Wrestling PPVs are starting to lose their importance

Back in July of 1999, I had convinced my parents to purchase WCW Bash at the Beach. I was excited to see the main event conclusion of Sid Vicious, Randy Savage, Sting, and Kevin Nash in a tag team. Faithfully, I had watched every episode of Nitro leading up to the wonderful event. Curt Henning in the I Hate Rap stable against Konnan and Rey Misterio. DDP started the Jersey Triad with Bam Bam Bigelow and Kanyon against Chris Benoit and Perry Saturn. I was in my glory, finally seeing how storylines played out.

By today’s standards, the PPV was junk. Even Eric Bischoff said Bash at the Beach 99 was merely a good episode of Nitro. Looking back at the epic fail, I noticed that wrestling PPVs were sacred events where anything and everything could happen. It was a mysterious veil that separated the casual wrestler from the fanatic. Anyone who saw the $40 PPV was blessed with uncensored matches, insane spots, and important title changes. Those who could not afford a PPV were forced to watch weekly matches that were not nearly as satisfying.

It’s 2021 and wrestling has gone through many evolutions. The indie scene exploded with endless streaming content, the WWE has more blinking lights and sounds than a Las Vegas Casino, and the focus is more on what happens in the ring rather than backstage.

One thing that has changed is the landscape of the special event (AKA: OnDemand, PPV, Premium event).   No longer is the wrestling audience wading through 4-weeks of near falls and DQs to see how the Hulk Hogan versus Randy Savage match will end. We are now gifted with mini-events, secret shows, gimmick programming, world tours, and niche streams. Long gone are the $40-a-pop show, now replaced with $10 subscriptions, free shows, and $12 one-offs. The only company that is still adhering to the ancient system of PPV and cable is AEW and we know those days are numbered.

But not all changes in wrestling have been good for the PPV. Here is how special wrestling events are lacking in today’s culture.

1. Set design is lame

At WCW’s Spring Stampede, the arena was set up like the old west, Halloween Havoc got giant pumpkins and bats, and Bash at the Beach had sharks and surfboards. Even WWE got fancy with their set designs at Unforgiven or Summerslam. Set design can be cheesy and kiddie, but it shows the audience the specialness of the event. Today’s PPV events have minimal stage design (if any) for their special shows. Impact will change their banners and ring apron so you know what show it is. The WWE will give it all for WrestleMania, but other events get minimal color changes and logo switches. The art of specialty set design is fading as wrestling becomes more accessible. Indie companies are on limited budgets so they won’t be flashing big bucks for giant skulls and shark props.

Also, the pandemic stole their audience so now it looks like we are catching them at dress rehearsal. It’s not a deal killer to forego the gimmicky set design for a professional-looking arena, but how am I supposed to get excited about this premium event if your setup looks exactly like your weekly TV show?

2. No more surprises

Stone Cold Steve Austin getting into a crane and dropping a car on Triple H is something you saved for a PPV. Chris Jericho winning two back-to-back matches to become the World Heavyweight Champion is a joy for PPV fanatics. Those who shelled out $40 should get rewarded with Easter eggs and mind-blowing changes. This includes heel turns, refs restarting matches, outside interference, and high-risk spots. Let’s not forget the fact that a PPV is where you got to see the rated-R content.

I can say with great disappointment that PPVs have become predictable. I watched Clash of the Champions in 2018 on the WWE Network. It was high budget and momentous, but it lacked anything that made it special. In fact, the biggest surprise I have seen at a WWE PPV is that they now include commercials (on a subscription service no less). I kept asking myself, what is the big deal? Similarly, an Impact special event is just 8 matches that are a little bit longer than their TV counterpart. With this overflow of content on all streams, there is more quantity than quality.

3. Who cares about the matches?

Back in the 90’s, the purpose of a three-hour Nitro or Raw was to give the viewer a ton of unsatisfying tease matches that would go nowhere. You could set your watch that every WCW TV match would end in a DQ from outside interference until the PPV. That was annoying and no one will miss that. At the same time, the line between premium matches and weekly TV show matches is thinning every day.

When I was a poor high school kid, I was excited when titles changed hands on the weekly shows. Now that I can afford the premium stuff, I expect to care about the special matches more. The problem is not that wrestlers care less about the match. The problem is that we are so oversaturated in content that it is hard to care. I watched Randy Orton get beaten by Drew McIntyre at Summerslam in 2020. I kept thinking, I could see six similar bread-and-butter matches for free on the Fite app.

The idea of the PPV or special event is still important to wrestling. We need to have satisfactory shows that resolve and evolve storylines. My problem is that the magic and the wonder of the super-mega event are lost in the sea of endless wrestling opportunities.