Low PPV Buys

I recently saw a post stating WWE PPV's were down in buys. I posted a quick response I'll share here.

The PPV's don't get buys because:

1 - Matches aren't announced. Buying a PPV is partially because of the matches and when half of them aren't announced til the day before or the day of, why should anyone care?

2 - Feuds aren't developed. Why are people fighting? A belt? For fun? We need to care about the feud as the story is more interesting than the match half the time. Orton punting Stephanie? Stone Cold being fired? The rock turning corporate? The closest thing we have to a story now is John Cena being fired where he isn't really fired and then rehired in 2 weeks. Who writes this stuff?

3 - UFC. They may not be the same, but it is similar. Nobody wants to see a scripted slugfest when we can just watch UFC. Hence, two big guys who used to be huge draws simply aren't anymore. Taker vs Kane is a perfect example. Put them in a different type of match and it can be cool, but them boxing for 20 minutes isn't.

4 - Stories don't go anywhere. Check Survivor Series. Now check TLC. How many storylines continued or even evolved. Just Jomo vs Sheamus. The rest of the matches or feuds were dropped.


WWE is losing viewers because of their writers and view on the product, plain and simple.

Current WWE angles

Recent pay per views have been pretty good. Survivor Series put on some amazing matches as did TLC. I applaud the superstars for stepping it up and delivering some amazing matches. Unfortunately the writing has gone the other direction. Storylines are uninteresting and change randomly. I will illustrate this following each match from Survivor Series to the superstars’ current roles in WWE.

Match 1 – Daniel Bryan vs. Ted Dibiase

This was arguably the match of the night. Why weren’t matches for either of these superstars made for TLC? Bryan has been stealing the show since he won the US title. He has been in a weird angle with the Bellas and left off of the TLC card. Dibiase can put on a pretty good match himself. Even a rematch would have been better. I read they had one as the dark match, but why? This could have easily filled the time the Big Show and Cody Rhodes segment had.

Match 2 – John Morrison vs. Sheamus

Arguably the only feud that has progressed since SS. One does have to wonder though, why book Sheamus to win the King of the Ring if they weren’t going to use that immediately. Having him lose his first PPV after winning makes him look weak. I approve of the Morrison vs. Miz fight for the Rumble, but Sheamus has once again been lost in the mix. I would have been fine with the feud ending if Sheamus could have used his crown.

Match 3 – Dolph vs. Kaval

Another amazing match. Rumors are that Kaval was injured, which would explain his absence. Kaval though has had an interesting run in WWE. He has won a total of one match and wasted his NXT title match. Fans enjoy his matches. I hope he returns soon and could see a great match vs. Rey Mysterio when both are recovered. As for Dolph, his TLC match was good. The ending was weird. I would have liked to see it turn into just a regular match when the belt fell, maybe with Dolph having the sleeper on Swagger while Kofi was in the ankle lock. Again, a decent match, but writing was kind of weird.

Match 4 – Survivor Series Match!

In this match Big Show and Rey Mysterio were the survivors. Surely something good would happen for them right? Well, partially. Mysterio did get put into a title match, but only because writers had botched the writing of the Edge vs. Kane feud. Big Show got to dress up like Santa and beat up Cody Rhodes. Why wasn’t Survivor Series used to push someone? Have these two get a tag title shot. Have these two in the world title match instead of Del Rio. Have

Fake a Firing

With all the recent releases by WWE, an interesting idea came up. WWE should supposedly release someone only to bring them back at the Royal Rumble. The likely conclusion being they win the rumble. This idea came about from the actual release of MVP. Obviously if he was willing to come back and get this push, I’d welcome it. Assuming he won’t though, I see a great candidate in Christian. This would work for multiple reasons.

First, Christian is injured so he’s already out of action. He won’t miss any TV time. He has tweeted that he will be able to return around the Rumble. Many fans would love to see him back then. A simple return was done by Edge last year and the fans loved it. I see no reason it wouldn’t work with Christian. Adding the fake firing would make it that much more epic.

Next, a return from a firing helps create a star. I was at Summer Slam. When Cena said the mystery partner was Daniel Bryan I was amazed. Bryan was supposed to be gone. If the return can be kept secret, every fan will be standing in the arena and those at home will have their jaws drop. The fact the WWE would bring a superstar back after termination makes the fans think he has talent.

His former tag partner Edge is in the title hunt. An Edge vs. Christian match at Wrestlemania would be epic. Every fan would want to see this, even if it isn’t for the belt. Add the world title and it’s an instant selling point.

Both the firing and return would generate a huge buzz on the internet. People would be talking about it until the Rumble. When lesser stars are released there is a buzz. Someone of Christian’s caliber would generate discussion bigger than when Miz won the title. Raw and Smackdown after his return would guarantee huge ratings. It would be a huge talking point and watching point.

Finally, Christian has always been over with fans. Winning the Rumble and a title would do wonders for his career and bring another person to the top tier. Top tier stars are lacking now and having more would never hurt. This could finally be Christian’s time and this angle, if done properly, could turn out amazing.

Late PPV Builds

Something has been bugging about recent WWE PPV’s. A pay per view is supposed to be approximately three hours. Assume that about 30 minutes of that PPV will be advertisements, promos, or highlights, that leaves you with 150 minutes of wrestling. That leaves seven 20+ minute matches or eight 18 minute matches. 15-20 minutes for a match is probably average. Some go longer, but many (especially diva’s matches) go shorter. There is plenty of room for eight matches on a PPV card, yet two weeks before any pay per view the average card only has two to three. Three matches on a card that should hold eight. The question then becomes…why?

Why are there so few advertised matches? I feel it comes down to laziness on creative’s part. Writing feuds early you then have to come up with reasons for the feud to extend two to three weeks. It takes work to keep it fresh. Writing feuds the Raw or Smackdown before a PPV, you can create it and end it in one fell swoop. Setting them up weeks ahead of time you have to be sure of your storylines. You don’t have much room to change the angles. You have to have confidence the storyline will work and build it up.

Do people enjoy seeing matches created the Saturday before a PPV and only announced on wwe.com? I don’t know. I don’t have any statistics on buy rates. Personally I don’t like it. If a match didn’t have any relevance the entire month preceding the PPV, why should anyone shell out money to buy the match? How often do people considering buying PPV’s check wwe.com compared to watching a weekly show? I’d wager the shows reach more potential buyers.

Sometimes the late added matches steal the shows. Take for example the Daniel Bryan vs. Ted Dibiase match at Survivor Series. It was hinted at the Raw before the PPV but not added until a few hours before the show. It was arguably the best match. Bryan has consistently been putting on quality matches and WWE should have known this. Almost anyone could have started a feud with him. A feud for the title would have been a major selling point.

Granted, Bryan isn’t the best on the microphone. But with a contender for the title set early, a few good matches on a Raw, and proper build up this match could have easily been a top selling point for the PPV. We would want to see the match for the wrestling. We would be interested in who wins the title. We would want some finality to the feud. Instead the WWE universe hears about it online the day of the PPV and the feud expired before the next Raw. That isn’t worth $50 to most people.

Even looking at wwe.com now, there is little on the site for TLC. The PPV is two weeks away, and until today there were no advertised matches. There are now two matches set, Edge vs. Kane and Rey vs. Del Rio. Even understanding Randy Orton is likely considered the #1 contender for the WWE title and he might be injured, there is no reason other matches couldn’t be added. I made a full card weeks ago. The biggest things to change are Miz winning the title, Sheamus winning KOTR, and MVP leaving the company. None of these change a great card extremely. The WWE title match could be changed to Miz vs. Sheamus and a replacement could be found for the TLC elimination match. There are always options and replacements. Even if Orton vs. Sheamus were set for TLC at Survivor Series, it could have easily been swapped to Miz vs. Sheamus.

One vital thing now is the economy. A set card gives people something to expect and look forward to. It lets them budget PPV funds for the week. They might be short funded for the weekend, but expecting a good PPV they can save $50 dollars for Sunday that they might spend at a bar on Saturday. They could also plan a party with their friends a week in advance. If a PPV has no hype, people will just go out for the weekend and be unable to buy a show on Sunday.

To conclude, matches for the following PPV should be set the Raw or Smackdown following a PPV, two shows away at most. Fans will purchase more PPV’s knowing they can look forward to an entertaining card on Sunday. With no hype, there is nothing to buy. Nothing to buy means no bottom line for WWE.

The Miz Move-Set

After the Miz won the WWE title there has been lots of controversy. Everyone agrees Miz is amazing on the microphone. Most question his ability in the ring. I think the biggest issue is Miz hasn’t been put into good matches recently. This is partially because he couldn’t lose (WWE was building him up to be champ), and partially because it was hard to write a story that didn’t leave someone in a bad spot.

I believe Miz actually has a vast move set. Looking back at some old videos, he has a ton of moves that aren’t seen anymore. These wrestling moves are impressive and should definitely be brought back. A vast arsenal would leave haters no room to argue. Just bringing back a few he has used in the past would give him a move-set larger than that of John Cena. Below are moves Miz should revive –

Knee to the face into the swinging neck breaker – Otherwise known as the Reality Check. This used to be used every match, now is hardly seen. He should practice getting the motion into one fluid motion for extra effect.

Running clothes-line through the ropes at turnbuckle – Another former staple. There is no other move like this in wrestling. It looks impressive, looks painful, and looks awesome. Use it more

Bull-dog through the ropes at turnbuckles – Similar to the clothes line, only he starts with a headlock on his opponent. This is a totally unique move and looks amazing. It can be done on anybody and should be brought back. This is doubly great to weaken an opponent in a tag match.

Clothesline from hell – Flipping opponent – This move can only be done on the lighter individuals. It’s impressive none the less. Anytime he gets a high flyer opponent he should use it. It makes him look stronger and bigger.

Guillotine to ropes while Miz jumps over – The opponent either lands on the top or middle rope. Miz runs and either just jumps the top rope or actually uses the opponent to step on and jump over. On the way down he grabs the opponent’s neck and hits the guillotine. This is impressive athletically and looks painful.

2^nd rope leg drop – Miz springs off the second rope and drops the leg on the neck of his opponent. It’s a great display of athleticism and gives his move a balanced range. He has a lot of strength moves, but this shows agility.

Submission hold – arm pull camel clutch – Every wrestler is scarier with a good submission. This was used infrequently in the past, but nobody else is using it. He doesn’t have to win often with it, but would be good to weaken his opponents and sometimes win.

Double Underhook Side Slam – This is harder to hit on big guys, but again balances the range of the Miz’s move set. This looks impressive and rarely used. This would be nice if a feud with CM Punk ever developed as Punk has a similar backbreaker move.

The hat and bent walk to ring – Ok, this last one isn’t a move. The entrance walk and outfit can help define a wrestler. This would be a throwback to his ECW days, but they show a smugness that fits his heel persona. Every great had a distinct entrance. Mr. McMahon has the flapping arm walk. Cena has his salute and run. Goldberg had the guards and smoke. Austin had the breaking glass. Morrison has slow motion. Melina has the red carpet. The list goes on. As for props, take the Hitman’s glasses, Cena’s armbands, or Cowboy Bob’s cast as perfect examples. Both could be used well and it wouldn’t hurt to bring back one or the other.

So you see, Miz has a huge arsenal at his disposal, maybe an even bigger one than other wrestler on the roster. While a lot of these moves are from the ECW days, they can easily be brought back. If he does, the universe will see Miz isn’t a one trick pony. Miz has the potential to one of the best and I hope WWE capitalizes.