Wild Card rule is ending soon.
On Monday's WWE Raw, Michael Cole confirmed that the Wild Card rule would be ending following the WWE Draft on Oct. 11 and 14. The announcement of "no more Wild Card" was reiterated on SmackDown by Tom Phillips.
The Wild Card Rule was established on the May 6 episode of WWE Raw with Vince McMahon announcing that a limited number of superstars would be able to cross brand lines, meaning Raw superstars could appear on SmackDown and vice versa. It was originally established that superstars must be invited to appear on the opposing brand and the number was limited to three -- and then changed to four thanks to the advice of Lars Sullivan -- superstars per episode. Any unauthorized brand jumps would result in a penalty.
The rules were quickly forgotten about as five, six, seven, or eight superstars would appear on the opposite brand with no repercussions. Soon after the announcement, the Wild Card Rule was rarely mentioned as more than four superstars continued to cross brands every week. The Wild Card Rule was not only criticized by fans, but WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins even stated that the rule "muddled things up."
The WWE Draft will take place across two nights, beginning on the Oct. 11 episode of SmackDown and finishing on the Oct. 14 episode of Raw.
