Shorter AEW PPVs
By Scott Keith on 5 September 2024
Hey Scott:
Knowing that HHH is shortening PPVs and only doing 5 matches or so (which I'm actually in favor of), do you think that that could be something that AEW considers doing in the future? I've only seen one AEW PPV (which was live) and while it was very good I could tell it burnt out the audience towards the end. Not that they have to do it exactly like WWE, but is that an avenue that they consider?
It's really two different issues. WWE shows are shorter because of less matches, but if you're watching live you have to sit through a huge percentage of the show as video packages, commercials for completely unrelated stuff, and elaborate entrances. With AEW, it's a 4 hour show, but there's no downtime between matches and everything runs bang-bang-bang one after another and you barely have time to go to the bathroom or refresh your drink if you need. Ideally what I'd like is something RIGHT in the middle, which WWE used to do really well in the pre-Peacock days. 3-3.5 hours, enough video packages for a bit of a breather and explanation of the feuds, and enough matches to make the show feel important. The WWE PPVs this year have felt increasingly skippable to me. If they're only doing 5 matches I'd rather they just cut it down to 2 hours by getting rid of the commercials.