The Wrestling Observer recently posed the theory that many people in the WWE Universe are losing interest in WWE PPVs because the WWE now has two of them each month. The brand split has brought a bunch of opportunities to Superstars who may not get them if they were all featured on one show. Two shows with separate rosters also means two PPVs. Both Raw and Smackdown need something to build towards. Also, there can never be enough content on the WWE Network. In order to get people to subscribe, the WWE must constantly have new content on the network.
The problem is that people may already be sick of two PPVs a month. You barely have any time to enjoy a PPV because the build to the next one immediately starts the following night on Raw and then continues the next night on Smackdown. It used to be roughly 30 days in between PPVS, now it is every couple of weeks. If you want to keep up with every storyline, you have spend three hours watching wrestling on Monday nights, three + hours on Tuesday nights if you watch 205 Live and Talking Smack, and then if you watch NXT that is another hour on Wednesday nights. That is a ton of wrestling and the WWE is now asking it’s fans to add two Sunday nights of wrestling to that as well.
WWE Roadblock drew roughly 8,000 fans this year. The WWE desperately tried to get the attendance up by selling two tickets for the price of one. It didn’t work and the attendance was rather poor for a PPV. The reaction to Roadblock on social media was poor and most people felt underwhelmed when the show went off the air. There was a time when it was almost impossible to get a ticket to the WWE. In 2000, the King of the Ring was in Boston and a couple minutes after the tickets went on sale and they were already gone. If that PPV happened today, I could essentially bring everyone I’ve ever met in my life to the show. I know there are always ebbs and flows in wrestling but this feels a little different to me.
Discussion: Has another PPV each month caused you to lose any interest in WWE PPVs? Do you think the WWE should cut back on PPVs going forward? Let us know in the comments below.
