WWE: 3 One-Time-Only PPVs They Should Do in 2017
WWE’s PPV schedule is in dire need of something special to make things fresh and more exciting.
WWE has released its PPV schedule for 2017-2018, all the way up to WrestleMania 34. Unfortunately, it’s as generic and predictable as you could imagine. Between now and the end of 2017, there are fifteen scheduled PPVs, including NXT TakeOver specials. This is an incredibly high amount of Network specials, and comes with its own set of problems.
The sheer number of PPVs/Network Specials pushes an already saturated WWE product further into the realm of over-exposure. Now that the WWE roster is divided in two, each show needs its own set of regular PPVs.
But this isn’t the Brand Extension of the early 2000s, where there was one PPV a month. Instead, because of the new brand extension, there’s a higher number of PPVs during the calendar year, some of them within two to three weeks of each other.
What’s worse, these are more of the same kinds of B-class PPVs that have been part of WWE for years. These PPV shows lack any central themes or over-arching concept. Instead, these PPVs are treated as ‘RAW/SmackDown Plus’ sorts of shows where you pay extra to get a match you’re likely to see for free on weekly programming anyway.
WWE’s PPV schedule lacks special shows that encourage fans to tune in. No matter how much the commentators (and the writers) try to push these PPVs to the audience, there’s much less interest in the B-class shows throughout the year.
What WWE should do to fix this problem is to introduce ‘One-Time-Only’ PPVs that only occur in one year. They did something like this for Survivor Series 2015. That PPV had the tagline that it was the 25th anniversary of the Undertaker’s WWE debut. That alone made the show more interesting, because it was something historic.
WWE should mix-up their current PPV line-up and include three one-time specials this year. Here are three suggestions for what they can do…