Just A Thought: Maybe The WWE Should Reduce Its Number of Pay-Per-Views

Fourteen.

That would be the number of pay-per-view events the WWE has scheduled this year.

I am going to propose a radical idea, so crazy in fact that if I worked for the WWE I would be laughed at, or maybe even fired for making such a suggestion; the WWE should scale back its number of pay per views.

I write this knowing full well that there will be no chance in hell that Vince McMahon would ever cut back on anything that is making him money, and as a business man it is right to pursue the almighty dollar.

However, speaking strictly from a fan’s perspective, this decision would make sense.

With so many pay-per-views occurring over the course of the year, the outcomes of most of the matches are becoming fairly simple to predict.

Case-in-point; John Cena just won the WWE title last month and it is highly unlikely that he will lose the title so quickly.

Now, Randy Orton and Cena might have a solid match tonight, but having a good idea of how the match will play out tends to take away from the excitement of the match.

In addition to eliminating some of the predictability of matches, reducing the number of PPVs does a couple of things that the WWE could really capitalize on.

With so much time between PPVs, they could work on developing more characters such as Drew McIntyre, instead of just throwing his match on the Hell in a Cell card.

The common WWE audience (the kiddies) really have no idea who McIntyre is, only that he is a cocky heel. There is no depth to his character yet.

Now if the next PPV wasn’t for another month or so, the WWE could build upon McIntyre’s character and the audience may be able to better connect with him.

Another reason to consider reducing the number of PPVs would be to develop better storylines. I’ll use the Batista/Mysterio feud with JeriShow as an example here.

The two teams will be facing off tonight in what will be Mysterio’s first match since returning from his suspension. At this point, the feud is in its infancy stage, with Batista taking on Jericho and Show on separate occasions.

With fewer PPVs, the WWE would be able to better incorporate Mysterio into the storyline, instead of just inserting him into the feud. Sure, the fans will be excited to have Mysterio back in the ring, but he is going to seem a bit out of place in the match.

The additional time between events will also allow the mid card feuds to develop as well. Guys like Evan Bourne, MVP, an Chavo Guerrero, who tend to get lost in the shadow of the main eventers because of the quick turnaround between PPVs. Those guys would have more time to develop their own rivalries on their respective shows.

We all gripe about how the WWE passes its championship belts like a baton, but a way to alleviate that problem occurs by spreading out the PPVs.

If a championship match only happens one time every two or three months, it would make the match more special and also help bring back some prestige to the titles.

Also, seeing as how the WWE recycles the same individuals (Orton, Cena, HHH) in its main event scene, spacing out the PPVs would make those feuds a little more manageable.

Would you rather see Orton and Cena go at it four or five times on consecutive PPVs, or see them mix it up once or twice over that time and maybe throw in a championship match on Raw?

Ultimately, I would like to see the number of pay-per-views cut in half to around seven or eight over the course of a year.

I know there is a better chance of Cena losing a match on Raw than there is of seeing the number of pay-per-views reduced, but there’s nothing wrong with a little wishful thinking, right?