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.

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#7 Segments like the recent ones with The Usos/Revival

Shaving your own back is hard!

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.

#6 Pushing/booking the same superstars atop the card

Much of the Universal Championship's story over the last few years has involved Lesnar and Reigns.

I've said it before and I'll say it again―the worst thing that happened regarding the Universal Championship was booking Kevin Owens to lose it to Goldberg at Fastlane two years ago. It put the title around a part-timer who was only back for 'one final run' with the end game of losing it to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania the following month.

The title and fans endured sporadic appearances and defenses, and when it was defended, it was mainly against two stars in Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman. I understand that there are top stars in your company and they get more chances than the rest of the roster.

But WWE had more than enough opportunities to 'crown' Reigns Universal Champion but they instead chose to prolong it. They could have crowned Strowman late last year but again decided to put the title around Lesnar's waist. He defended it at the Royal Rumble and didn't show up until WrestleMania. And that's just the problem with the booking of the Universal Championship.

Almost to the same degree, whenever there is a new champion on the show, Charlotte Flair is always given a title shot right away. It's often been to the detriment of the rest of the women on the roster who don't get as many chances. Who was Becky Lynch's first challenger for the SmackDown title after 'Mania? Flair. Who received an impromptu match two weeks before 'Mania? Flair.

Once again, there are main-event stars, mid-card stars and lower card Superstars on a roster. Always booking the same four or five people in the title picture, however, isn't exciting and will turn a lot of people off of your product.

#5 Constant bait-and-switches right before PPVs

It is unpredictable but frustrating at the same time when WWE promises one thing and delivers another.

This isn't anything new, but WWE has really relied on this tactic a lot over the last two years. It happened on the SmackDown before Survivor Series when Daniel Bryan captured the WWE Championship only days before the PPV. Instead of another match between AJ Styles and Lesnar at Survivor Series, it put Bryan in the Champion vs. Champion match.

It was cool to see Bryan win the top prize on SmackDown, but it was done when things were basically solidified for the PPV. But due to the constant changing of minds backstage, things change on the fly regularly in the WWE.

Another bait-and-switch was done after Elimination Chamber when Kofi Kingston was thought to be facing Bryan at Fastlane for the title. He had earned a shot with his performances but Mr. McMahon kept making Kingston jump through hoops in order to get a title shot. There was little more than a 'I don't think you are good enough' explanation, but after Kingston kept winning, it continued to happen on a weekly basis. It seemed mean rather than vital to the story.

One roadblock on the way to 'Mania was when Kingston got replaced by the returning Kevin Owens. Once again, I'm a fan of KO but usually getting a shot right away is an indication that the challenger has little chance of winning.

The most recent example of this was when three Superstars ended up being the final participant in the men's Money in the Bank ladder match. Strowman was first announced but would lose his spot to Sami Zayn on the Raw before the show. During the PPV, Zayn was ruled out after an attack and the match started with seven participants.

It ended with a surprise eighth entrant who showed up at the end of the match in order to shock everyone, walk down the ramp and pull down the briefcase. When you constantly promote or promise one thing to people and provide something different after people have set expectations in their minds, it can often backfire.

#4 Ignoring who the fans cheer for and refusing to push them

Rusev has seen several start-stop pushes while a member of the roster.

One of the biggest problems with WWE is that they claim to 'listen to us' and put out a product that reflects what the fans want to see. Rusev is a prime example of that problem. He started out as a great Anti-American heel when he debuted and went on a good run as United States Champion. It gave the title some prestige that it currently lacks today.

But over the last few years, Rusev abandoned that gimmick and started showing a little more personality in interviews and promos. One huge setback was when Lana announced on social media that they were engaged while they were embroiled in a feud that saw them on opposite sides. It broke the kayfabe wall but fans knew that they were in a relationship.

He's worked hard to climb the ladder numerous times. When he muttered the words 'Rusev Day' during a feud with the New Day, it set in motion a series of events that would see him routinely get the loudest receptions of the night.

Rusev was more over than Roman Reigns had ever been during the 'Rusev Day' run. All it netted him was a WWE Championship match he lost and a loss in a bid for the SmackDown Tag Titles. Tye Dillinger was super over with the fans but was only used to job to other wrestlers.

When fans are told who to root for by the way some stars are booked, it always causes the fans to push back in today's game. Had WWE really let the fans 'Be the Authority,' then Rusev would have had a title run and we wouldn't be witnessing Baron Corbin segments week after week.

#3 Not having matches that mean something

This series of matches did nothing to help either team.

A big thing that All Elite Wrestling promised to do was keep track of wins and losses and make them mean something rather than having random matches. It would let people know where wrestlers stood rather than simply knowing that Roman Reigns always wins and Curt Hawkins always loses.

Hawkins' story of his losing streak actually gave meaning to his matches, but several random feuds like The Revival vs. Lucha House Party were lacking depth. The Revival kept losing in handicap matches and it was explained as fair by commentary. All it did was make the House Party look like they were cheating.

When there are matches that do not involve titles or title implications unless there is a story behind the match, why should we care? On a recent Raw, the Lucha House Party beat a trio of unknown wrestlers. Nothing came of it. Why weren't they facing another trio of actual roster members?

On the same episode, Lacey Evans beat a jobber in under three minutes right before her match at MITB. Was Alicia Fox busy? What was Tamina or Dana Brooke doing? By not utilizing the roster to the fullest, it has caused some talent to become disgruntled with their spots.

WWE has put on many needless matches with no story. Cedric Alexander, Heath Slater or Eric Young could have showed up but instead, 'local talent' were used. Why move superstars between shows if you don't use them?

#2 Being predictable and not changing up the structure of things

Here are your Raw MITB match participants!

One huge problem WWE has is that both Raw and/or SmackDown often start off with a promo parade that leads to matches being announced for the said show. Sometimes they even announce the matches on social media in advance and still have the promo parades to set up the same matches that they already promoted as happening.

The shows don't usually start with matches or different segments but usually a 15-20 minute set of promos that tell us what we probably already know. If you've watched MITB builds over the last five years, you know that leading up until the PPV, there will be weeks of tag team matches, triple threats and other matches involving the four participants from each show.

Start with a fight going on backstage with the camera cutting from the announcers to backstage. Have a backstage interview or altercation set up a match that hasn't been previously announced.

Another trap WWE always uses to set up title matches is having a potential challenger 'pin the champ' in a non-title situation. It always happens and is usually followed with Michael Cole or Tom Phillips yelling 'X has pinned the United States Champion!'.

All they need to do is have matches that determine challengers or have an attack set up a title defense. The saying 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' applies here because things have been broken for a while so they need to be fixed. The ratings' issues are proof of that.

#1 Mr. McMahon's unwillingness to listen to anyone else

Mr. McMahon has the final say on everything.

A big thing that would need to be done to help fix some problems is have Mr. McMahon acknowledge that he is a part of the problem. That would never happen, however, as he is a senior citizen and set in his ways. Instead, the blame is likely put on the writers and everyone but himself.

Realizing that some of the problems your company is facing are your responsibility isn't something that billionaires do. So until he takes some of the blame, they will likely continue to suffer through the same problems they've dealt with over the last few years.

He probably isn't considering anyone else's ideas because he always has the last say on things. This has routinely led to the scripts for shows being re-written even hours before the shows air. The most recent episode of Raw reportedly started without a finished script. What's so wrong with the original scripts that they have to constantly be changed on the day of the show?

Another thing that McMahon apparently doesn't do is watch NXT. How is that possible? Don't you want to see who has potential regarding some of the up and coming stars? That's likely the reason why so many Superstars suffer name changes or gimmick tweaks once they transition from NXT to WWE proper.

Mr. McMahon is a visionary who brought WWF/WWE to the forefront but a lot of things have changed since he did that. Without acknowledging that other ideas can work, it has kept WWE is the same holding pattern that led to the ratings' issues that they currently face. They need to adapt and evolve or be doomed to repeat history.