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It is no secret that WWE has lately been having a lot of struggle with ratings and overall show quality. WWE is clearly in desperate times as they have recently brought back several WWE legends including Goldberg, the Undertaker, Triple H, and Brock Lesnar, made a new championship in the 24/7 Championship, and gave Brock Lesnar the Money in the Bank briefcase and had him say that he would cash in the briefcase without him actually doing so. WWE also blurred the brand split lines by implementing the new Wild Card policy to allow superstars to visit the opposing brand.
The dawn of AEW has created real competition for the first time in more than a decade. WWE needs to go all out (no pun intended) to maintain its place as the world's top wrestling company. Several changes can help WWE to do so by improving the quality of the show.
#4 Have a match kick off WWE programming more often
Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live almost always start with a promo that lasts from twenty to thirty minutes (recently an episode of Raw lasted for fifty minutes without a match that wasn't a squash match). These promos can involve several stars from Baron Corbin to Shane McMahon to even Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman. By having each WWE show start in the same way, they are decreasing fan interest in the show.
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WWE can quickly fix this problem by starting Raw, or SmackDown Live with a match more often. Fans would be less inclined to skip the first hour of Monday Night Raw if they learned that they missed out on a fifteen minute classic between Ricochet and Cesaro. WWE can make things even more enjoyable by having a title match kick off Raw. Fans would be more likely to tune into the first hour of Monday Night Raw if they know that last week they missed Brock Lesnar cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase on Seth Rollins or a classic Raw Tag Team Championship match between the Usos and the Revival. This formula works for NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live, and can work with Raw and SmackDown Live as well.
#3 Get rid of the Wild Card Rule
After WWE had one of its worst weeks (in ratings) in quite some time, Vince McMahon implemented the Wild Card Rule which stated that four wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown Live could appear on the opposing brand per week. This new rule has allowed Superstars like Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, Alexa Bliss, and Kofi Kingston to appear on the other brand.
Fan response to this rule has been pretty negative, and it is easy to see why. WWE can't even be bothered to follow their own rules as more than four Superstars appear on the different brand every time. On this past episode of SmackDown Live, six Superstars appeared from Monday Night Raw. This rule has led to the cancellation of multiple SmackDown Live events, several underutilized Superstars not making appearances (chasing R-Truth around for the 24/7 Championship does not count), and the tag team division being undermined. It defeats the purpose of the brand split as there was no point for these Superstars to be drafted and traded if they could still appear on and challenge for titles of the other show. It is also going to make the Raw vs. Smackdown concept for Survivor Series seem incredibly stupid as most superstars are a part of both shows.
#2 Revive tag team wrestling
It has been hard to see the diminishment of the tag team division over the past few years. The tag team division is seen as a joke with several things including the B-Team's Raw Tag Team Title reign, AOP's manager Drake Maverick and his bladder issues, the reason that the Usos and the Revival are feuding, the name of the War Raiders changing to the Viking Raiders, and the Lucha House Rules.
Great tag teams such as the Revival, Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura, AOP, the Viking Raiders, Gallows & Anderson, and Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder consistently are undermined. It has become typical for the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Titles to not even be defended on pay-per-view. The best example of this is a planned rivalry between the Viking Raiders and Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder being inexplicably dropped.
Tag team wrestling can be its own unique type of match when tag teams are given time to shine. Matches in NXT involving teams like the Revival, #DIY, American Alpha, AOP, the Viking Raiders, Undisputed Era, the Brit-Am Bruisers, and the Street Profits prove this.
WWE's tag teams can easily do the same as the tag team divisions include talented teams like New Day, the Revival, the Usos, the Viking Raiders, and AOP. With AEW already having an elite tag team division including the Young Bucks, the Rhodes Brothers, the Lucha Bros, SCU, Private Party, and Best Friends, it is imperative that WWE shows AEW and the fans that they can match their style.
#1 Less Shane McMahon on TV
Shane McMahon quite frankly appears on TV way too much. Shane McMahon takes up about an hour of TV time per week due to his appearances on Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live. He is not able to perform at a top level anymore as proven by his matches with The Miz and Roman Reigns which bored the crowd to death.
He is being portrayed as a submission specialist, which is just ridiculous. He defeated The Miz three times in a row even though The Miz could have used the victory to solidify his status as a top face. He also defeated Roman Reigns at Super ShowDown in his first pinfall loss since he returned. It is even more frustrating to think that WWE will likely not give a superstar like Drew McIntyre or Elias the rub of defeating Roman Reigns even though they could use it.
Shane McMahon has competed on every single pay-per-view this year while other Superstars (including some champions) struggle to find a spot on each pay-per-view. It is disturbing to think that superstars like Kevin Owens, Asuka, Braun Strowman, Andrade, Ali, and the Hardy Boys couldn't find marquee spots on the WrestleMania card while Shane McMahon received a featured singles match.
