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WWE has always had a schedule chock full of PPVs. What used to be only the Big Four (Wrestlemania, Survivor Series, SummerSlam and the Royal Rumble) in the 1980s and early 1990s became much different during the rest of the 1990s.
The company then decided to put on at least one PPV a month, saturating the product for the WWE fans. It allowed them to book things month to month rather than wait sometimes three months between PPVs.
Since WWE is constantly going through its Rolodex of PPVs every year, there are definitely some that are staples (Money in the Bank, TLC) and some shows that have come and gone (No Way Out, Armageddon, No Mercy).
Here's the WWE PPV schedule from last year:
January - Royal Rumble
February - Elimination Chamber
March - Fastlane
April - WrestleMania
May - Money in the Bank
June - Backlash/Saudi Arabia show
July - Extreme Rules
August - SummerSlam
September - Hell in a Cell
October - Super Showdown/Evolution
November - Crown Jewel/Survivor Series
December - TLC
And with a quarter of the year down, WWE has many more shows slated to go down in 2019 with two more trips back to Saudi Arabia. Here is the rest of the PPV schedule for 2019:
WWE Money in the Bank – May 19, 2019, in Hartford, CT
Saudi Arabia PPV – June 7, 2019, in Saudi Arabia
WWE Stomping Grounds – June 23, 2019, in Tacoma, WA
WWE Extreme Rules – July 14, 2019, in Philadelphia, PA
WWE SummerSlam – August 11, 2019, in Toronto, ON
WWE Hell in a Cell – September 15, 2019, in Atlanta, GA
WWE Clash of Champions – October 6, 2019, in Sacramento, CA
Saudi Arabia PPV- November 1, 2019, in Saudi Arabia
WWE Survivor Series – November 24, 2019, in Chicago, IL
WWE TLC – December 15, 2019, in Minneapolis, MN
As WWE continues to make alterations to its schedule this year, there are certainly some former PPVs that could be brought back. They could either take a current PPVs spot or be presented as a WWE Network Special over a few nights. Here are four former concepts for PPVs that WWE should bring back.
#1 Lethal Lottery Tag Team Show could be a Network Special
One of the most interesting concepts from WCW back in the early 1990s was the Battlebowl/Lethal Lottery Tag Team show. While WCW used 40 stars to break into 20 teams etc., as mentioned in the above DVD cover, I'd propose an updated tweak to the concept. I'd first focus only on the tag team part and exclude the Battlebowl part altogether.
Instead of 40 superstars, WWE could select 20 women and 20 men for the PPV/Network Special. Or they could limit it to five teams each for the men and women respectively. That would allow for fewer teams albeit ones that if picked correctly, could provide both excellent matches and/or storylines.
Would Kevin Owens be able to not turn on his partner? How much potential would the team of Braun Strowman and Ricochet have? If WWE doesn't want to thrust either man into the Universal Title picture, they'd be a great tag team.
And that's not even considering the top champs. WWE could still book the WWE/Universal/Women's Title for matches, but the focus would also be on the storylines leading up to the PPV. Can the Miz and Bobby Lashley co-exist as a team? Even if they didn't want to have featured singles bouts, they could have two of the top men/women tag together before they face off at another PPV.
The winners of the tournament could earn tag team title shots or future World Title opportunities. WWE wanted to book the tag team divisions better and promised teams like the Revival that they would, but this would be a confirmation of that and way to show faith in the tag division.
#2 June: King/Queen of the Ring could replace Backlash/Stomping Grounds
The last time the WWE utilized this concept was in 2015 when Wade Barrett topped Neville in the finals of the tournament. It wasn't held as a PPV but was contested over a two-night span with the finals taking place on the WWE Network.
WWE Backlash was recently revamped/changed to 'Stomping Grounds' but the jury is currently out as to if it will have any significance or if it's just the name of a show. Concept PPVs are often more appealing to the fans, especially if title shots are linked with winners. It's why the Royal Rumble and MITB are among the most anticipated shows of the year in WWE.
The King of the Ring could also be joined by the first-ever 'Queen of the Ring' as we all know how much WWE loves first-time-ever matches. WWE needs to create and maintain a new crop of stars because they won't be able to trot out the likes of Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker forever.
Like MITB and the Royal Rumble, winners should be awarded title shots at the following PPV rather than carrying over the title shot throughout the year like MITB or a few months like the Royal Rumble. They could also still walk around with all the royal regalia. Although Charlotte Flair calls herself 'the Queen', how funny would it be for someone else to win the tournament and rightfully call herself 'the Queen of the Ring'?
#3 July: Cyber Sunday/Taboo Tuesday could replace Extreme Rules
While Extreme Rules can sometimes have good matches, the fact is it's become irrelevant with the likes of TLC and Hell in a Cell also on the PPV schedule. Simply having a 'No Holds Barred' match can be held on any PPV and TLC already is chock full of hardcore stipulation matches.
WWE needs to really sell that the WWE Universe has a say rather than caving in to their demands once or twice every few years. Yeah, it was nice that they listened to the audience and gave both Becky Lynch and Kofi Kingston title wins, but it needs to be done on a more consistent basis.
The easiest way to give the fans a voice yearly is to bring back the former Cyber Sunday/Taboo Tuesday PPV concept. For those unfamiliar with it, WWE built the show up on a bunch of storylines leading up to the PPV and then had fans vote on stipulations for the match. They could also choose what would happen to the loser of the match as chosen by the winner.
If someone like Bobby Lashley kept attacking the Miz and making him miserable, then they could have the fans pick a special referee for the match. Or they could pick the type of match the had, from a submission match to a handicapped match or a kendo stick match.
One thing the WWE often did was have the fans vote on who they wanted the top champions to face at the event. Voting could close for most matches two weeks before the PPV so that a build to each match could be made. Special refs could be done during the PPV to keep some semblance of a surprise.
The main point is that the fans might have a voice, but it's not as great as we would want and the WWE doesn't always listen to the fans like they think they might. If they did, Brock Lesnar would not have been Universal Champion despite showing up sporadically and Charlotte Flair wouldn't always be getting title shots.
#4 October: Halloween Havoc could be featured along with Evolution
I am not sure if the Super Showdown was merely a one-time thing or if they plan on having more shows in Australia in the future. But according to the PPV schedule for 2019, as it sits, it isn't on the docket for this year. The same goes for Evolution, but they should definitely keep that as an annual PPV.
According to the schedule on the first slide, it appears WWE is bringing back Clash of Champions, which is sort of like how they book Survivor Series nowadays. Although Survivor Series is presented as 'brand supremacy', the important part is seeing the champions battle each other. While they might have every title defended, the similarity of the concepts still exists with putting the spotlight on all the champions.
While it may have been cheesy back in the day, if done right, gimmick matches for a potential Halloween Havoc could be good. They could have a costume battle royal with the winner getting a later shot at a mid-card title. WWE could also book something akin to a 'Monster's Ball' Match in that they have a steel cage match with weapons hung around the cage. I'm not sure of the legal ramifications as to who owns the rights to the name, but WWE has deep pockets.
And the perfect superstars for matches on this PPV would be the likes of Bray Wyatt, Aleister Black, Ember Moon and any of the darker characters in the company. That's not to say Black should come out in a costume, but he could have a casket or coffin match with someone since the Undertaker is not likely to be having many more matches.
Heck, they could even make the event a weekend thing with an AXXESS Event for the kids in the WWE Universe to go trick-or-treating throughout the arena where various superstars could wait with candy. And no, I wouldn't have another House of Horrors match like Wyatt and Randy Orton had, but they could do a 'Funhouse Brawl' type match.
