Why There’s No Need To Buy PPVs

2nd January 2013 by Scott Keith
Rants
Not so much a question as pointing out something I noticed. I've said for a while now that if WWE had 4-5 PPVs a year I would probably order every one, but as the formula stands now I'm only going to buy the Rumble and WrestleMania. (Maybe one extra PPV a year if it seems "must see" like MITB 2011).

We all know most PPVs aren't worth ordering anymore and it's tough to even tell the difference between a 3-hour HD Raw and a 3-hour HD PPV. Here's a comparison of a recent PPV card with last night's Raw, just for fun…

WWE No Way Out – June 17, 2012 – East Rutherford, New Jersey
– SHEAMUS vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER
– Santino Marella vs. Ricardo Rodriguez
– Christian vs. Cody Rhodes
– PRIME TIME PLAYERS vs. PRIMO & EPICO vs. THE USOS vs. JUSTIN GABRIEL & TYSON KIDD
– Layla vs. Beth Phoenix
– Sin Cara vs. Hunico
– CM Punk vs. Kane vs. Daniel Bryan
– Ryback vs. Jobbers
– JOHN CENA vs. BIG SHOW

WWE Raw – December 10, 2012 – Newark, New Jersey
– R-Truth vs. Wade Barrett
– PRIMETIME PLAYERS vs. PRIMO & EPICO vs. THE USOS vs. RHODES SCHOLARS
– Eve Torres vs. Alicia Fox
– SHEAMUS vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER
– Alberto Del Rio vs. Zack Ryder
– AJ Lee vs. Vickie Guerrero
– Antonio Cesaro vs. Kofi Kingston
– JOHN CENA vs. BIG SHOW

Sadly, the majority of the fans probably didn't even notice that they just rehashed the No Way Out PPV less than six months after it took place. Do they even remember that PPVs cost a lot of money and there's zero incentive to purchase most of them?

Nope. Or to be more eloquent, no, and they don't give a fuck. They're serving two masters right now, with the PPV buys driving the traditional wrestling way of doing business, and the TV ratings driving their new rights-driven way of doing business, and as a result one often clashes with the other. It's a totally crazy way of doing things, but that's what the business in 2012 has become for them. Just wait and see what happens if their network ever launches.