Shining a Spotlight 5.21.08: The PPV Glut

Posted by Michael Weyer on 05.21.2009

Examining how the huge number of PPVs are a hard sell for many fans.

You might have noticed that the turnout of 411mania writers for the Judgment Day roundtable was a bit smaller than usual. Part of that is because we recognize it as a "placeholder" PPV, just one to keep things moving along through summer. We have that "Extreme Rules" show in only a few weeks, then Bash, Night of Champions, then SummerSlam. That's just WWE, as TNA also has their regular PPV shows as well. It's a serious glut at this time and one that should be a cause for concern for a lot of fans.

I hate to sound like one of those guys who gripe about "the good old days" but I think it was a lot better when we didn't have the PPV glut we do today. Even through the ‘80's, TV wasn't as huge a deal as it was years later. Yes, it was important for a territory to get a TV deal going but it wasn't make or break for the most part. The landscape in the ‘80's was much different. WWF had their weekend syndicated shows and the prime-time USA show that was mostly highlights and discussion. Crockett/NWA had their nice two-hour showcase on TBS and syndicated shows. UWF managed to get a national syndicated deal going and of course World Class was able to go national in a huge way while other promotions had nice local markets going.

The success of Starrcade ‘83 with its closed-circuit locations, showed that you could spread the action around. But it took Wrestlemania for everyone to see how PPV could enhance things. That you could access a massive nation and worldwide audience was tempting but Vince seemed the first to grasp it. The main reason was that he had a lot more financial resources than his competitors. The second was that far too many of the rival promoters were still stuck in the mindset that keeping to their own territory was the right thing to do. Vince did make mistakes at first (spreading Wrestlemania 2 to three cities and over packing it with celebrities was a poor move) but the massive success of Mania III proved how viable PPV could be.

Unfortunately, the first attempts by competitors to get into the PPV field weren't successful. Yes, Vince did sabotage Crockett, first by scheduling the first Survivor Series against Starrcade ‘87 and threatening PPV companies to go with his show or not get the next Mania. He then scheduled the Royal Rumble on free TV against the 1988 Bunkhouse Stampede (although, frankly, the Bunkhouse needed no help being trashed as a terrible show). However, a major thing working against Crockett was the reason he lost in the end: Despite the fact his roster was better in actual wrestling than WWF, he just didn't have the same national presence Vince's company did and it was harder to break through. The same thing happened to the AWA, WCCW and CWA when they tried to hold "Superclash III" in December of ‘88 and it turned into a disaster. Of course, you can't blame Vince as that show was probably doomed for failure with its mix of promoters and talent trying to one-up each other, not to mention poor marketing.

Still, up to about 1995, PPV's meant something because there were so few of them and spread out. WWF had its schedule simple: Rumble in January, Mania in late March/early April, SummerSlam in late August and Survivor Series around Thanksgiving. Even the addition of the King of the Ring in June in 1993 still made it work out. It took a while before WCW could get their own schedules set but they too had it set up: Superbrawl in February, the Great American Bash/Bash at the Beach in July, Fall Brawl in September, Halloween Havoc in October and Starrcade in December. They'd add stuff like March's Spring Stampede but it was still pretty clearly spaced out.

This made the PPV's feel so much more important. You had months, not weeks, to set up storylines and let them build up before the big pay-offs. This meant fans were really into paying for these shows as it still felt so important. Sure, a lot were poor but you still felt getting some money's worth seeing at least one or two bouts pay off on the angles. WWF would have the "gimmick" PPV shows with the Rumble and KOTR while WCW would save War Games for Fall Brawl and use Starrcade as their big show.

You can blame Eric Bischoff for the PPV glut we know today. Hell, Bischoff actually takes credit for it. In his desire to push WCW to number one, Bischoff decided to use Turner's money to back up more PPV shows, bumping the number to seven, then nine then going whole hog and doing a PPV every month. Naturally, Vince held the need to counter and WWF established the "In Your House" shows, a nice concept of each only two hours and at a cheaper price than regular PPVs so you got progression of storylines while filling in matches. So you could still save big bouts for the main PPVs while keeping the stories up.

However, the Monday Night War started to take away the power of PPV's. With both WCW and WWF scrambling for ratings, the old "jobber fill-in" bouts began to fade away in favor of PPV level matches. WCW had always used their Clash of the Champions shows for those type of matches but this was different. Sure, it was cool to see a lot of clashes for free on TV. But so many times, both companies would ignore the payoffs a PPV could bring in favor of giving away this stuff for free. WCW, in fact, seemed to make it a habit of giving away massive payday bouts for free like Hogan vs. Goldberg, Goldberg vs. Sting and more. WWF could be as guilty at times and in fact, had the annoying tendency to set up some big event on a PPV but then have the following night's RAW undermine it somehow. Examples include Kane beating Austin for the WWF title at the ‘98 King of the Ring, only to lose it the next night. Or the crazy bit of Shane and Vince beating Austin the following year to regain control of the company but the next night Austin says he managed to setup a title match with the Undertaker that he won. This made those who paid for the PPVs feel pretty dumb for spending money on something that could be rendered without meaning the very next night.

At least WWF did manage to make their PPVs work. WCW, on the other hand, had a horrendous time promoting their shows thanks to their erratic booking. More than a few times, fans had no idea what matches were on a show until it started and often WCW would actually put ads in papers for a PPV after its air date. When they went out of business, one would think WWF might pull back on their PPVs. Instead, WWF kept right on with the monthly shows, perhaps pulled in by what had become tradition. They would also add on a few more so we currently see about fifteen PPVs a year from one company.

Even before the economic downturn, expecting wrestling fans to shell out so much money every year seemed seriously wrong. More important is that it's taken away the feeling PPV's had, that they're supposed to be something big. Royal Rumble is still unique because of the match itself. Mania is of course the big show with MITB adding something special. But Summerslam and Survivor Series have become just regular shows now, interchangeable with the other PPVs of the year. They try to make Cyber Sunday unique with the voting and "Extreme Rules" with the stips but it just comes off as window dressing. While some shows do offer some fun and possible big events, others, like Judgment Day, are obviously filler and fans might avoid them.

At least when WWE was sticking to the brand extension, giving each show their separate PPV made them more unique. You had a few for RAW, a few for Smackdown, and they'd both be on for the big ones like Rumble and Mania. Survivor Series would have RAW vs. Smackdown bouts that made it seem bigger and fans had an easier time choosing what to buy. But now that they mix up with both brands on shows, it just seems less special and harder to pick what to buy. That's always been tricky as you never know what shows will be great and what will suck but in this hard economy, fans face even bigger decisions and the glut of PPVs doesn't help.

It's a different situation with TNA. That company was built on the weekly PPVs and that they keep to a monthly schedule is vital. While they are branching out with house shows, the bulk of TNA programming is in the Impact Zone, which doesn't charge admission. This company needs the monthly PPVs as a major source for income. They do their best to give some a unique flavor. Lockdown is all cage matches, Slammiversery has the King of the Mountain match and Bound For Glory is their answer to Mania. But again, a lot of TNA PPVs seem interchangeable, particularly given how they can drag some programs on for a while. However, TNA still has to go through with them as they need the money. They do suffer from some shows poor but still have the ability to deliver good ones at times which keeps them going.

ROH have dipped their toes into the PPV market but not to the same extent. The company has been wise enough to keep itself from growing too fast and with regular house shows and tapes, doesn't need PPV as much as TNA might. They will probably do more as their TV show has led to a higher profile and PPV is still the major market for wrestling companies. ROH definitely has the talent and better is how they can present it. It's likely they can avoid the time-killing "comedy" stuff WWE and TNA does and provide fans with actual in-ring action to sell the company better.

The fact is, there are simply too many PPVs for wrestling fans. It's not just the economy, although that plays a major part in it to be sure. Most fans just don't have the money to spend on all these shows, particularly with the chances many will suck. Another factor is how a lot of fans can simply wait for someone to post highlights on You Tube and save themselves forty or fifty bucks. Both companies have difficulty building properly for shows and making them work. WWE simply has too many, the glut of shows in this summer too much for fans to process. TNA needs the monthly schedule for their accounts but WWE has plenty of cash to pull back on their PPVs. It'd be good to drop a couple here and there, it gives breathing room to let angles grow and fans to get more attention onto the regular TV shows. More importantly, it helps make a PPV special, a big deal again and thus far more interesting for fans to buy. Thus even if the show is poor, it might still seem like you're getting your money's worth.

PPVs used to be a major deal to get fans excited. But the decision to make them a monthly, or even twice-monthly, event took that away. It's doubtful it can go back that way as the monthly shows have become an ingrained tradition. Plus, we all know how hard it can be for wrestling promoters to break away from the way they've done things for so long. But cutting back just a bit could be good for fans, not just in the wallet but also the feeling in the business, with these shows once more becoming huge deals. Wrestling has always been a business that goes over the top but this is one topic where less can truly be more.


Also around 411mania:


Chin talks the Importance of Stone Cold

The Bard highlights The Phenomenal One

For the Record gives hope for RAW

If I Could Be Serious talks about getting your love for wrestling back

Campbell does a nice review of "The Death of WCW."

Piledriver Report asks why we watch wrestling

Brooklyn Brawlin examines some of the most important matches of the industry.

Don't forget Column of Honor, Triple Threat, 4 R's, Fact or Fiction, Ask 411 and the rest.

For this week, the spotlight is off.