Re: The WWE Thread
Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2018 2:00 pm
Observer:
Another change looks to be strengthening the PPV shows as the 5/6 Backlash show at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, has been changed from being a Raw show to being a joint branded show. Previously the idea was that only five shows would be joint-branded, Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, Money in the Bank, SummerSlam and Survivor Series.
While WWE has not officially stated the end of brand-specific PPV shows, the belief internally is that is the case. WWE officials told us that an announcement regarding this would be made shortly, which would also indicate the end of them.
As far as the reasoning, as noted, adding the PPV’s added cost but aside from the live gates, not a lot of new revenue since it didn’t move network numbers. Ticket sales for some of the upcoming PPV shows were weaker, although a lot of that may have to do with the increasing of ticket prices on the floor. In cutting back on PPV shows to 14 this year (the goal is 12, one a month, and it’s possible to cut back later in the year), there were long gaps in the brand-specific shows meaning they had to greatly slow down storylines.
While again not official, within WWE the belief was that, because of having to fit the top stars of both brands, that the former B shows will be increased an hour with two match pre-shows and four hour PPV shows. They will have both shows specifically pushing the same PPV every month and all the top stars would be on it. The negative is a lot of the middle and lower card acts won’t be on PPV as much, if at all. And if they’re not on the PPV, they’ll be focused on less on television. One of the benefits of the brand split, which, when it comes to ratings has been a success since Smackdown is more popular and Raw’s massive slide has decreased, is that more wrestlers are being featured each week as stars. Since they have to fill hours of television, you’ll probably get more stipulation matches on the television shows that would have been on PPV with mid-level guys.
It also makes having separate champions in each brand feeling even sillier since the key title bouts will be on shows with the other brand’s title also defended. You’ll have two women’s title matches and two tag title matches on most shows, along with two world title and two secondary singles titles and a cruiserweight title (which is likely to almost never be on the main PPV shows). There will be title matches relegated to the pre-show, hurting their significance. There will be less place for non-championship matches, and to get the top stars on the show, likely more multiple-person matches. Also, there will likely be more matches on the shows meaning less time or more rushed matches. So there’s good with the bad. The biggest complaint on WWE PPV shows has been the length of the big shows, and now every show will be five hours long.