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Pay per view names are an important part of the promotion for an event. As well as enticing marquee matches up and down the card, an event's name can also play a huge role in encouraging fans to part with their hard earned cash to watch a show.
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The big four are all synonymous with WWE and even non-fans know which company Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, Summerslam and Survivor Series refer to.
When WWE initially expanded their yearly pay per view output to 12 events per year, all the non-big four shows were initially pre-fixed with In Your House, referring to the fact that you would watch these events at home for a budget price.
The early In Your House events didn't exactly have must-see names; Great White North, Season's Beatings and Beware of Dog were all pretty uninspiring supercard event monikers from a creative standpoint from this era.
On occasion, an event name would make little sense due to circumstances beyond WWE's control.
The December 1996 In Your House event was dubbed "It's Time"; a reference to Vader's catchphrase. However, Vader, due to injury was entirely absent from the event which meant the pay per view name made little sense for a card headlined by Bret Hart and Sycho Sid.
Over The Edge, a perfectly logical name for a wrestling show was understandably discontinued after Owen Hart fell 70 feet to his death at the 1999 iteration of the show.
However, WWE would soon get it right in the late 1990s with its event names with such shows entitled No Way Out, Judgment Day, Unforgiven and No Mercy.
All names exerted a certain menace and were appropriate for a wrestling event.
However, sometimes WWE can get their event names very, very wrong.
In the following slideshow, SK looks back at five of the very worst pay per view names, that WWE's creative team have ever produced.
#5 Fastlane (2015 to present)
Living life in the Fastlane! That's what WWE appeared to have in mind when they re-named the February pay per view, previously entitled Elimination Chamber.
There was no demonic structure in sight when Fastlane began in 2015.
WWE were no stranger to turbocharged car type names, having produced an event named Over The Limit from 2010-12.
Fastlane though seemed even dumber than that, Most shockingly, however, was that Fastlane as a pay per view name has had astonishing staying power having been in continual use ever since 2015 and is expected to be utilised once again in 2019.
How does Fastlane relate to pro-wrestling? It doesn't. It makes a consumer think of Formula 1 racing or Nascar or another sport, car related. It makes little sense as an event name for a wrestling company and should be discontinued and replaced with something more suitable.
Fastlane is one of the worst event names WWE has ever devised.
#4 Roadblock (2016)
Continuing with the Car theme, WWE elected to name their final pay per view of 2016, Roadblock.
If that name wasn't dumb enough, WWE chose to add the even dumber tagline, "End of the line."
Quite why traffic is something to be feared and is dynamic enough of a topic to title a pay per view is bemusing, to say the least.
Perhaps, the name was designed to encourage fans to travel to the arena early to avoid any potential roadworks and fill up the arena in time for the pre-show to encourage fans at home to purchase the show.
Amazingly, WWE didn't appear to realise how terrible the event name was and used the title twice in 2016!
Who knows? A bizarre pay per view name though lent itself to a woeful wrestling event with few highlights.
Thankfully, WWE hasn't used the name since.
#3 Taboo Tuesday (2004-05)
Taboo Tuesday almost sounds like the title of a "bad" movie. It does not make a consumer think of pro wrestling.
For that reason, it should never have been greenlit as a pay per view name.
Even more bafflingly, Taboo Tuesday was WWE's first ever interactive event where fans could vote online on match stipulations and participants.
So what does Taboo Tuesday have to do with computers and online interaction? Makes no sense right?
It seems the Taboo part of the name existed solely so WWE could have alliteration in their event title with the event taking place on a Tuesday night instead of the traditional Sunday evening slot.
Thankfully, in this case, WWE recognised their error and reverted the event to Sunday's as of 2006 and changed the name to the more logical, Cyber Sunday.
Although, what does Cyber Sunday have to do wrestling?
#2 Capitol Punishment (2011)
A pay per view named after the government sanctioned murder is peculiar and troublesome as an event name in equal measure.
The idea behind the name was the fact that Capitol Punishment emanated from the USA's capital city, Washington DC.
However, their promotion of the event landed them in trouble with the Presidential office as one of the promotional videos for the show spliced real life footage of then President, Barack Obama with WWE contracted actors asking him questions about the death penalty.
WWE were forced into a very public climb-down as they had to acknowledge that the footage existed solely to promote the WWE pay per view and in no way represented President Obama's real-life views.
A mess of a promotion translated into a terrible event. Randy Orton contested a good match with Christian and CM Punk bested Rey Mysterio in a decent effort but the rest of the eight-match card was entirely missable.
As only 170,000 households purchased the event, most people did choose to skip the show.
#1 Great Balls of Fire (2017)
"You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain!"
Well, someone on the WWE creative team must have had their brain's seriously rattled to believe the title of a 1950s Jerry Lee Lewis song made for a good wrestling pay per view name in 2017.
Even more bafflingly, the song was used as the theme tune for the event itself!
What does Great Balls of Fire even mean? And how is it relevant to pro-wrestling?
Surely, the idea of an event name should entice customers to purchase a show not discourage them?
Make no mistake, the idea of Great Balls of Fire gracing someone's cable bill is enough to ensure a fan will not purchase the show.
Which is a shame.
As the show on paper and in actuality was a very good one indeed. The headliner saw Brock Lesnar defeat Samoa Joe in a stiff, intense match-up and Braun Strowman beat Roman Reigns in a brilliant brawl under Ambulance match stipulations.
That name though. Definitely the worst in company history.
