• Wrestling News & Wrestling Rumors – WWE & TNA

The PPV that follows the big show Wrestlemania is usually aptly named, as vengeance becomes the food of the previously fallen. Yet even with this known, the implications of Backlash echoed around the wrestling community. Three major titles changed that night in what myself and my fellow attendees (and I use fellow relatively since I was accompanied by two of my female friends) have termed the most abstract pay per view we’ve ever seen. The matches were crafted in a way that broke from the normal pace and cadence while still following basic character themes and promoting current storylines. Honestly it was a joy to watch, the parts of it I could see that is.

Unfortunately, the Dunkin Donuts center was a poor venue. They did not make the viewers on the floor follow etiquette nor did they employ any form of riser use or stacking methods to ensure equal viewership. Instead this venue greedily shoved all patrons on top of each other, cramming people into spaces that should’ve been relegated for if nothing else WWE filming and tech crew comforts. Despite this the show that the WWE brought was a high quality low quantity pay per view. On the heels of what could only be termed as a grueling pre and post Wrestlemania schedule including international tour, the match layout was sparse but effective.

This leads to the idea of having quality over quantity. While it has been well publicized the ways the WWE are scaling back for the times, the measures seem short sighted. They are only taking into account the expense accounts of the company and not truly the expense limitations of the fan base. For the average WWE viewer who is suffering financial hardships due to the current economic times paying the relegated $40 American a month for a PPV is quickly becoming an expense that is much too easy to release. Instead they are choosing to hit the major or key PPVs i.e. Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, Survivor Series, and perhaps SummerSlam or the Great American Bash. These are PPVs where historically pivotal storyline and title changes have taken place. It is my belief that the WWE would be greatly benefited in all aspects by a reduction of pay per views and an increase in the termed ’supershows’.

The concept would focus on creating greater revenue in mandatory weekly television tapings. Once a month have an alternating supershow where the normal ticket prices for a weekly taping of Raw or ECW/Smackdown are in a higher range, yet below what would be the normal range for a PPV. Then for the four pivotal PPVs you run both in the month making the PPV more appealing and giving a higher buy rate for exclusivity sake. Making it possible to raise the range of the ticket price. In addition to this, flank televisions with more dark matches and film them to post online as teasers to boost WWE channel subscriptions and as specialty dark match compilations for later release via DVD.

When viewing the current WWE schedule and focus it seems to be inconsistent to say the least. There seem to be cost expenditures due to travel, repetition and excess that could easily be avoided. Just observing the schedule it seems the WWE does plan shows by region, but there is sometimes inexplicable jumping that is most likely due to venue availability. With more consistency in region and WWE event appearances the venue availability would be less dicey. People are creatures of habit. If the Long Beach region knows that every summer between July and August the WWE is heading up and down the coast there will be more consistency with ticket sales and increases in nearby venues as residents in neighboring locales will be tempted to continue following the show. This consistency makes venues retain the spots for the company that guarantees the money. Touring companies for theatre and dance have turned this into a fine science as saturation is the key to their success. It would behoove the WWE to enlist someone within their services that have served in this capacity specifically.

Quality pay per views is the key ultimately. They should use everyone they have, make them interesting and make them count, but mostly in a backstage capacity for additional story building and supporting roles. Send out the cream to represent the product on screen with at least 5 but no more than 8 quality matches of a decent time, pace and content. If used effectively I believe such measures would maintain the current quality of life that WWE VPs, performers and profit shareholders alike have come to enjoy while letting the average fan get as much of a fix as they want at a much more equitable rate of return.