It probably explains WWE's decisions to an extent for sure, but if I'm a promoter, I'm not looking for convenient answers on why my most marketable stars aren't also the most over with live crowds. That the two things aren't in harmony suggests that something structural is broken somewhere. It's a topic we've beaten to death here, and I know everyone has their theories, but to me, it's still something WWE should seek to fix, whether they change who they push because of it or not.
the fact that WWE's market research doesn't fall in line with live crowd reactions might be the most important story/theme in wrestling since the beginning of 2014. Pretty much every booking debate boils down to this paradox and so far nothing is working to improve it. I mean yeah we've been debating it here for nearly 2 and a half years and it's still going on with no end in sight