WWE SmackDown Pay-Per-Views Could Benefit From an Iron Man Match

With a smaller roster than WWE Monday Night Raw, SmackDown has a big opportunity to let two superstars shine in an Iron Man match.

I love wrestling, and the WWE. I consume a ton of the WWE’s content. Almost too much. But when the pay-per-views clock in at over four and a half hours plus the pre-show, things start to get a little tiring. Combine that with five to six hours of WWE television per week, with Raw, SmackDown, and NXT, and keeping track of the company starts to become a part-time job.

So when WWE SmackDown’s first pay-per-view, Backlash, was completed, I couldn’t help but feel satisfied. Part of that was due to the awesome matches, and some were due to the fact that the show didn’t feel overly long. Clocking in at two hours and 37 minutes, Backlash was quick, fun and, most importantly, entertaining. That’s when I realized there is one match that would be perfect for one of SmackDown’s upcoming pay-per-views: the Iron Man match.

Raw has the benefit of having the larger roster, but SmackDown can use its smaller roster to its advantage. That was already on display on Sunday, as there were only six matches on the main show at Backlash. Each match lasted at least 10 minutes, with an average of around 14 minutes per match. A.J. Styles and Dean Ambrose’s classic clocked in at 25 minutes. This is great for the show because fewer matches mean more time for superstars that otherwise wouldn’t have a chance to wrestle a long match.

With a smaller roster and more time for matches, SmackDown could easily main event one of its pay-per-views with an Iron Man match. There has only been one Iron Man match in the past six years so it would be fresh and have a big-match feel. The last time the WWE main evented a pay-per-view with an Iron Man match was back in October of 2009 when John Cena took on Randy Orton at Bragging Rights.

Putting on a 30-minute, or even a 60-minute, Iron Man match would still leave time for other superstars, too. If the matches take up 105 minutes of the show and there was a 60-minute Iron Man match, that would still leave nine minutes a piece for five more matches. They could also hold one of those matches on the pre-show in order to give everyone more time.

As far as the talent goes, there is undoubtedly a multitude of guys on the roster that could go 60 minutes. WWE World Champion A.J. Styles quickly comes to mind. He actually wrestled Kevin Owens in a 30-minute Iron Man match at a house show back in March.

Other guys on SmackDown that could easily go 60 minutes are Cena, Orton, and Dolph Ziggler. A few women come to mind as well that could put on a clinic like Becky Lynch, Natalya and Nikki Bella. I’m sure any of the superstars on the roster would be willing to try their hand at it.

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It would be in SmackDown’s best interest to hold an Iron Man match as it has the potential to be an instant classic. The participating superstars would have a chance to be held in the same regard as other wrestlers that have participated in Iron Man matches, like Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, The Rock, Triple H, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.