Can WWE Pull Off A 2 Day PPV?

[LegendKiller716]

I'm watching ROH right now, and they're promoting Showdown In The Sun. This is a two day event taking place on a Friday and Saturday. I was wondering if WWE could pull this off.

I think if booked right Wrestlemania could be a two day event held on a Saturday and Sunday. Wrestlemania usually consists of a card too big for it's time slot, and a lot of rushed matches, and a match frequently gets knocked off the card.

In this situation I would have shorter cards, maybe 6 matches long and give them 3 hours for each night. This would allow more matches, it would let more people on the card, there would be no rushed matches, and nobody would be bumped from the main card. It would also allow for more money. Give people the option to buy a 2 day ticket, or a one day ticket, and do the same for people ordering the PPV. Give out a discount if they buy the 2 day ticket.

Using this years Mania I created a sample card. A few things you will notice (and probably bitch about) Some people have a match on both nights. I did that on purpose to help these guys get more exposure, and it would eliminate the need to put unknowns on the card. Also I have Miz on team Long. I think this will indeed happen. I feel one of Long's guys will get hurt, and Miz will turn face trying to earn a spot on team Long (his last chance to get on the card).

Day 1

Triple H vs The Undertaker
C.M. Punk vs Chris Jericho
Santino vs Jack Swagger
Cody Rhodes vs Big Show (Cody's Match Choice)
Kane vs Orton
Zack Ryder & Layla vs Dolph Ziggler & Eve

Day 2

The Rock vs John Cena
Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus
Team Long (Santino, Jackson, Mysterio, Ryder, Miz) vs Team Laurinaitis (Henry, Del Rio, Christian, Otunga, McIntyre)
Cody Rhodes vs The Big Show (Big Show's Match Choice)
Primo & Epico vs Truth & Kofi vs The Usos vs Swagger & Ziggler
Natalia vs Beth Phoenix vs Kharma

Not much else to say here. Anyone else think they can pull this Off?
Good Idea? Bad Idea?
Discuss

 

[Elmarko13]

This actually a pretty interesting idea you got here but i doubt that WWE will ever be able to pull it off simply because they don't seem to be able to invest in enough story lines to fill a two day card. granted a bunch could be made on the day but that would be too much space to advertise with not a lot of material to advertise for. I would love to see a two day PPV filled with good storys and good wrestling but it doesn't seem likely.

 

[OneTooManyPunts]

As others have said, WWE would have to really create some deep, and captivating story lines for both cards on both nights. However, the biggest thing they would have to do is drop the PPV prices. Chikara for instance, has a three night King of Trios event, and as established in this thread, ROH does two night PPV's as well, but as iPPV's, they are able to charge a much smaller fee. I don't see WWE ever lowering their prices, or offering an internet exclusive PPV.

 

[LegendKiller716]

This actually a pretty interesting idea you got here but i doubt that WWE will ever be able to pull it off simply because they don't seem to be able to invest in enough story lines to fill a two day card. granted a bunch could be made on the day but that would be too much space to advertise with not a lot of material to advertise for. I would love to see a two day PPV filled with good storys and good wrestling but it doesn't seem likely.

I think they can pull it off. If you look at my sample cards, I think they are pretty good, and all of those story lines are already in place. There is also the possibility of having a rematch on the second night if a champ looses his title.

As others have said, WWE would have to really create some deep, and captivating story lines for both cards on both nights. However, the biggest thing they would have to do is drop the PPV prices. Chikara for instance, has a three night King of Trios event, and as established in this thread, ROH does two night PPV's as well, but as iPPV's, they are able to charge a much smaller fee. I don't see WWE ever lowering their prices, or offering an internet exclusive PPV.

As far as pricing goes, Mania usually runs at about 65 SD, 70 HD (I think). If they Do 50 SD, 60 HD per night or a bundle price at 80 SD, 85 HD I don't think people would have a problem paying an extra 15 for another PPV. It's logical in my mind. I don't think they'd loose any money.

 

[HBK/RKO]

I like the idea but i doubt they will ever do it. I think this would be the year that they could pull it off with Wrestlemania being so deep this year and most matches on the card aren't going to get the proper time that they need. The only thing I don't like with your match card is Big Show vs Cody Rhodes twice they could easily have a different match than that twice.

 

[Rowdy Robby Piper]

I think the only way WWE could pull off a two-day PPV is for WrestleMania weekend. The first night would be the Hall of Fame ceremony in its entirety, and the second night would be Mania itself. Other than that, I don't see WWE having the talent roster deep enough to pull it off any other way.

 

[whoopin' ass]

interesting idea but i think that is too far outside the box for wwe. personally, i would like them to just cut back the matches and leave out things that are not neccessary. pretty much anything that is not a title match could be left off. that would give you only 6 matches - give them 20-30 minutes each, and you get your 3 hours. if you have something big you want to include, such as rock/cena or taker/triple h, you can cut back some time from other matches and still leave them at least 15 minutes, and since it is Mania, add the extra hour and make it a big deal. one 4 hour ppv a year is not hurting them. your Orton/Kane match could easily be put on the next ppv. same with team long vs Team Laurinaitis and the Ryder match. i think all titles should be defended at Mania but the idea of trying to cram as many people onto the card as possible is simply dumb. all you end up with are these quick matches that no one really cares about. your 2 day ppv would allow these matches to run longer but my concern is that as the wrestlers start coming up in the wwe system and don't work indy shows anymore and get used to these quick matches, can they handle a longer match.

 

[King of the Words]

I was just wondering would this double the cost of Mania? Could you just buy one half if you wanted to or is it a package deal? Mania is already like $60, or around that I think. I wouldn't want to have to double that, no matter how good the card is. I'm just thinking that if WWE did this then they are going to make sure they make as much money as humanly possible off it. I could see them doubling the price, unless they thought it might hurt sells too much. I like the idea, kinda, but I wouldn't want to end up paying twice as much for Mania from now on.

 

[DirtyD79]

I think for it to work it would have to be a tournament of sorts like at Wrestlemania IV or WWF's The Wrestling Classic back in 1985. It doesn't necessarily have to be for a belt as they have fought for trophies in the past. Also I think they would have to lower the prices. At 45 bucks for pay per views other than `Mania and 55 bucks for Wrestlemania plus additional fees, tryin' to get fans to cough up over 90 dollars to watch it's gonna be a pretty hard sell.

 

[GameOver]

Certainly they could they do it with touring but the issue would be which matches go on which day, you'd have to have a good mix on each day or people might not buy tickets for 1 day or the other, it wouldn't affect home viewers in fact it would be a boon to sales IMO.

But think about it, you are a Cena fan and he's on day 2 why would you buy a ticket to day 1 unless you knew he was likely to atleast appear.

They certainly have the roster to pull off 2 days and all the titles could be defended in that scenario. and at WrestleMania 2 was in 3 different locations at on the same day no matches were on at the same time in the different locations they swapped back and forth. Hogan obviously the main event spot woulda pulled the most tickets to that venue over the other 2 but the people in attendance didn't have to go anyhwhere as the other 2 were televised on bigscreens, and those of us watching on free to air or PayTV saw the whole thing seemless.

I say it's a good idea and if it was a tournament type with more then 8 people involved it would be awesome and different (for WWE) but i doubt they'd ever do it, just due to the costs involved of hiring a huge venue 2 days in a row and paying most of the talent needing to be there

 

[Dayno]

This seems like an awesome idea. Your cards are really interesting, the only thing I would change would be to swap Kane vs Orton with Long vs Lauranaitis because with that Punk vs Jericho and HHH vs Taker day one is abit stacked and no one in the gm match is already wrestling on day one.

Here are my personal thoughts on the concept:
It would have to be a once a year thing, but not Wrestlemania. Wrestlemania is the flagship event of WWE, the 4 hour epicentre of everything that WWE is and carries with it Hall of Fame and a nearly 30 year history. After whatever the december PPV ends up being everything is focused on Wrestlemania, even Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber. What I think could work would be to do this for Summerslam. After the Wrestlemania season everyone loses interest and WWE has been struggling with PPV buy-rates dropping. Summerslam has always tried to be the big "party" of the summer and WWE's biggest mid year event so I think if they turned it into an interesting concept like this it would create much more attraction and having a multi-day event really fits in with the "party" idea. IMO doing this would help solve the lack of interest post wrestlemania and give wrestlers something else to work for in the mean time as we always see wrestlers lose their commitment if they weren't offered a good Wrestlemania spot to shine and with two days everyone can make a mark.

Dropping the July PPV would also be beneficial. Theres no way they'd be able to create enough attraction for a two-day event when there's always a new PPV to get ready for. Having a two-month absence allows for more story development so that they can establish there big main events e.g. Rock Cena, and would also help solve the money issue which brings me to my next point.

Who the hell would want to pay for all these PPV's and then have a two-day event to pay for. Your idea about the costs is great and if they've dropped the july event it would be even more feasable for the general viewers. I live in Australia so i'll use our costs. A normal event is AU$30, so each day should be $25 (As they are still standard PPV length events) or you can buy both for $40.

To fit in with my imagining of it it would obviously have to be a fairly interactive thing with meet ups, Q & A etc in the days, family orientated so that it really is this big event of the summer. Also seeing as WWE loves to try and make a show/dollar about everything they can and we all love to see Wrestlers outside of their on-screen environment I can see them adding an hour or so PPV with backstage happenings etc etc.

The last thing I need to say isn't so much an issue but could prove problematic. The reproducibility of it. You thought of this at the perfect time, the Wrestlemania card is stacked to the max and provided a perfect card for such an event but Rock and Cena will be done possibly same as HHH/Takers careers so it may be hard to make intruiging main events.

Quick thought that I could also imagine them dropping it two 2 hours each highlighted by World Heavyweight Scramble day one, WWE scramble day two.

Sorry for the rant, those are my thoughts haha. Hope you can tell I love the idea!

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I think it could work, if they move away from the Winner of the Rumble concept headlining and as someone suggested, make night one the tournament to main event night 2. If they keep the rumble winner, then they get their title match in night 1.

Logistically they already take over the area/arena for the week so it's not too much of a stretch to run 2 nights as they are already paying to be there. It's why they sell tix to the HOF (whichwould happen during the afternoon of the 1st day, with the biggest induction opening the WM show.)

In terms of how to split the talent and make sure they have a story, it's not that hard. Because Night 1 is ALL about the tourney, any side feuds might run alongside but it's about winning. Night 2 is where the feuds play out (especially with the previous nights repercussions).

The only problems I see are:-
Pricing - Gotta stay the same or increase by no more than 15 bucks.
2 Titles - Only really works if there is an undisputed champion.
3 - Totally fit roster - for an 8 man tourney, guys need to Wrestle 3 WM quality matches in night one THEN main event the following night. It's a big ask of anyone not at peak condition or with niggles.

 

[LegendKiller716]

After reading a bunch of these, I really like the idea of a day 1 tournament. Let the Rumble winner pick who he faces, and then have a tournament on day 1 one to see who challenges the other champ.

However, I don't think this would work because the champ wouldn't really have a story to work with leading up to the event. Or maybe he can work with all of them, I don't really know how it would play out.

Anyone think this could work better in TNA? A way to differentiate their selves? They can hold it in the impact zone, and they're tickets are free.

Maybe WWE could put day 1 on free tv to encourage more people to buy day 2. Or maybe have day 1 an internet only ppv (obviously no big money matches in this scenario).

 

[Diet Soda]

If WWE were to revert back to having a more distinct brand separation, I suppose you could have a Raw PPV one day and a Smackdown PPV on the next.

 

[flair4ever]

i think it would work and would be epic! there are a couple things that would be helpfull.

1) Have it at 2 different locations, mainly because like we seen on tough enough, there are people who work behind the scenes that stay till 3 a.m. just for clean up and stuff on raw, witch is about 1/3 or less the size of mainia so im sure those guys are there till 6 or 7 in the morning, then u would have to have alot of them back there at probibly 2 or so. witch for clean up guys isnt that hard but for the guys who do set up and stuff it may be dangerous ( i.e. owen hart part 2)

2) no swmackdown on friday, instead broadcast the HOF free on tv

they would have to get the most out of both days like day one (hypothetical)


HHH vs Undertaker
Punk vs Jericho
Kane vs Orton
triple threat or fatal 4 way tag team title match
santino vs zach ryder us title
team long vs team jonny ace

day 2

Rock vs Cena
money in the bank
D.bryan vs Shemus
Cody vs Big show
divas title match
6 pack challenge for the #1 contender to wwe title

 

[King Patrick Star]

I think this could work out very well. If WrestleMania currently costs $70 in HD, I would charge $40 for each show or $75 for both. I can’t imagine someone paying anything more than that as of right now. This would give each match a lot of time.

I would book the matches like this:

Saturday (Night Of Champions)
• WWE Tag Team Championship match – Primo and Epico vs. R-Truth and Kofi Kingston
• United States Championship match – Santino Marella vs. Jack Swagger
• Intercontinental Championship match – Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show
• Divas Championship match – Beth Phoenix vs. whoever the number one contender is
• World Championship match – Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus
• WWE Championship match – CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho

Sunday
• Team Laurinaitis (Kane, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, and The Miz) vs. Team Long (Randy Orton, The Great Khali, Ezekiel Jackson, Justin Gabriel, and Hornswoggle)
• Money In The Bank Ladder match featuring the 6 SuperStars that lost the night before
• 28 Divas Battle Royal (I want to see the return of former WWE Women’s / Divas Champions making a one-time appearance. Is there such a thing as a Bra and Panties Battle Royal??)
• Undisputed WWE World Championship Unification match – CM Punk / Chris Jericho vs. Daniel Bryan / Sheamus
• Undertaker vs. Triple H
• The Rock vs. John Cena

I, for one, wouldn’t be able to pick just one of these cards to purchase, so I would indeed be one of the 2-day pass fans. That would be a great weekend!!

 

[LegendKiller716]

I think this could work out very well. If WrestleMania currently costs $70 in HD, I would charge $40 for each show or $75 for both. I can’t imagine someone paying anything more than that as of right now. This would give each match a lot of time.

I would book the matches like this:

Saturday (Night Of Champions)
• WWE Tag Team Championship match – Primo and Epico vs. R-Truth and Kofi Kingston
• United States Championship match – Santino Marella vs. Jack Swagger
• Intercontinental Championship match – Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show
• Divas Championship match – Beth Phoenix vs. whoever the number one contender is
• World Championship match – Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus
• WWE Championship match – CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho

Sunday
• Team Laurinaitis (Kane, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, and The Miz) vs. Team Long (Randy Orton, The Great Khali, Ezekiel Jackson, Justin Gabriel, and Hornswoggle)
• Money In The Bank Ladder match featuring the 6 SuperStars that lost the night before
• 28 Divas Battle Royal (I want to see the return of former WWE Women’s / Divas Champions making a one-time appearance. Is there such a thing as a Bra and Panties Battle Royal??)
• Undisputed WWE World Championship Unification match – CM Punk / Chris Jericho vs. Daniel Bryan / Sheamus
• Undertaker vs. Triple H
• The Rock vs. John Cena

I, for one, wouldn’t be able to pick just one of these cards to purchase, so I would indeed be one of the 2-day pass fans. That would be a great weekend!!

I like the idea of Night Of Champions being the first night, with the big money matches on night two. I know WWE couldn't pull this off every year, but I think it could be good to do every 5-10 years starting on Wrestlemania 30. I think it would be a great weekend for every Mania anniversary.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Someone (probably the OP) suggested that Mania 30 be a two day event.

I LOVE the idea. Maybe even do it in two different cities. Twice(ish) the revenue. More time on the card for guys. It's really the only next next they can do to make Mania bigger. They already have the hall of fame, the pageantry, 4 hour show, the HUUUUUGE crowds. Make it a 2 day event. Plus it's something that the Superbowl doesn't have.

The WWE has enough stars to sell out two 40-50 seat arenas I think. Maybe even more. Or, if you are unsure of it, put it all in the same arena and have packages where if you buy one ticket, you get the other at a slight discount. You stagger your stars so that one night isn't overwhelming the other and bam, you have 2 awesome nights.

 

[LegendKiller716]

The thread is pretty dead now, but another idea is to have night one on free TV. They would still gain revenue from selling out the arena, plus it would be a teaser for the next night.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Having a 2 Day PPV event could be something worth trying. I would go about having it in the format of saturday featuring mainly midcarders and others who usually do not make it onto the card of most PPV's. The Divas Championship, Tag Team Championship, and at least one midcard title would be put on the line. The main event could then be a World Heavyweight Championship match. That leaves the other midcard title, some filler feuds, and the WWE Championship for the sunday portion of the show. I like the idea due to it giving the entire roster a bigger chance of participating in the show. If the brand extension still mattered then one day could be Raw themed with the other being Smackdown. That would have been a great idea roughly 7 years ago.

The sunday half sounds an awful lot like the formula they use for most PPV events, minus the second world title. They give us two world title matches, a few filler feuds, and perhaps one midcard or divas title match. This 2 day format would help the entire roster make it onto the card somehow. I would like to see it be tried for a Wrestlemania in the future. Crazier things have been tried before, such as Wrestlemania 2 being held at three different locations. If it fails, then WWE could always disregard the idea in the future. What harm would there be in trying this out just once? They could do it for Summerslam or another PPV if they do not want to risk it at Wrestlemania

 

[Robbo89]

Its a good idea to have Wrestlemania as a 2 day PPV......from reading peoples thoughts on here a few concerns spring to mind straight away though,

1. If the event was being held in 2 different locations (i.e New York and Arizona) any fans of John Cena for example, wouldn't want to go the Arizona event if he was only going to be appearing in New York.

2. If the event was in the same location on both nights, and (again as an example) Cena was on night two, All the Cena fans would not want to go to night one......BUT when the tickets go on sale, nobody would know who would be on which night. It would have to be announced before the tickets went on sale which night the biggest stars would be participating on

3. Ticket Pricing. I’ve just looked on Ticketmaster USA at Prices for tickets this years mania.....they range from $38.25-$1569.75 (these are including booking fees) There would have to be a seriously major package deal in place for people who wish to attend both nights and wish to have ringside seats!

4. Then there's TV Costs, Granted it varies from country to country, I'm going to take the American PPV price, The "suggested retail price" for Wrestlemania is $54.95 (£34.63 GBP or AU$52.57) now as i live in the UK i know how much is actually charged over here (£14.95) but if they are offering a 2 event package then most people would not pay Double the price for both, maybe the 2nd event half price or something would work.

5. Could Creative have enough storylines with that many fans interested that they could span 2 nights (6-8 hours depending how they worked it)?

IF all the above were addressed appropriately and had suitable solutions to each point then it would work in my opinion. But no matter what is suggested, there is a lot that would have to be done.
Who's to know if the WWE haven't already thought of this idea? are we any part of the creative or backroom team? It's always good to speculate but sadly its all it can be until the WWE either confirms if its happening or not......speculation