Here's something I don't get about Wrestlemania

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

I did some research. WM 34 had 11 matches and 130 overall minutes of wrestling (by adding up the times of the matches).

WM 17, also had 11 matches, but had 123 minutes of wrestling. WM 17 was 3 hours and 45 minutes long, while 34 was 5 hours!!

Also, NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 12, a show which is also 5 hours, had 192 minutes of wrestling!

So, my question is: If WM 17 can fit 11 matches and 123 minutes of wrestling in 3 hours and 45 minutes, why does WWE need 5+ hours for 130 minutes of wrestling plus two segments? (HOF and Elias/Cena)

Bonus question: Why do they make the pre-show two hours long and not just do: one-hour kickoff panel while the arena fills plus one-hour wrestling pre-show with the 3 matches which will reduce the total actual show by 1 hour?

 

[Radical]

I think it has something to do with this now being the WWE Network Era and longer more content programming is supposed to be more valuable to subscribers in the minds of WWE officials.

As a non-WWE Network subscriber you'd have to ask one who is if more live content makes having a subscription more valuable or if more ACTION was packed into less content it would be just as good.

Personally, I would rather more meaningful action in less time, because, man, people got things to do and places to go. Even on 'big game days' it's usually nice if the big event isn't super long.

But my suspicion is that now that the main goal for WWE, pretty much, is getting more and more Network subscribers (and keeping current ones) that they feel the more content and longer amounts of programming they can offer will make customers feel like they are getting enough value for their money.

That's why WWE keeps churning out all these original programming shows - which are mostly garbage - but WWE kind of has to do it so that subscribers can at least see that WWE is trying to add enough value for the cost of the Network.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

The first thing that pops in to my mind are concessions. I'm not going to go five, six, seven hours without buying food. I may go three or four hours. But I'm really not sure if I am on to anything there.

My main guess is that Vince just wants everything about Mania to be bigger than anything else. Many people travel for the event. A longer show helps that traveller justify the costs of attending the event. But mostly it is just Cindy's ego and passion for Mania. When Mania started we didn't have so many events each month. Now we do. In my eyes looking in to Vince's brain he elongates the event in order to further make it stand out.

 

[therockiswwf]

Why was 34 longer than 17? Because WWE had to haul ass to get everything in and not go over. WWE no longer has to do that. Everything now can get a video package or time. Everything back then didn't.

Bonus question: Why do they make the pre-show two hours long and not just do: one-hour kickoff panel while the arena fills plus one-hour wrestling pre-show with the 3 matches which will reduce the total actual show by 1 hour?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm4TG56KGZ4
Longer the kickoff, more ads. More time to convince people to buy. More time people spend in the arena and get hungry or want shit.