When I was kid, WrestleMania usually spanned a three hour time period. The first three years there were about a dozen matches on the card. WM4 had a four hour show and a ton of matches due to the tournament. 5,6,7 all had 14 matches. Follwing that the average number of matches dropped to between 8-10 and it stayed that way for years. Around the time of 17 the match count went back up to about 11. Then throughout the last few years it has hovered around 9. Considering that Mania is now a 4 hour show, I find it frustrating that they cannot fill out the card to a dozen matches. If you consider the last few years...there is usually at least one match that ends in just moments, and if you add up all the in ring time, it rarely even equates to half of the overall air time. I realize that entrances & interviews and such take up some time, but I think the WWE needs to be a better job of managing their allotted time. Too many guys get left off the card or jammed into a meaningless, dull multi man match. Instead we get endless backstage "Comedy" segments, replays and recaps. Not to mention the musical acts, dance segments, movie promos, and other garbage we are subjected to every year. No one cares about this stuff or needs to see it over and over. If some of this crap was cut out, that would allow time for a few more matches to take place. I think in a 4 hour show, at least 3 full hours of that time should be taken up by actual in ring action. A dozen matches is not too much to ask for. There are 6 titles and they should all be defended at Mania. Add in 6 grudge matches, or contenders matches and there you go. Even a small battle royal to determine a contender for a match later in the night would be ok. Please though, no more mutli person matches where there is two minutes of action and then it turns into a rotating sequence of everyone hitting their finishers and then its over. We have seen that match OVER AND OVER. I'm not asking that every match be given 10 or more minutes of ring time, some don't need it, but I would much rather see more matched than another goofy sequence that exists only to allow Ron Simmons to walk in and yell Damn! Is that too much to ask?
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How many matches make a good Mania?
- Thread starter gk11973
- Start date
AhSpicyDrop
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion SPICY!
The main difference between Wrestlemania now and the Wrestlemania's of old is they spend a lot of time airing video packages before the main attraction matches. But for the record, I think you're giving waaaaay too much credence to the original Wrestlemania's. The vast majority of the matches on those cards were thrown together messes. The original Mania had 9 matches on it and all of them were filler with the exception of maybe 4 matches. Mania 2 was 12 matches, but it was also 3 different cards taking place at the same time, and half of those matches were filler too.
Maybe you watched it back then, maybe you didn't... but you are bitching about the "Endless" comedy segments, replays/recaps, musical acts, and dancing... which has ALWAYS been apart of Wrestlemania from the very beginning. Celebrities have always made up a large part of Mania, even MORE so in the early days.
They build Mania up as the "Super Bowl" of Pro Wrestling... Wrestlemania always has and always will be about the main attraction matches which is usually 2-3 matches. The rest is filler. That being said some Manias are better than others because there are points in time where the talent was so immense that there was no possible way it could be bad.
Maybe you watched it back then, maybe you didn't... but you are bitching about the "Endless" comedy segments, replays/recaps, musical acts, and dancing... which has ALWAYS been apart of Wrestlemania from the very beginning. Celebrities have always made up a large part of Mania, even MORE so in the early days.
They build Mania up as the "Super Bowl" of Pro Wrestling... Wrestlemania always has and always will be about the main attraction matches which is usually 2-3 matches. The rest is filler. That being said some Manias are better than others because there are points in time where the talent was so immense that there was no possible way it could be bad.
You missed my point. If WM3 had 12 matches in 3 hours, with recaps etc... then why is is that in a 4 hour show we get 8 matches and one is usually a less than a minute squash. Im not judging the quality of the early shows, or any show for that matter. Im strictly speaking in terms of quantity. No one cares about all the excess extravagance, it wastes time that could be used for more in ring action. Of course if you really want to watch May Young dance around with Slick, until Ron Simmons yells Damn! then I have it
AhSpicyDrop
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion SPICY!
And I think you miss my point... which is that is what the casual viewer wants to see, and the casual viewer is the one that's putting down the majority of the money to see Wrestlemania on pay per view. It's viewed as the "Super Bowl" of Pro Wrestling... and just like the Super Bowl, people that don't normally keep up with the stories are going to tune in to see what's going on.
What difference does it make if they have a comedy segment with Ron Simmons and some celebrities or if they have a 10 minute filler match featuring Santino and Curt Hawkins? Filler is filler. The difference is one is going to be entertaining to the casual viewer and the other is not. Wrestlemania is a time where they try to attract new viewers to the product. Do you think more viewers are going to stay with it seeing a funny sketch comedy routine, or watching two nobodies that THEY have never heard of work a boring match?
Mania has alternated between 3 and 4 hours from the very start. It's not like they just suddenly started having 4 hour shows. They hardly ever use the 4 hours, but they book that much time in case there's any technical difficulties or overruns in matches.
My point is the matches have always been the same at Wrestlemania... It doesn't matter how many they have because it really only boils down to 2-3 important matches... They could pretty much book 4 hours of non-stop bullshit and have 3 Main Attraction matches and it would probably sell just as many units.
LODemolition
Championship Contender
I've always thought 8-10 should be the right amount of matches for a quality 4-hour card that includes all the guys who deserve to be a part of the biggest show of the year. After video packages and backstage segments, that leaves about 3 hours for the matches so if there's 10 matches, each one can average around 20 minutes.
Obviously some will only go 10-15 or even less, so that gives even more time to the 3-4 that everyone is tuning in or buying tickets to see.
Last year there were 8 matches and only 3 lasted longer than 11 minutes. All 8 combined didn't even equal up to 2 hours. I don't know if that's the norm or not, but when I look at that it doesn't seem like it's standard. I could be wrong, but 3 hours of wrestling and 1 hour of entertainment sounds more like the standard, or at least what the standard should be.
Obviously some will only go 10-15 or even less, so that gives even more time to the 3-4 that everyone is tuning in or buying tickets to see.
Last year there were 8 matches and only 3 lasted longer than 11 minutes. All 8 combined didn't even equal up to 2 hours. I don't know if that's the norm or not, but when I look at that it doesn't seem like it's standard. I could be wrong, but 3 hours of wrestling and 1 hour of entertainment sounds more like the standard, or at least what the standard should be.
I think 9 matches is about enough. They need more matches at Wrestlemania than the other PPV events but they also should not have too many or else we risk getting stuck with one or more matches getting cut short to make time for others. Here is the type of card I expect and hope for:
1. WWE Championship match
2. World Heavyweight Championship match
3. Undertaker's undefeated streak VS next victim
4. Midcard championship match (Intercontinental or US)
5. Tag Team match (could be for the titles or not)
6. Divas match (could be for title or not)
7. Filler match #1
8. Filler match #2
9. A dream match of some sorts, if possible.
Granted this year we will most likely get Cena VS The Rock for the WWE Championship which takes care of my 1st and 9th match at the same time. We may see another dream match on the card or another filler match. I highly doubt both midcard titles will be defended, Night of Champions being the only event where every title is up for grabs. 9 matches is a good number. It gives WWE a chance to put on matches featuring around 18 or more names from the roster with an average match time of 20 to 25 minutes per match at a 4 hour show. With only 6 championship tiers they have to rely on filler matches or dream matches after making the title matches. Anything beyond 10 matches seems like too much nowadays and at a show like Wrestlemania anything below 7 wouldn't be enough.
1. WWE Championship match
2. World Heavyweight Championship match
3. Undertaker's undefeated streak VS next victim
4. Midcard championship match (Intercontinental or US)
5. Tag Team match (could be for the titles or not)
6. Divas match (could be for title or not)
7. Filler match #1
8. Filler match #2
9. A dream match of some sorts, if possible.
Granted this year we will most likely get Cena VS The Rock for the WWE Championship which takes care of my 1st and 9th match at the same time. We may see another dream match on the card or another filler match. I highly doubt both midcard titles will be defended, Night of Champions being the only event where every title is up for grabs. 9 matches is a good number. It gives WWE a chance to put on matches featuring around 18 or more names from the roster with an average match time of 20 to 25 minutes per match at a 4 hour show. With only 6 championship tiers they have to rely on filler matches or dream matches after making the title matches. Anything beyond 10 matches seems like too much nowadays and at a show like Wrestlemania anything below 7 wouldn't be enough.
I've been thinking of this Mania and the sheer number of superstars that should/need to be on the card. Than I looked at past Mania's and saw that there is only 8/9 matches a year which total to well under two hours of wrestling. This is simply not enough time to showcase all the superstars. I can guarantee that some very talented superstars will miss out on the biggest night of the year and some major titles won't be defended.
It is difficult to rectify this but the best way is too shorten entrances - even if it only gets 4/5 minutes overall- it could be enough for at least one extra match. Also to get rid of the mini-concert's. Fair enough if an artist signs a superstars entrance theme but I don't need every song they have every produced (Kid Rock). Backstage segments are very hit and miss. You need to have certain guys getting on screen, and I feel Ron Simmons has to be involved, but I really really don't want to see Zack Ryder sing Friday at Wrestlemania.
I'm going to predict that The Great Khali and Hornsewaggle gets more time at Wresltmania than the Prime-time Players, Damien Sandow, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry, Sin Cara : guys who actually serve a purpose in this company.
It is difficult to rectify this but the best way is too shorten entrances - even if it only gets 4/5 minutes overall- it could be enough for at least one extra match. Also to get rid of the mini-concert's. Fair enough if an artist signs a superstars entrance theme but I don't need every song they have every produced (Kid Rock). Backstage segments are very hit and miss. You need to have certain guys getting on screen, and I feel Ron Simmons has to be involved, but I really really don't want to see Zack Ryder sing Friday at Wrestlemania.
I'm going to predict that The Great Khali and Hornsewaggle gets more time at Wresltmania than the Prime-time Players, Damien Sandow, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry, Sin Cara : guys who actually serve a purpose in this company.
This isn't a complaint by any stretch, but if stars like Triple H, Brock Lesnar, The Rock, The Undertaker and Chris Jericho are going to come back part-time and account for 4-5 matches on the WrestleMania card each year, then the WrestleMania card needs to be at least 10-12 matches deep.
If you're going to bring in your biggest audience of the year, then your goal should be to keep some of that audience around for the rest of the year. The aforementioned stars guarantee people will watch - but since they're just part-time players, their presence won't keep people watching. The burden of keeping people watching is on the full-time roster - guys like Cena, Punk, Sheamus, Orton, Bryan, Kane, Ryback, Ziggler, Barrett, ADR, Big Show, Cesaro, Miz, Swagger, Rhodes, Sandow, Kofi, Mysterio, Sin Cara, Henry, Ambrose, Rollins, Reigns, etc.
While it's great to have Rock, Lesnar, Trips, Taker and Jericho back for a short-time, the WWE can't forget about the full-time guys for the next few months. If they do, then there's no reason for the 'Mania audience to stick around into May.
As it stands, it looks like Cena, Punk and possibly Ziggler are going to get the rub from the part-time stars ... but that still leaves roughly 20 guys that should be given the opportunity to showcase themselves to the larger audience. Because of that, the WWE needs to book at least 6-7 more matches on top of the 4-5 matches taken up by the part-time stars.
If you're going to bring in your biggest audience of the year, then your goal should be to keep some of that audience around for the rest of the year. The aforementioned stars guarantee people will watch - but since they're just part-time players, their presence won't keep people watching. The burden of keeping people watching is on the full-time roster - guys like Cena, Punk, Sheamus, Orton, Bryan, Kane, Ryback, Ziggler, Barrett, ADR, Big Show, Cesaro, Miz, Swagger, Rhodes, Sandow, Kofi, Mysterio, Sin Cara, Henry, Ambrose, Rollins, Reigns, etc.
While it's great to have Rock, Lesnar, Trips, Taker and Jericho back for a short-time, the WWE can't forget about the full-time guys for the next few months. If they do, then there's no reason for the 'Mania audience to stick around into May.
As it stands, it looks like Cena, Punk and possibly Ziggler are going to get the rub from the part-time stars ... but that still leaves roughly 20 guys that should be given the opportunity to showcase themselves to the larger audience. Because of that, the WWE needs to book at least 6-7 more matches on top of the 4-5 matches taken up by the part-time stars.
King Patrick Star
K. O. T. R. 2007 - Team Undisputed
You really cant give a specific number of matches to determine if it will be a good WrestleMania or not. If I had to put a number down, Id go with 12. Now, these could be 12 excellent matches or 12 horrible matches. You really just have to take in the whole show and judge from there. If it were up to me, Id go with an idea I had a few months ago for a 2 Day WM Event. Im used WrestleMania XXVIII as my example.
Thats 12 match in 2 Nights.
Thats 12 match in 2 Nights.
BestIntheWWE
Dark Match Winner
8-10. no less no more.
