WWE: Busting the Pre-Show Myth

As a WWE pay-per-view card is coming together, how many times have you said to yourself, “now that’s a pre-show match if I’ve ever seen one” or “I can’t believe that’s on the pre-show”? Looking at the facts, a pre-show spot may not be as doom and gloom as we make it out to be.

WWE SummerSlam is the company’s second biggest event of the year. Like WrestleMania, it garners a certain amount of attention that other pay-per-views don’t. The card is longer and wrestlers’ spots on it are often overly scrutinized.

Who will open the show?

When will the Jinder Mahal-Shinsuke Nakamura WWE championship match go on?

Who will be relegated (remember that word: relegated) to the pre-show?

This year’s lucky pre-show participants are Akira Tozawa, Neville, The New Day, The Usos, The Hardy Boyz, Jason Jordan and The Miz and his Miztourage. Their prize? A spot on the WWE Network with less attention and less exposure.

These men are no small-time acts, so why tuck them away where fewer fans will see them? What’s the thought process that goes into deciding what talents perform before the actual show and not on it?

There’s only one rational and logical way to crack this case, and that’s to meticulously go over the numbers from every pre-show since the beginning of 2016 and draw some clear conclusions, even though it’s possible that no clear conclusions can be drawn.

Let’s take this journey together.

First, the basics.

From Royal Rumble 2016 to SummerSlam 2017, there have been 26 pre-shows and 39 matches, with a total of 73 different wrestlers performing on them (WrestleMania 33’s Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal was counted; Rob Gronkowski was not).

Do you want the good news first, or the bad news?

Bad news. Always start with the bad news.

Of those 73 men and women, 10 are no longer with the company: The Dudley Boyz, Jack Swagger, Damien Sandow, Alberto Del Rio, Ryback, Brie Bella, Eva Marie, Austin Aeries and Simon Gotch.

There are also quite a few that have been less-than-active on television lately, such as Mark Henry, Darren Young, Paige, Summer Rae, Nikki Bella and Tian Bing, as well as those who don’t seem to have proper creative direction at the moment, like The Ascension, Dolph Ziggler, Luke Harper, Kalisto and Sin Cara.

In terms of most kickoff appearances, many are tied at 5, including The Dudleyz, Kalisto and Aidan English, but the pre-show MVPs with 6 matches each would be The Usos and Mojo Rawley.

Now, I know what you must be thinking: that’s a whole lot of lower-to-midcard talent, and you’re right. The only “main event” players who have been on recent pre-shows are Dean Ambrose, Rusev, Baron Corbin, each having appeared one time.

There’s no question it’s a place for WWE to put their leftovers, like packing old or rarely used household items away in storage, but that’s not always the case.

There have actually been 9 title matches on pre-shows during this period of time. Also, many important moments in relevant feuds have taken place on pre-shows. Cesaro and Sheamus had the first match of their best-of-7 series on the pre-show and it seems like the rivalry between New Day and the Usos could end on Sunday at SummerSlam.

We’ve also seen some fantastic bouts in this slot, including Neville and Austin Aeries tearing the house down before WrestleMania went on the air this year.

That being said, this all feels like a mixed bag, which is quite appropriate considering what could be the most revealing fact of all: of the matches that have taken place on pre-shows since the first pay-per-view of last year, more than half have been tag team or multi-person matches.

That stat would indicate that there simply isn’t enough room on the main show for everyone.

WWE has a certain amount of time to fill, with an overloaded roster and many feuds that need to be accounted for. The company likely cares quite a bit about Network viewership, so they make a concerted effort to include strong in-ring work and a few championship bouts here and there. Sunday’s SummerSlam is a perfect example of this.

WWE may not always offer us the product we want and we know that sometimes we need to go elsewhere to find it. Although it’s undeniable that the pre-show isn’t the ideal place for our favorite wrestlers to be, the term “relegated” may be a little strong.

More wwe: WWE SummerSlam's Greatest Performers

If we need to tune into the pre-show to watch Neville, Sami Zayn or Tye Dillinger perform, that’s exactly what we should do.

No need to overthink it.