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2019 has been a huge year for WWE so far.
The company is heading in an all-new direction and despite there being declining television ratings (until recently), WWE is looking to officially kickstart a new era in their product.
If we take a look back at the last two decades in wrestling, the Attitude Era, Ruthless Aggression Era, PG Era, Reality Era, and the New Era had quite different directions. Although, the PG Era's characteristics somehow encompassed the latter two, things appear to finally be changing.
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Vince McMahon spoke during the 2nd Quarter Earnings Report call and there he talked more about how the company is going to be changing going forward. This has raised tremendous speculation about the changes we might see.
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There is actually, a lot that we already know about how WWE's management is planning to change their product in 2019. This seems to be the start of an all-new era altogether.
In this article, we are going to take a look at 5 things that WWE is changing about their product in 2019. Let's take a look!
#6 Move to Fox and the ensuing change in the product
WWE is making one of the biggest changes that they have made in only 2 months. In October, WWE's SmackDown Live show will be moving to Fridays on Fox. The move to Fox is important for three very specific reasons.
- Enormous contract with Fox
- Bigger audience
- Change in the style of shows
The television deal with Fox has been a huge boost for WWE when it comes to their financial side of things.
The deal will also see the company reach far more homes than they did on USA Network. Compared to USA Network's limited reach, Fox is a goliath, and the product will be reaching far more homes, leading to a possible huge jump in ratings.
Finally, reports have emerged stating that Fox wants a different product from WWE than what we are used to. While acknowledging the product is scripted, this could mean that we will be able to see SmackDown Live's shows far more focused on the wrestling aspect and make it appear more like 'legitimate' sports.
#5 Main roster talent heading to NXT
One of the complaints of the WWE Universe has always been about the underutilized talent on the main roster. There was a general consensus that a large part of the main roster Superstars were not getting enough television time -- something that became even worse with the introduction of the controversial WWE Wildcard Rule.
Now, the situation is changing and we have already seen this in action.
Tyler Breeze is a permanent part of the NXT fixture now, after sitting on the sidelines for a long time on the main roster.
One of the major disappointments over the last year was how Sanity lacked any cohesive direction on WWE's main roster after their incredible run on NXT.
They were broken up (perhaps not the most popular direction) and sent their separate ways. Nikki Cross is on the main roster in a storyline alongside Alexa Bliss and Bayley. Eric Young is also on the main roster, but it appears has taken on a more backstage role.
Killian Dain is about to debut on NXT all over again and this time it seems he is going to take his frustration out on the rest of the roster.
Alexander Wolfe is on NXT UK as part of the leading stable - Imperium.
WWE is actively moving their wrestlers around now to the development brands. This may spell good news for wrestlers who are on the fringes of the main roster as it will help them to get more exposure and television time.
#4 Wildcard Rule
One of the things, that has received the most negative reactions since being introduced, is the Wildcard Rule.
The rule was introduced by Vince McMahon himself. It allowed for WWE Superstars from the RAW brand to show up on SmackDown Live and vice versa. The rule originally stated that only 4 Superstars from each brand are going to be able to show up.
The rule has been rather flexible, as there have definitely been weeks where there were more Superstars from corresponding brands. This has led to reduced television time for some of the other wrestlers in the company.
However, we might be seeing an end to the Wildcard Rule extremely soon. While nothing has been confirmed, with the hiring of Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff and making them the Executive Directors of RAW and SmackDown respectively.
This means that since both men have very distinct ideas of what their shows should be portraying, we will be getting a clear demarcation between the rosters and the Wildcard Rule will come to an end.
#3 Less Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon has been the person controlling almost every aspect of WWE programming for the last 4 decades. In this time, he has showcased how much of a genius he is when it comes to the content and the innovation he has made to the product.
Now, the time has come for him to move on.
Vince McMahon will no longer be in charge of WWE in the same way that he was. He admitted that he had hired Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff so that they could focus on the creative aspect more, allowing him to back off and not be in the 'weeds' as much any longer.
While he will still be in the decision-making process, Bischoff and Heyman will have the rights to make more decisions about where they want to take the product.
He will also be focusing on XFL leaving less time for WWE. The company is at the dawn of a new era.
#2 Development and expansion of NXT and WWE
One of the best parts about WWE in the past decade has been how the NXT brand has developed. The brand has become one of the best things about WWE as a whole and has seen some of the best matches put out by the company as a whole.
The man heading this development is Triple H. Right alongside William Regal, Shawn Michaels, Matt Bloom, and Johnny Saint, Triple H has made NXT and NXT UK a success.
It appears now we are about to get another NXT, with rumors floating around regarding an NXT Canada.
WWE is also planning to expand in Japan, something that can be seen by Triple H reportedly meeting with Japanese promotions. Could an NXT Japan be something in the recent future as well?
At this point, fast growth is one of the exciting things about the NXT brand and WWE.
#1 Edgier product
One of the biggest things that Vince McMahon has admitted recently, is that the product is evolving. After years of being under the umbrella of PG programming, WWE is going to move to an edgier product.
This does not mean that their product will be like the Attitude Era, as they have moved past that.
However, this does mean that we might see more interesting stories and incorporation of storylines designed to attract the attention of the young adult and adult audiences, right alongside the children. This will allow them more latitude in what they can do on television.
Hiring Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff is a show of their intent, and with Triple H pushing the growth of NXT and the developmental brands, there is a whole new sort of programming in store for the WWE Universe in the coming years.
