Everybody knows why the WNT have the break set up the way they do. However players figured it out and now the 1 still ends up in the side. So if you really wanted to eliminate that from the game why not require players to break from the head spot? Or would they just figure that out too and they find a way to always make a ball?
WNT has been 100% successful in its mission. The goal was never to eliminate the players' ability to make a ball on the break, but instead to make it more difficult to run the table after a successful break.
Ask any pro and they will tell you that the cut break makes getting a good shot on the two ball after making the one in the side less likely than in the past. In 2022, when Matchroom both tightened the pockets and implemented the new break rules (9 on the spot, narrow break box), they announced that their purpose was to "get more back and forth" in the play.
Players rarely string many racks anymore in WNT play. Only a few players run more than a three pack even once in a given WNT season. They'd all figure out how to make a ball consistently even if required to break from the head spot, and just as is the case now, they would find it harder to get a decent shot on the two than it was before the changes that were made in 2022.
Whether the tougher break that came with the 2022 changes is what's best for the entertainment value of the game is arguable, but Matchroom got exactly what it wanted.
