Published 11:29 IST, May 15th 2020
Roman Reigns’ absence could strike massive blow to WWE's future TV ratings
Many say that when Roman Reigns returns, he will bring a lot of viewers for WWE. But until then, WWE would have to depend on someone else to draw views.
Roman Reigns has been a prominent face in the WWE for years and his absence seems to have harmed WWE TV ratings. Roman Reigns was expected to defeat Goldberg at WrestleMania 36, but he pulled out of the match just a couple of days before the PPV. Many say that he would have featured in many major storylines as a champion and could have defended the Universal Championship against Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Sheamus, Jeff Hardy and others.
After Roman Reigns left, he took a lot of WWE SmackDown viewers with him. Things became worse when one-by-one many A-list WWE superstars started leaving or went on a break. The face of WWE RAW, Brock Lesnar went on break when his storyline with Drew McIntyre ended. The absence of Brock Lesnar affected WWE so badly that many WWE RAW episodes drew record-low viewership ratings. Not just Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, many superstars like Becky Lynch, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens also went on a break.
How WWE is dealing with the absence of superstars?
To deal with the absence of prominent superstars and draw more viewers to their shows, FOX (the network of WWE SmackDown) and USA Network (the network of WWE RAW) officials have asked for the two brands to start working together. However, many have said that the crossover episodes will be limited as many A-list superstars are scheduled to return. This week, Edge and Randy Orton returned because of which WWE RAW drew more viewers than usual. WWE SmackDown, on the other hand, is still losing viewers week-by-week. Many say that the viewers will return only when Roman Reigns comes back to the show.
Some fans believe that Roman Reigns could make a surprise entry in the coming weeks and start a new storyline with current Universal Champion Braun Strowman. Few even claimed that 'The Big Dog' could return at the WWE Backlash PPV or WWE SummerSlam PPV and attack the future WWE Universal Champion. Whenever Roman Reigns returns, he will surely bring a lot of viewers for WWE SmackDown, but until then, WWE would have to come up with something major to attract viewers.
Is Vince McMahon unhappy with Roman Reigns?
Earlier, it was reported that WWE CEO Vince McMahon didn’t like Roman Reigns pulling out of WrestleMania 36 match. According to many, he was so angry that he had asked WWE officials to not use Roman Reigns’ name or image during any WWE live broadcasts. An unnamed WWE staff member recently told TMZ (via ringsidenews), “Roman Reigns’ name not mentioned at all. And no one is going to ask Vince.”
Updated 11:29 IST, May 15th 2020