This past Monday’s episode of WWE RAW featured SmackDown brand star Roman Reigns making a special advertised appearance. Reigns was involved in two matches during the show, the first being a 6-Man tag team match of The Bloodline vs. The New Day and the second being a Triple Threat match of Reigns vs. Big E vs. Bobby Lashley. Besides Reign, current WWE Champion Big E has also appeared on recent episodes of both RAW and SmackDown.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE officials made the decision for both Reigns and Big E to work twice on this past Monday’s RAW around noon of that day. Vince McMahon reportedly made the decision to have the Triple Threat being the main event of the show instead of the originally planned 6-Man Tag team match due to the positive reactions from the same Triple Threat matches that were held during this past weekend’s house show events.
Meltzer reported that another reason for the decision to have Reigns appear on RAW was to use it as a way to make Reigns as the megastar of the company ever since John Cena stopped working full-time for them.
In regards to if WWE will continue having top stars appearing on both brands to try and boost television ratings, Meltzer reported that one source spoken to stated that it is “not a long-term strategy. Not even a short-term one.”