Lack of PPV-Worthy Matches On TV?

[PlayTheGame]

Does anyone else think there seems to be a lack of this? I mean, I'm not expecting one every broadcast, nor am I making little of Raw/SD!/ECW broadcasted matches that are awesome in their own right, I'm just saying that I wish I could see an HBK vs Cena from Raw (that spectacular one hour match) every once and awhile a little more often. I know its only right to keep the best matches for PPV's (because feuds usually culminate there), but a spectacular (and i mean spectacular) match a little more often would really be great, ya know, just to throw casual fans a bone every once and awhile. Heck, who knows, doing this could even better the chances of PPV buys, as these would be samples of what type of matches the buyer would get to see. Let me know if you agree or not.

 

[Hacksaw Highway]

Yeah, the last PPV quality match that I can think of off the top of my head would be Taker vs Jeff Extreme Rules from Smackdown a few months ago. Other than that, it's been pretty status quo. I agree, you can't over do them or else they get boring and buyrates on PPVs dip, but every 3-6 months it'd be cool if they would have a really epic, classic match.

 

[zozman]

It would be great if they put on good classic matches on raw and smackdown like cena vs orton or as you said cena vs hbk but they dont have to be an hour long cause this leads to two problems.
1-There wont be enough time for promos and mic work cause for me raw is all about the promos and the build ups
2-What would that leave for the ppvs no casual fan who has already seen cena vs orton on raw 5 times would buy a ppv for the same match.
So I think there should be good matches but leave the classis for the ppvs.

 

[cityofrain]

While it would be nice to see more. I don't know if it makes sense for the WWE to risk losing more stars to injuries that don't occur at a PPV. A majority of RAW and Smackdown top stars...or what they precieve as their "bread and butter"...are older. They can only do so many of those PPV type matches. Big Show, Edge, Hardy's, HHH, Undertaker, Batista, Jericho, JBL, Kane, Mysterio, Michaels, aren't done yet by any means...well maybe JBL. But they aren't spring chickens either.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Go take a look at TNA and see how well this works out.


The reason is, frankly, the weekly programs arent FOR ppv quality matches. PPV is for PPV quality matches. If you give them away on free TV on a regular basis, they are less special when they happen on PPV, thus, the prestige of your big shows, and your buyrates suffer. To me, I belive there should ONLY be about 4 PPV quality matches per year on free TV. TV should be used for character development, promo time, and mid card titles, at most. Its the way Wrestling has always been promoted, and needs to be promoted.

 

[klunderbunker]

This is what has been killing WWE PPVs. Why should I want to pay my money to watch a match I'll see on Raw in a month for free? That's what seperates today's shows from the old school greatness. Back in the day, you'd be lucky to see the world champion wrestle 5 times a year on television. That's what made it so special. Now WWE has done it completely opposite and is showing him every week. It takes away the specialness of it when he's on the card every week. The NWA did this for years and thrived until tv killed them. Flair was on every week and it lost its prestiege.

 

[weeman]

You know, i also have to agree with this topic. Its not that often that you get to see these high quality PPV matches on either of the three brands. The last PPV match that really stood out for me was a few years back when Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit in a 1 hour Iron Man Match....That was unbelievable. Anyways just thought I'd give my insight to it.

 

[seven3too]

i've been tired of the gimmick matches and diva pillow fights and shit for a longtime(like divas hate pillow fights...pudding fights i love, but i also love pudding) i get tired of seeing wasted talent like shelton benjamin. this guy should have had classics with Kurt angle, Edge, Eddie Guerero and Randy Orton. every match he has JR says he is the best pure althlete in the wwe why not let him show case it every week as opposed to just the mitb matches. i'll even argue that some divas don't get their time like they should for instance, Victoria should've had a notable fued with beth phoenix. mickey james vs natalya niedhardt or michelle mccool for what its worth i rather enjoy watching the divas. i remember when raw used to have the main events opening the show and it would escalate again at the end or a new feud would start at the end the show and kick the next show off...those were the days...the wwe is "entertainment" and the indys,old school nwa,and ecw were/are "wrestling"...too many cases of misused talent dean malenko, jerry lynn, shelton benjamin,carlito the list goes on its a shame

 

[The Madrid Slam]

I'll disagree. I do not think the WWE needs more PPV worthy matches on their weekly shows for a few reasons.

1) When a spectacular match does occur on a regular broadcast, it's special, because of the fact that it's so rare.

2) PPV's are supposed to be the creme of the crop.

Where the good matches take place. The more often that good matches take place on regular broadcasts the less special PPV matches become. Wrestling fans will begin to criticize PPV's because they're seeing the same quality type matches on TV...For Free.

 

[Miko]

I think there are more than enough PPV quality matches on TV already, we've had stuff like HBK vs Cena, Batista vs Jericho and Cena vs Jericho to name a small few. I'd pay to see all of those so I consider myself lucky as it is.

I am not bothered if we see John Cena wrestle everyweek as long as he appears on the show in some form and continue's the current storyline he's in. TV shows are for people like Shelton Benjamin to wrestle everyweek on because I dont want to pay good money to see him in a top PPV match when I could have a battle of the titans between Cena & Batista. Now if that happened on free TV it would have been a complete waste.

 

[The Todd]

No, PPV quality matches should only appear on PPV. I don't even want to see two of the top stars go one-on-one on a tv show even if it is a slow paced, dq-ending match. Have them tag against each other by all means, with a bit of an in ring showdown, but not one on one. On Smackdown lately we have had Jeff vs Taker, Jeff vs HHH, HHH vs Taker, Big Show vs Taker, Big Show vs Jeff etc. On RAW we have had Cena vs HBK TWICE! With clean-ish endings! And even this week Orton Taker.

Even if the endings are crap these matches shouldn't be given for free. The best build up to matches I remember include a confrontation somewhere (best place the Rumble) which leads to a couple of backstage segments, a couple of run-ins, maybe tag against each other or, even better, with each other, and then at the PPV they can put on the show.

The point of RAW, SD, and ECW is to generate interest in an upcoming PPV, not to give the fans big matches.

 

[silrock316]

Obviously wanting to see the top superstars putting on their best matches everytime you see them is normal but lets face it, that would just be bad business. You don't want to have your best spots pretty much on free TV. As a matter of fact I believe a little while back I read an article on WZ that stated WWE had decided toning down some of their high spots during any match so the big spots stand out more.

The way I see it, and this post was not to rebuttle against anyone's opinion, but my opinion is we are still pretty spoiled, some of us fans in here remember the days of WWF Challenge and WWF Superstars where we would see top stars beating up on guys with the name of like stan the man or some crap like that.

 

[WinstonDeckard]

This is where mid-card titles can be very useful. They can give fans a good wrestling fix with a very solid 10 minute match and in turn help preserve the main event caliber matches for the actual PPVs. The great thing is that sometimes you could get a PPV quality match out of the mid-card titles on a Raw or Smackdown! without giving away a possible PPV draw. Unfortunately the WWE is putting too much emphasis on the big guys wrestling on TV instead of saving those guys for the PPV's like they should.

 

[seven3too]

here is the thing though shelton benjamin can wrestle and put on a show...he's not composed on the mic where someone like cena is over. all im saying is i like seeing great back and forth action and something that resembles more of an art in the ring, john cena is a medicore wrestler at best but he has the look and charisma which puts him in the spotlight automaticaly i haven't seen cena or batista put or a showcase consistantly or really anybody for that matter...i call for the top proformers to be showcased and not the top entertainers

 

[WinstonDeckard]

here is the thing though shelton benjamin can wrestle and put on a show...he's not composed on the mic where someone like cena is over. all im saying is i like seeing great back and forth action and something that resembles more of an art in the ring, john cena is a medicore wrestler at best but he has the look and charisma which puts him in the spotlight automaticaly i haven't seen cena or batista put or a showcase consistantly or really anybody for that matter...i call for the top proformers to be showcased and not the top entertainers

They tried that in the mid 90s and with all due respect to Bret and Shawn, it didn't really work. With that said the mid-card performers who some are the very good workers should be the focal point where matches are concerned on TV in order to help foster the idea that buying a PPV is important if you want to see the Top Flite guys go at it.