This week’s Raw season premiere had its best ratings since the NFL season began, perhaps partially because fans tuned in to see if Bray Wyatt would show up after his red hot return at Extreme Rules. There was a video from the White Rabbit, imploring us to “revel in what you are,” but Wyatt was not actually in the house live.
According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, that’s likely to continue to be the case on Monday nights:
Going forward, Bray Wyatt is currently only slated for appearances on the Smackdown brand, PWInsider.com has confirmed.
While it would be great to see Wyatt on both shows — and hope springs eternal for a definitive end to WWE’s brand split — the truth is that it makes sense to focus him on one. SmackDown has a bigger weekly audience thanks to it airing on FOX, so keeping him as an attraction on Friday nights makes sense.
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Raw can still be used to promote Wyatt’s appearances there, as it was this week. Not only was the White Rabbit video played, but a promo card flat out told viewers to watch for him on SmackDown, and the latest viral tease included the numbers “10 14 22,” the date for this week’s show.
That doesn’t mean that Wyatt will never show up on Mondays either, as WWE has been pretty relaxed about floating talent between the two programs when it makes sense to do so to advance certain storylines. Sami Zayn is a good current example; Zayn is technically a member of the SmackDown roster, but has popped up on Raw a number of times over the past few months thanks to his ongoing saga with the Bloodline.
Raw is getting some new blood as well, with Johnson reporting that Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson will settle in as part of that show. The Good Brothers made their WWE return this Monday after more than two years away, arriving to back up AJ Styles in his ongoing battle with The Judgment Day.