tickets for any upcoming Monday night house shows from the SmackDown brand, we'd advise you to not get too comfortable with your plans.

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