Spinoff: How WWE PPVs *should* be scheduled (in pictures)

[FromStLouis]

Mods, I apologize but I felt this idea needed it's own thread, but merge if you need to. I haven't been here long, but this is an idea I'm passionate
about and I'm going for it.

A better WWE PPV Schedule, POWERPOINT PRESENTATION!!! :

Normal Week

RAW PPV / SD PPV Week

Big 4 Week ( * NXT is half-hour pre show now )

 

[FromStLouis]

Now before you call me crazy for what follows, a little rationale :

Has RAW been 2 hours before? Yes.

Has RAW been 1 hour before? Yes.

Has RAW been commercial free before? Yes.
- Mr. Robot was commercial free 2 weeks ago

Has SD! been live on Thursdays before? Yes.

Has WWE aired weekday PPV's before? Yes.
- Cyber Tuesdays
- Takeovers used to be on Thursdays

Is NXT taped weeks at a time? Yes.

Do we watch PPVs two days in a row? Yes.
- Takeovers and Big 4 PPVs.

What a normal week could look like:

What a brand week could look like :

What Big 5 weeks could look like :

 

[FromStLouis]

What 2017 would have looked like :

What you'll find is a schedule that is more breathable and less taxing on the viewer.

Money is saved by combining brand ppv's and tv into one event.

Creative is given an extra week to write a post-ppv show instead of rematches the next night.

15 ppvs (1 more than 2018's schedule)

50 total hours (roughly the same as 2018)

RAW and SD would air 1-hour commercial-free, before Brand PPVs, and function more like Sunday Night Heat.

USA Network (or whoever in 2019) still gets 52 weeks of programming.

RAW PPVs and SD PPVs air the same week.

No staggered PPV's, no one every 3 weeks.

No 4 months between brand PPV's like SD in 2018.

The average time between all ppv's is 5 weeks.

Big 5 PPV's would air every two months. (10-11 weeks)

Sundays would feel special again, carrying the prestige of being reserved only for the big co-branded ppvs.

other random notes -
Yes, I'd get rid of 205Live, but not the Cruiserweight division. I'll get into that during my brand split. NXT would be moved to Saturdays, kinda like the old WCW TBS days.

 

[AKM-95]

I see what your trying to do but I don't think there ever cutting that third hour of Raw because the ad revenue that comes with it.

 

[El Cocodrilo]

I like this setup... makes a lot of sense

I wouldn't make MITB one of the big PPV's though... I'd either:

a. Have a MITB match on one of the existing second-tier PPV's, maybe between two guys that qualified from RAW and Smackdown

b. Have a MITB PPV that alternates brand each year... I don't think we need 2 Mr.Money in the Banks


WWE is not willing to cut the 3rd hour of RAW, but it's a necessary move to make the product better for sure

 

[niguez]

USA calls the shots, WWE is handcuffed. USA calls shots on storylines too remmeber that.
Don't forget when WWECW was on SciFI they had zombie/vampire wrestlers too.

Its more than just wrestling breh.

 

[The Great One]

This is an amazing presentation.

Maybe you should present this to WWE, I'm sure your Windows 98 Microsoft Paint graphics will wow them.

 

[jadillac]

What you'll find is a schedule that is more breathable and less taxing on the viewer.

it's not the schedule.

It's moreso the content.

Keep in mind, WCW was alive at one point. So you had WCW ppvs, and 3 hour Nitro, and thunder..... WWF ppvs and 2 hour RAW, and SD. And fans were good

Better writing and content makes time a non issue

 

[JerseyBoy23]

Not sure if you've guys have heard but they're also in negotiations to add a Tuesday night show on Facebook Live, so that's another hour of programming.

I wonder if WWE could convince USA to take a half hour of RAW and give it to SD because while RAW drags on, SD seems like they're always leaving somebody off.

With PPVs, I think they should just go 12 and call it a day. Last time they had a brand split they tried to have split PPVs and ended up tapping out after 3.5 years.

 

[RammerJammer]

Not sure if you've guys have heard but they're also in negotiations to add a Tuesday night show on Facebook Live, so that's another hour of programming.

I wonder if WWE could convince USA to take a half hour of RAW and give it to SD because while RAW drags on, SD seems like they're always leaving somebody off.

With PPVs, I think they should just go 12 and call it a day. Last time they had a brand split they tried to have split PPVs and ended up tapping out after 3.5 years.

Easy Simple Way is this:

January: Royal Rumble (Dual)
February: Fast Lane (SD)
March: No PPV or WrestleMania
April: WrestleMania/Backlash (Raw)
May: Payback (SD)
June: Elimination Chamber (Raw)
July: Extreme Rules (SD)
August: SummerSlam (Dual)
September: Battleground (Raw)
October: No Mercy (SD)
November: Survivor Series (Dual)
December: Roadblock (Raw)

Raw gets 4 exclusive PPVs
SmackDown gets 4 exclusive PPVs

Gimmick PPVs cut to two in the Summer to increase interest in the relatively dull period.

 

[ÆTHER]

Not sure if you've guys have heard but they're also in negotiations to add a Tuesday night show on Facebook Live, so that's another hour of programming.

I wonder if WWE could convince USA to take a half hour of RAW and give it to SD because while RAW drags on, SD seems like they're always leaving somebody off.

With PPVs, I think they should just go 12 and call it a day. Last time they had a brand split they tried to have split PPVs and ended up tapping out after 3.5 years.

So that's 7 hours of live content in 2 days on regular weeks and about 11 hours in 3 days on PPV weeks. They're hell bent on over-saturating the market.

It's like they're trapped in a vicious cycle. Their profits are pitiful and they need more money so they agree to the third hour of RAW and moving Smackdown live and all of this extra shyt but because they're spamming a mediocre product they're burning fans out who are then less likely to spend money on the product.

 

[Theolodius_Black]

Easy Simple Way is this:

January: Royal Rumble (Dual)
February: Fast Lane (SD)
March: No PPV or WrestleMania
April: WrestleMania/Backlash (Raw)
May: Payback (SD)
June: Elimination Chamber (Raw)
July: Extreme Rules (SD)
August: SummerSlam (Dual)
September: Battleground (Raw)
October: No Mercy (SD)
November: Survivor Series (Dual)
December: Roadblock (Raw)

Raw gets 4 exclusive PPVs
SmackDown gets 4 exclusive PPVs

Gimmick PPVs cut to two in the Summer to increase interest in the relatively dull period.

Put Backlash in March so that raw people don't have to work two shows in one month and this is perfect.

Better thought would be eliminate fast lane and road block altogether. Battleground and payback can go too.

Remember when ppvs were named for and based around the main event instead of vice versa were they book a title match because a ppv is coming up?

 

[ÆTHER]

Easy Simple Way is this:

January: Royal Rumble (Dual)
February: Fast Lane (SD)
March: No PPV or WrestleMania
April: WrestleMania/Backlash (Raw)
May: Payback (SD)
June: Elimination Chamber (Raw)
July: Extreme Rules (SD)
August: SummerSlam (Dual)
September: Battleground (Raw)
October: No Mercy (SD)
November: Survivor Series (Dual)
December: Roadblock (Raw)

Raw gets 4 exclusive PPVs
SmackDown gets 4 exclusive PPVs

Gimmick PPVs cut to two in the Summer to increase interest in the relatively dull period.

I agree with the idea but to be honest I don't think either RAW or Smackdown are strong enough in terms of booking to carry 4 PPVs a year each. So I'd tweak that a little and go:

January: Royal Rumble (Both)
February: Roadblock (RAW)
March: Fastlane (SD)
April: Wrestlemania (Both)
May: Backlash (RAW)
June: Money in the Bank (Both)
July: Payback (SD)
August: Summerslam (Both)
September: Battleground (RAW)
October: Clash of Champions (Both)
November: Survivor Series (Both)
December: No Mercy (SD)

Money in the Bank and Clash of Champions practically book themselves and having Clash and Survivor Series so close together you could use Clash to build to Survivor Series by booking tension between the champions of the respective brands. RAW and Smackdown each get 3 of their own Pay-per-views over the course of the year too.

This is an amazing presentation.

Maybe you should present this to WWE, I'm sure your Windows 98 Microsoft Paint graphics will wow them.

The guy identified what he thinks is a problem and he presented a solution to it. You provide no solution and shyt on him for no reason. Your post is the internet in a microcosm.

 

[AKM-95]

So that's 7 hours of live content in 2 days on regular weeks and about 11 hours in 3 days on PPV weeks. They're hell bent on over-saturating the market.

It's like they're trapped in a vicious cycle. Their profits are pitiful and they need more money so they agree to the third hour of RAW and moving Smackdown live and all of this extra shyt but because they're spamming a mediocre product they're burning fans out who are then less likely to spend money on the product.

I've been very critical of their business practices before but I can't hate on them for this, their live event business has been horrible for a while now. So they have to make that profit up somehow. They will always be oversaturated because their an industry leader and they will always have at least 5 hours of programming the only way we're going back is massive scandal hitting the E but even then live content is in demand right now. However, I do hope that Meltzer is wrong and this turns out to be more of a livewire/studio format show with maybe one or two matches instead of full-blown in-ring show.

 

[FromStLouis]

I'm gonna bump my shyt, I was out for Thanksgiving, I appreciate the responses, but allow me to retort.

I see what your trying to do but I don't think there ever cutting that third hour of Raw because the ad revenue that comes with it.

At some point the return on investment stops being there. They've already cut their number of PPVs for 2018, they've cut pyro, Talking Smack, they've endeavored talent which they hadn't done in years, tv arenas have been half empty. I don't think it gets more obvious than that, that we're past the tipping point.

That ad revenue belongs to the USA Network, not the WWE, but it may be hurting WWE's business. I expect that to be a point of contention when the next TV deal negotiations get underway. They were drastically shortchanged in 2014 :

Analysts were expecting a much bigger contract. NBCU was paying around $90 million annually for "Raw," "Smackdown" and E!'s "Total Divas," according to analyst Brad Safalow of PAA Research. The new deal, he said, raises the price to around $150 million annually.

In its marketing materials touting the shows, WWE compared its audience to that of NASCAR, which last year signed a 10-year, $8.2 billion deal with Fox and NBC. That translate to an average of more than $800 million per year.