WWE Tries To Explain And Break Down Vince McMahon’s New ‘Wild Card Rule’ For ‘Raw’ And ‘SmackDown’

A few weeks ago, WWE had their annual Superstar Shake-Up, which sent stars moving around between the brands. At this point, it was believed that everyone on Monday Night Raw would stay there and those on SmackDown Live would appear exclusively on Tuesdays, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Last night, Vince McMahon introduced a brand new “Wild Card Rule” which they have since broken down and attempted to explain to the fans.

To start out last night’s Monday Night Raw, Vince McMahon went to the ring to speak about different things, but he was interrupted by several superstars from SmackDown Live. Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan, and Roman Reigns all said they had business to handle, but they were indeed on the wrong brand.

It was at that point that Vince came up with one of his “genius” ideas, per GiveMeSport, and he created the “Wild Card Rule.” No longer will it be the case where superstars from each brand just come over to the other occasionally, but it will be something that happens quite often.

At first, it seemed as if he was just kind of rambling, but the official website of WWE has confirmed that it is indeed real and they attempted to explain exactly how it all will work.

Once all of those from the blue brand showed up on Raw, Vince came up with the “Wild Card Rule,” which was changed up quickly. Vince said that a “limited number of Superstars from Raw or SmackDown would be invited to cross brand lines for one-night-only appearances.”

At first, the number was capped at just three, but an appearance by Lars Sullivan caused Vince to change his mind and make it four. This is apparently such a serious new rule change that unauthorized jumps by superstars could bring about penalties consisting of fines and even possibly causing them to be fired.

Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, along with WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The IIconics are exceptions to the rule. They are allowed to appear on both brands without worrying about the “Wild Card Rule” or penalty.

WWE made sure to focus on the fact that they are not ending the brand extension or going back to the days of Raw SuperShows. The new “Wild Card Rule” can bring about some incredible new matches, appearances, and implications that could truly shake up the rosters of both brands. It will be interesting to see who decides they have business to handle on a brand other than their own.