Before we get to our regularly scheduled mailbag question, I just wanted to take a minute to thank the fabulous Princess for all her hard work in providing the blog with regular Smackdown coverage. It’s much appreciated!
Onto the question…
Do you think making every brand participating in the PPV is hurting the product? I believe it has hurt the product because this increased the PPV title defenses and subsequently made the title changes out of control. I honestly can't tell you all the title changes in the past 6 months. I believed when the branded PPVs were around that it gave additional exposure to more individuals and made for at least longer length programs. Keeping in mind the revenue produced by every PPV, what would you do with the current PPV yearly format (cut them down to less, brand specialize them, specialize each event with a certain match etc)?
I think it’s way too late to put the genie back in the bottle again, as asking them to cut out the monthly revenue stream wouldn’t be accepted by investors or board members without a huge fight.
I definitely think that from a quality standpoint, having all three brands on each show is starting to hurt the product because you have to make time for three “main events” and there’s no chance for a DH Smith or Evan Bourne to get any kind of big match experience or build up their issues outside of the TV shows. It’s not helped by having to sit through Batista v. Orton months on end because they don’t have the desire to book anything new. I would absolutely cut it down to 12 PPVs a year, firm, though, because this shit with two weeks between shows just makes too hard to build anything or care as a fan. The gimmick stuff is pretty silly as well – booking a whole show of submission matches might sell an episode of RAW, but I’m not dropping $50 on a PPV for something like that.
As always, I should point out that I’m 100% not the target audience any longer and have no idea what the 12 year old John Cena fans want out of the product.
The # of PPVs isnt the problem, its having every brand on every show. If there was a Raw PPV, then a SD PPV two weeks later, it wouldnt be ideal but reasonable.
The title changes are biting them in the ass. They clearly started doing it to make their PPVs seem more important…they had a PPV commercial for a couple weeks that showed the title changes with a tagline like “PPV: Where Something Special Happens”. But now, theyve had so many title changes that now even the PPVs aren’t special. And this week, apparently they’re doing Orton/HHH on Raw and will run it again at the Bash PPV. No thanks.
If buyrate numbers are any indication, the # of PPVs are too much for the kiddy fans. They love tuning into Raw, they do not want to buy PPVs. And who can blame them?
It’s a pity that they’ve started using title changes to sell PPVs because it’s really not necessary. All you have to do is make the champion look vulnerable so people believe there might be a title change. You don’t always have to deliver it. I thought they did this very well with Cena in 2007.
Also, and I think you mentioned this before, WWE needs to build some PPVs around non-title matches. Undertaker-HBK and Bret-Austin used to main-event PPVs even though no title was involved. No reason they can’t still do that – they could’ve done it with HBK and Jericho last year. Cena could main-event a PPV in a non-title match with almost anyone, given a decent build.
I know Cena is a little stale but he should always be in the main event for Raw right now. Orton’s a decent heel but not carrying the brand. Triple H does not work as a face. It needs to be Cena, Cena, Cena until they find a replacement. Cena could carry feuds with the Miz, MVP, Matt Hardy to decent buyrates & make the guys look on his level in the process.
Wasn’t the internet up in arms two years ago when Cena had the forever-and-a-day title reign? Wasn’t it “We’ve Cena-nuff” over and over again? Now the solution is Cena in every main event until they find someone new?
My how things have changed in two short years…
Personally, I’ve always been a big Cena fan and have enjoyed almost every feud he’s had (only notable exception is JBL last year). So I have no problem with him staying in the main event.
But even putting personal opinions aside, the fact is he is their biggest star. He may not appeal to as many people as Hulk did in the 80s or Austin in the 90s, but to the majority of the current fanbase (i.e. including non-IWC fans) he is THE guy. No-one comes close to him in terms of making money and drawing fans. So until someone else steps up, he’s the best they have.
Better yet, the guy doesn’t pull any political BS. He showed last year that he’ll job when asked to – hell he agreed to be pinned by K-Fed when he was champion!! So when WWE starts getting serious about pushing younger stars, they can be sure that Cena will do as much as he can to help get them over.
Don’t get me wrong…I agree 100% with everything you just said. It’s just fascinating to me to see the change in perspective of the smark community over time…
I always thought Cena got a bad rap during the ‘05-’07 period. As I’ve posted on this site before, I was at SummerSlam ‘07 with Cena vs. Orton and the chants for Orton were mind-boggling to me. How anyone could prefer him to Cena is something I cannot get my head around.
Cena’s a great perfomer and will go down as one of the all-time greats (2nd tier, underneath Hogan/Austin/Rock/Andre). WWE needs to continue to ride the cash cow as long as he can deliver.
I think Cena falls into that “love to hate” category from smark fans. The smarky crowd said they were annoyed by Cena, they’d seen enough, but they kept watching. The Cena matches in 2006 & 2007 were the closest the WWE has had to that “big match” feel since the Attitude era because of the awesome crowd dynamic. When Cena faced Orton at SummerSlam 2007, the crowd by itself almost saved what was an absolute shitfest of a show until that point.
And we also have hindsight…Cena’s reign from late 2005 to the 2007 injury was far more entertaining than any of the crap we’ve had since.
Thats why I dont understand why he’s stuck in this neverending Big Show feud. He gets the best reaction each week. He’s a better worker (in my opinion) than Batista & Orton, and probably Triple H at this point. Just seems odd.
Also, while there were a bunch of fans who hated Cena, he was getting a lot of respect from others who never really got the hate. I mean, the guy won the Observer Wrestler of the Year award for 2007, how hated could he have been amongst “smart” fans? People were bitching about him being “fake” and a product of marketing or whatever without realising that IT’S WRESTLING. THAT’S THE POINT.
It really seemed more like the leftover ECW mutants making one last gasp at trying to be hip and reject what WWE was attempting to feed them. Thank christ they largely got chased off to whatever the hell they’re watching these days.
Bret Hart and Steve Austin have never main evented a PPV in singles competition. The only thing that comes close is Canadian Stampede which had extenuating circumstances.
Actually, Hart/Austin did main event the IYH Revenge of the Taker (April 1997). … while the champion, the Undertaker, fought Mankind in the preceding match. HBK and UT fought in late 1997 main events while Bret was stuck fighting the Patriot for the heavyweight title on the undercard. IYH Burried Alive also featured Mankind/UT as the main event, with no heavyweight title match on the PPV card (though HBK did defend the title in a dark match).
ROT snuck by, but even once doesn’t really compare to the point he was trying to make. HBK/Taker works (which I knew about and wasn’t arguing), but Bret/Austin doesn’t.
Well the main point I was trying to make is that WWE has shown in the past it can build non-title feuds to be at a main-event level. Hart-Austin is an example of this because they never feuded over a title (apart from IYH13 4-way). They went on last only at one PPV in singles competition but they were one half of the main event at Survivor Series 1996 and, for most people, their WM13 match was the main event. It was a feud that could sell a PPV as well as a world title match.
I didn’t think gimmicking the PPVs was a bad idea at first, but now it’s making it even easier for them to do the same matches over and over (seriously, I don’t care how good they are, I never want to see Edge vs. Jeff Hardy ever again).
At least their not adopting TNA’s “make the fans not care about some PPVs to make the rest seem special” mentality.
*they’re (shitfuckingdamnit)
Yeah Smackdown is getting kinda stale at the moment even if they’re putting good matches on a weekly basis, just because they recycle the same match over and over and the wrestlers repeat the same spots like it’s a houseshow.
On the actual topic – yeah, dropping the brand-specific PPVs was a horrible mistake. Sure, ECW couldn’t support its own PPVs, but who said you even have to have ECW on PPV at all? By putting on the brand-specific shows, they managed to do things like get London and Kendrick sort of over, which will NEVER happen now because there’s barely any room to get a tag title match on a PPV (it only will happen this month because they have no idea of what they’re doing). Whereas now, MVP, who they were trying to push post-WM, only got on a PPV as an opening match afterthought because there hasn’t been room for him.
What’s interesting is that one PPV has greatly benefited from the removal of the brand split – No Way Out has done very good numbers the past couple of years with the multiple elimination chambers, but it’s another one of those overkill situations.
I agree that dropping the brand-specific PPVs was a bad idea. It was nice seeing longer feuds that had to wait two months or more to be settled on PPV, and guys that normally wouldn’t have gotten time to hone their craft on PPV in matches that lasted longer than your normal TV 3 minute match. Right now, ECW has a lot of talented, young guys that could benefit from that kind of exposure, but they’ll never get it as long as they’re running one hour shows every week and get only a token title match tossed onto each PPV card. How about giving guys like Bourne and the Hart Dynasty more time to get over (which all three will, if given the exposure)? What about more time for the guy who’s destined to become one of the greats, Jack Swagger (I swear, Matt Striker alone has made this guy into a big deal)?
Just to play devil’s advocate, WWE may see limiting ECW’s exposure on PPV as a way of evaluating new guys before they become a part of their DVD catalog.
I bet Vince kicks himself on occasion when he remembers that things like The Boogeyman’s win over Booker T, putting Bobby Lashley in the Battle of the Billionaires match, and the mere existence of The New Breed will always be apart of the WrestleMania Anthology.
But then again, I’m just guessing.
I don’t know, guys, I kind of have to disagree with the general consensus here. I understand the point being made and I do agree the titles are changing hands way too much and it sucks that some undercard guys capable of putting on great matches are lost in the shuffle, but do you guys remember the “one brand only” PPVs? From what I remember, it was a whole lot of crap because they had to fill 3 hours. I think Smackdown could put on a pretty good “Smackdown only” PPV right now, but Raw? What do you even do for a Raw only PPV right now? Orton VS HHH? Cena VS Miz? Big Show VS MVP maybe? Legacy VS the Colons I guess? Okay that’s four matches, the only one of which I’m even mildly interested in is Cena VS Miz and that’s probably a foregone conclusion of a finish anyway with Cena winning decisively…umm…Kingston VS…Regal maybe…you see the problem? We can lament the fact that it makes it more difficult to showcase some of the younger guys, and for Smackdown I think that’s true, but for Raw, they really don’t have much on the show in my opinion. Instead of shoving in a 15 minute comedy match featuring Golddust and some random heel because they have to find a way to fill 3 hours, they can put Edge VS Hardy or Hardy VS Punk and have a match featuring main eventers.
I dunno. I just don’t see where Raw, with the guys it has now, is capable of carrying a 3 hour PPV all by itself, 8 times a year (that’s assuming Rumble, Wrestlemania, Summerslam, and Survivors Series all stay as multi brand PPVs). If someone wants to give me an idea of how that would work considering the guys Raw has right now, please do.
The bottom line is that WWE will find ways to get people over when they really want to, and with six-plus hours of television every week I don’t see where people get the idea they don’t have enough time to showcase talent. They waste endless time on RAW and SD! with long opening promos and backstage skits that could be used for longer matches to get certain people over. And ideally, if you want to give a new talent more exposure, you would do so on the free television show with more viewers as opposed to on PPV which has a fraction of that audience. That’s what they did with Evan Bourne and that’s why he’s the most over of the new faces. And there’s also the house show circuit where they can hone their skills and develop their gimmicks. A PPV berth is nice, but not an essential to getting over these days. And since most likely they’d just be jobbing to bigger stars anyhow, sometimes those PPV matches do more harm than good.
And as we’ve seen in the past, WWE’s insistence on labeling SD! as the ‘B’ show limits their exposure and was one of the reasons why those single-brand PPVs did so terribly. If they put the same effort into promoting all three brands equally, it could work in the short term, but they won’t so it’s a moot point. And it’s far more likely we’d get more filler like antics with midgets and hogpen bouts as opposed to longer “wrasslin’ matches” because that’s what makes Vince laugh and he knows what we all REALLY want despite all the protests to the contrary.
If they pruned the rosters, unified the belts and rotated the talent so that they don’t get stale and we don’t get the same matches every three weeks ad nauseum, they might solve some of the immediate problems. Of course, there’s still the issue of the disaster that is the developmental system, the now-exposed flaws in the creative team process and and the low stigma of wrestling in general. But you’ve got to start somewhere.
That’s an excellent point about Smackdown being regarded as “The B Show”. That’s one reason I think it would be a terrible idea to bring them back. Smackdown’s regarded as the B show and Raw just doesn’t have the talent in my mind to actually support eight 3 hour PPVs a year by itself. Maybe if you included ECW with Raw but that doesn’t really make any storyline sense.
And I also think you’re absolutely, 100% right that for those wanting this because they think they’ll get to see some longer matches between the young guys, it’s more likely we’d get the crazy antics of Hornswaggle and his comedic friends. Maybe they’d toss something at the younger guys, but that would almost be worse…instead of letting these guys get over on Raw and build up to where they’re getting a regular spot on PPVs, they’d be tossed on in a throwaway match and you’re risking that nobody actually cares about their match, which would give them an unfortunate stigma with the casual fan (”Who the hell put this match on the PPV? Where’s Cena??”).
I haven’t watched on a regular basis since about ‘03. When did they do away with brand specific PPVs? And did ECW ever have their own PPVs aside from the reunion shows?
The main problem, besides too many titles is that the evolution of Wrestlers is totally wrong. In a normal Wrestling league, you have ONE main event, ONE upper midcard, ONE midcard etc.. A normal PPV is build with some main eventers, some upper midcarder, some midcarder.
The WWE has today 2 Main Event divisions, 3 upper midcards (ECW) and 3 midcard divisions.
That means, if you have some ME from each roster and some upper Midcarders from each rosters, there is no place for the midcarders.
In WCW 1998 the roster was twice as big as the current complete WWE roster and they did not try to put every main eventer on every PPV.
But with 2 1/2 equal rosters, you can’t ignore a World Champion.
Yes it’s hard to explain, but 3 Roster with 3 Main Titles, 2 IC/US Titles is just “unnatural”.