The fate of the brand split between Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown is once again in jeopardy, according to a new report from POST Wrestling. According to John Pollock, WWE will introduce a rule during this weeks Monday Night Raw that will allow for some crossover between the Red and Blue Brands, comparing it to the much-maligned Wild Card Rule that stuck around on WWE television from May-October. The crossover will reportedly be kept at a “minimum,” so the brand split hasn’t been abolished completely.
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“One source indicated that this idea came at the request of the networks,” Pollock wrote. “Last week, Raw hit its lowest mark in modern history with 1,686,000 viewers while Friday Night SmackDown has recorded its three lowest figures since launching on Fox over the past three weeks.”
Following the 2019 WWE Draft, in which both rosters were reconstructed from the ground up, the Wild Card Rule was erased and the two brands were made completely separate again, just in time for the battle for “brand supremacy” at Survivor Series in November (which NXT won after getting included in the pay-per-view for the first time).
On top of that announcement, this week’s Raw will feature a “major career announcement” from Becky Lynch and appearances from both Edge and Randy Orton (all signs point to their feud continuing following the Last Man Standing Match at WrestleMania). The show will also feature the fallout from Money in the Bank, which saw both world champions retain on Sunday night while Otis and Asuka won their respective Money in the Bank matches.
On the subject of WWE making changes, the company will reportedly be producing shorter pay-per-views until the promotion is allowed to have fans attend events again. Sunday’s event wound up clocking in at under two-and-a-half hours (not counting the kickoff show), making it the shortest pay-per-view in more than two decades.
Check out the full results from Money in the Bank below:
- (Kickoff) Jeff Hardy def. Cesaro
- SmackDown Tag Team Championships: The New Day def. Lucha House Party, The Forgotten Sons and The Miz & John Morrison
- Bobby Lashley def. R-Truth
- SmackDown Women’s Championship: Bayley def. Tamina
- WWE Universal Championship: Braun Strowman def. Bray Wyatt
- WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre def. Seth Rollins
- Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match (Filmed at WWE Headquarters): Asuka def. Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler
- Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match (Filmed at WWE Headquarters): Otis def. AJ Styles, King Corbin, Aleister Black, Rey Mysterio and Daniel Bryan
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