Vince McMahon Blames Talent Absences for Declining WWE Raw and SmackDown Ratings

WWE chairman Vince McMahon blamed the company's disappointing Q1 financial report on the absence of high-profile stars. 

"When you don't have talent, you don't have storylines. When you don't have storylines, you're not going to do that well in terms of live events and television ratings. It was like a cascade of things that happened," McMahon said on a call with investors Thursday. 

WWE made $182.4 million during the first quarter of 2019, compared to $187.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The company's operating income took a loss of $6.8 million versus an income of $21.8 million in the previous quarter.

It's not entirely clear what McMahon means by "superstar absences." John Cena and Roman Reigns were off television for most of the first quarter of 2019, but that was the case for the majority of the fourth quarter of 2018 as well. Brock Lesnar also essentially appeared in WWE programming as much as he had during other WrestleMania cycles. 

The rest of the WWE injured list doesn't have much in the way of bottom-line superstars who are out of action. 

WWE co-president George Barrios said it was "the magnitude all at one time that felt unique" in regard to the big-name Superstars out of action. 

WWE stock had been on a steady rise over the last year, especially following the company's announcement of a broadcast deal with Fox.