Summerslam to become the second biggest show

[Hammy]

PWInsider reports that WWE hopes to make SummerSlam a bigger annual event with a WrestleMania-like feel to it. WWE is holding a Fan Axxess event for the show this year, and plans to continue hosting the PPV in major cities in hopes that the idea of SummerSlam being WWE’s 2nd biggest show will catch on.

One problem with the plan this year is that there’s only 30 days between the upcoming Night Of Champions PPV and the SummerSlam PPV. Several people within the company feel 30 days isn’t enough time to hype up an event that’s supposed to be second only to WrestleMania.

There are talks within WWE about possibly eliminating one of their annual PPVs in favor of having more time to promote the others, and also jacking up the SummerSlam PPV price tag to match WrestleMania’s.

It could work, especially if they eliminate one of the lead in events, there are too many PPVs where the matches are the same with the odd tweak here and there, dropping one and having a bigger build would be better.

[timothy]

Doubt this will work. Even WM feels just like another ppv.

They should cut their ppv numbers down by half. have six solid built up shows a year.

[Sober_Times]

I always felt they could go with four huge shows a year. Rumble, Mania, Slam, and Survivor Series. You could throw in a couple others. But back when I was actually buying ppvs these were the only four I ever paid for. Any others i always found somewhere to watch it for free. 

Maybe its because they have been around so long, but even when they turned out bad, I always felt those were the four that should be watched. Those are the four that should feel bigger than the rest. 

[Hammy]

Less is more.

With a big build-up we could have some interesting battles....

CM Punk vs. Undertaker?

Shawn Michaels vs. The Hart Dynasty? (The story sells itself)

In a perfect world... 

[slashsfro]

There are two many WWE ppvs.  I would add No Way Out to the other four as a big PPV as I feel the last two elimination chamber matches have been excellent.  Honestly, the rest of the PPVs are indistinguishable (except for extreme rules) and I feel the quality of matches at the big PPV would be improved.   I remember last year at SummerSlam the match between Jericho and Michaels disappointing.  Then next month they blow the roof off with an excellent ladder match at the next PPV.  It would have been better served if they had the ladder match at SS instead of the throw away PPV after.  I'm not sure I can even name all of the PPV names outside of the big four and NWO and Extreme rules.

[Hammy]

There are two many WWE ppvs.  I would add No Way Out to the other four as a big PPV as I feel the last two elimination chamber matches have been excellent.  Honestly, the rest of the PPVs are indistinguishable (except for extreme rules) and I feel the quality of matches at the big PPV would be improved.   I remember last year at SummerSlam the match between Jericho and Michaels disappointing.  Then next month they blow the roof off with an excellent ladder match at the next PPV.  It would have been better served if they had the ladder match at SS instead of the throw away PPV after.  I'm not sure I can even name all of the PPV names outside of the big four and NWO and Extreme rules.

I think quality wise less PPVs would be a great idea, but, even in the time of poor ratings, having all these events makes the company too much many for them to get rid of some of the excess.  Note how they only talk about ditching one in the lead up to Summerslam when they plan on increasing the price of Summerslam itself.

I also think King of the Ring was a good distinguished PPV that could still be quite useful today.

[Sober_Times]

There are two many WWE ppvs.  I would add No Way Out to the other four as a big PPV as I feel the last two elimination chamber matches have been excellent.  Honestly, the rest of the PPVs are indistinguishable (except for extreme rules) and I feel the quality of matches at the big PPV would be improved.   I remember last year at SummerSlam the match between Jericho and Michaels disappointing.  Then next month they blow the roof off with an excellent ladder match at the next PPV.  It would have been better served if they had the ladder match at SS instead of the throw away PPV after.  I'm not sure I can even name all of the PPV names outside of the big four and NWO and Extreme rules.

I think quality wise less PPVs would be a great idea, but, even in the time of poor ratings, having all these events makes the company too much many for them to get rid of some of the excess.  Note how they only talk about ditching one in the lead up to Summerslam when they plan on increasing the price of Summerslam itself.

I also think King of the Ring was a good distinguished PPV that could still be quite useful today.

I agree, King of the Ring, was a good ppv and I miss it. I think it would be a great rumble like lead in for summerslam if they plan to make summerslam the second big ppv. Giving the King of the Ring a shot at a title at Summerslam would just seem to fit. I think they did that a couple times but only remember Lesnar really getting a shot because of winning the KOTR. 

[AtariLegend]

I remember when they scrapped it, the word was they supposedly thought it had become too predictable... 

[Hammy]

I remember when they scrapped it, the word was they supposedly thought it had become too predictable... 

Well the Billy Gunn win came out of nowhere, I didn't see that coming 

[Izzy]

12 PPV's is fine - the issue is once apon a time they had eight shows leading up an an event

...now its 4 with that awful brand split, the ppv is on you before the feud has even started

WWE is now in so deep a full scale reboot is the only way - more/less ppv's - its not even a start!

[AtariLegend]

WWE will be working with 7-11 convenience stores
to promote SummerSlam, according to PWInsider.com. Between this major sponsorship deal, legendary rock band
Aerosmith providing the event's theme song and WWE holding the first-ever Summerslam AXXESS fanfest, it's clear they're going all out to make this year's Summerslam a major event.

So if they're really going all out, let's hope they considered the possibility of a good card this year.

[Evolution]

I suppose it's a money thing. Even with the lacklustre buyrates being reported, they still make revenue off of these events, so they probably won't scale back to the usual 12 any time soon.

They really should though. Ever since 2004 there have been far too many pay-per-views.

[More Cowbell]

For me I think RR should be the event. I know how close it is to WM and in the dead of winter makes it hard to sell it as a 2nd biggest. With the main event rumble it makes the event special and starts fueds for the year. SS seems to be just the 2nd rematch of WM matches.

[James Lofton]

I always felt they could go with four huge shows a year. Rumble, Mania, Slam, and Survivor Series.

In other words.....

Lets go back to the 80s. 


I agree 100000000000000000000% with what you're saying. When it was only those PPVs, they were HUGE pop culture events. Everybody had to watch them, including people that weren't **** fans. Vince was a **** genius with Summerslam. Middle of summer? Nope. The very end of summer RIGHT when school started, knowing all us kids were gonna have to buy that and have it be the talk of the school yard for days. Even teachers were talking about that Megapowers vs Megabucks garbage.

PPVs are meaningless now. The market is flooded with them, and it makes it painfully obvious that RAW and the other shows are just commercials for the next event.

If IU was advising Vince, here's what I'd say.....

Wreslemania must be the big enchilada, and nothing comes close to it. Try and make it a huge event again. Have tons of celebs going to the event. Pay them if you have to. Hold the event in one of the major stadiums, and "paper the event(free tickets) if you have to just to fill the place up.

Turn Survivor Series back into what it used to be. A Thanksgiving tradition based on tag team elimination matches. **** title matches. Thats not what this series was about. I would also consider dropping this and bringing back Starrcade as the Thanksgiving event.


Make Summerslam the huge 'back to school' event that it used to be. Not sure if it was ever intentionally marketed as such, but it was a byproduct of the promo and made it the success that it was. Build up a massive feud that reaches its climax at summerslam. In other words, more Megabucks vs Megapowers or Hogan/Beefcake vs Zeus/Savage type matches instead of run of the mill title matches no one cares about.

Royal Rumble should be an event where a battle royal for a belt(or number one contender) isn't the only option. Merge this with the Crockett Cup idea of the winner receiving a huge trophy and one million dollars.


King of the Ring should be on TV. Over the course of two weeks have Raw, Smackdown, and ECW all be under the King of the Ring label, and all matches catered to this and not gimmick bullshit.

Bring back the Great American Bash every couple years as a summer event, revolving around the 4th of July. This would not be one event. During the month of July, make house shows and the TV shows under the Bash label, and the event reaches its climax on a July 4th PPV. Do NOT make this a yearly event.


Thats it. No more. Actually, King of the Ring could be dropped but I think it would work well as a TV event.

[Sober_Times]

I agree with most of that Lofton...i think your right on the money, except for one thing. If your only gonna do 4 ppvs Survivor Series must have a title match in it. WWE heavy weight title match that should be about survival. One match that springs to mind is the Iron Man match. The ultimate grudge match. The ultimate survivor series match. Why an Iron Man match hasnt been at survivor series blows my mind. Its the perfect match to go with that ppv. An iron man match is about surviving that grueling hour and coming out wwe champion. I know some people arent big fans of Iron Man matches but i like the few ive seen and think the format could work once in awhile with the right guys. And survivor series would be the perfect place to bring it back. 

I also feel the Elimination Chamber match is a great fit for Survivor Series. The wwe champ must enter first and survive against those opponents in order to walk out WWE champion.

A gauntlet match for the WWE championship. Again about survival. The WWE champ has to be first and survive against several opponents in a gauntlet match in order to walk out the wwe champ. Of course only the last man standing could be the winner.

Several other match types would work but you get the idea. If your gonna have a title match at Survivor Series it needs to have a survival theme. Or close to it.