One Million Buys: Is It Possible?

[JGlass]

Word on the street is that Vince McMahon wants one million buys for Wrestlemania 27. Will he pull it off?

Let's first look over what he's done so far to boost sales...

1) He's brought in The Rock- Probably Vince's biggest power move so far, he's answered the prayers of millions (and millions!) of WWE fans. The WWE Universe has been clamoring about a Rock return since he left, and Vince finally delivered. Surely the prospect of The Rock getting involved in a match and delivering some of the most electrifying promos in sports entertainment will up buy-rates.

2) Never say never- Unfortunately, this was a pun on Justin Bieber's new movie rather than a shout out to Chris Jericho. Vince brought in what is perhaps the hottest act in music right now with Justin Bieber. We like to think he only draws the kids in, but the women love him too. Surely the prospect of getting a concert in addition to a professional wrestling PPV will encourage parents to shell out the money for the show.

3) Two returns for the price of one- Taker and Triple H returned on the same night to set up a match between the two most legendary wrestlers in the WWE today. This match is going to sell HUGE as the kids who have grown to love these two stars have probably never seen their Wrestlemania 17 match, a match that is generally highly praised by viewers.

4) John Cena vs. Miz- While the IWC generally seems to be underwhelmed by this match, but there's no doubt that this is a HUGE match. People have been waiting for Miz to lose the belt since he all but stole it from Orton, and the good guys of the WWE have come close time after time, but Miz always manages to hold onto the gold. John Cena is the WWE's Luke Skywalker, the last hope for the (WWE) Universe. If he can't beat Miz at Wrestlemania, who can?

5) A solid card- In addition to these 4 things, we are all but guaranteed a pretty awesome card. In addition to Cena vs. Miz and Taker vs. Triple H we are going to see Edge/Del Rio (and possibly Christian), Punk/Orton, Sheamus/Bryan, Lawler/Cole, some sort of program with The Corre, and possibly a Money in the Bank match. That alone is a pretty great card, and there will probably be one or two more matches on top of that. That shapes up to be phenomenal! This may be one of the best cards that the WWE has ever put together for Wrestlemania.

So is the goal of one million buys possible for the WWE?

I say yes. Wrestlemania 26 had 885,000 buys, and that's a show that didn't have The Rock, Justin Bieber, or a card as stacked as this. Getting 115,000 more buys shouldn't be too out of the question for Vince McMahon.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

For once I'd say the Undertaker's match isn't what everyone is looking at to draw. It'll draw big, but hardly thinkable that it would be as big as last year's match with HBK. It all hinges on The Rock.....seriously it does. Forget Chris Jericho, people have been crying for The Rock to "save them" from WWE's current programming. If giving the people what they want doesn't work then it's time for WWE to rethink the game plan.

I think it's still possible and it doesn't need that Cena v Rock match people have always been longing for. You create enough friction between The Rock and Cena before mania and it'll resemble the situation last year with Cena getting fired. People will be wondering if Rocky will screw Cena. I think THAT image is the one to hold onto, play into it overkill, just go balls out. It sounds unfair but we've seen it so many times, the huge stories need to really dominate, the rest of the card can do what it wants but the big matches draw exponentially depending on how you book em so you have to put more effort into them for a far bigger payoff. For me it's almost all up to that angle. But my answer is still a slim yes.

 

[Kofi/ZigglerClassic]

For WM27, impossible. But that's not to say he can't get those 1 million for SS. Problem is, the booking for WM27 will only appeal to the die hards and not to the casual viewer who would give them those extra thousands. To me, CM Punk/Orton is worth the money to the casual viewer who was used to the Attitude Era, it's bleh. Cena/Miz are two of the most hated figures to the casual former fans but are popular amonst the die hards. Their match attracts only the attention of the die hard WWE fans but screams 'suck' for the casual viewer.


Personally, Vince should just face the music and realize that WM27 will not get 1 million buys no matter what. SS however has a shot because the young guys will be more established and the possibility of Rock vs Cena will be even higher.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

I don't think it is impossible, but I don't think it's likely. People will no doubt tune in for The Rock regardless of his involvement, and a lot of people purchase Mania as a PPV anyway so that will no doubt give them a boost as well as the possible Bieber singing the national anthem thing. Those things combined should give Mania a good buy rate, maybe near that 1 million mark but I don't see them exceeding it. Vince is trying to pull out all the stops, but the current product doesn't really have enough fans to get to 1 million. It's a very long shot in my book.

 

[The Eighties]

Not unless the card changes to Rock vs Cena. I don't think the card is close to strong enough and I doubt the kid singer will change a lot, the bulk of his fanbase will catch his performance on youtube the next day.

I think this is a Wrestlemania that they will try to use to validate the new crop of guys they are pushing, too make them legit in the eyes of fans by placing them in big matches on the grand stage, but it will be next Mania before we see if they can draw, all the side gimmicks and hype wont be enough to pull in close to the buys Vince wants IMO.

 

[Rokitka]

I don't think it'll happen. Wrestlemania buy rates have declined yearly over the past decade, and as entertaining as Rock is, I don't think him hosting will have a huge effect on the numbers. If he was wrestling, sure, but just hanging out backstage, or guest refereeing, or whatever he ends up doing, I don't think would have the same impact as if he was stepping in the ring. The Bieber performance is absolutely brilliant on WWE's part. His involved is the only reason I feel like it could increase from last year, as I see alot of teenage girls ordering just to see him end up singing a song or two. Match wise, I don't think Edge-Del Rio or Miz-Cena necessarily intrigues anybody, and while HHH/Taker feels like a big time match, I don't think it'll be as important for people to see as watching Shawn Michaels' last match last year. Even if Triple H puts his career on the line, I doubt anyone believes he's actually going to hang up the boots for good.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I think it's possible and it wouldn't surprise me to see it happen. As far as The Rock goes, I honestly do think that people will buy the ppv for an opportunity to see him and to ultimately see what his overall invovlement in the event will be. It's been advertised that The Rock will give his response to Cena's rap from last Monday, though there's no word on whether it'll be live or in a taped promo. I'm betting on the latter because the WWE will want to save The Rock's appearing live for special occassions. I think a lot of people are still hoping that Cena vs. Rock will somehow come about. It's unlikely, but there's always a shred of a possibility. Let's be honest after all, Cena vs. Rock will draw buys and it will draw more buys than Cena vs. Miz. I love Miz, but the chance to see The Rock in a WM match against the company's biggest babyface is probably a license to print money. The fact that the WWE is continuing to put such an emphasis on this situation between Rock & Cena is enough to make you wonder if they're gonna somehow pull this rabbit out of their hat.

When you look at the rest of the card thus far, or at least what looks to be obvious additions to the card at this time, it looks very solid.

The Undertaker vs. Triple H - Both of these men are legends and I've little doubt that this will be a good, competitive match. They've had a WM match before and it was great and while I don't think it'll be on the same level as the Taker vs. HBK matches, I think it'll exceed people's expectations.

Randy Orton vs. CM Punk - The WWE has built this into an intense, high energy feud with a very cohesive storyline backing it all up. Thus far, Punk has been built to look strong and be on an equal level with Randy Orton, even going so far as to pin & eliminate him at the EC. We know both of them can go inside the ring, Punk especially, and this should just be a great all around match.

Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes - This feud really took off this past Friday on SmackDown! and this can really be a terrific match if they get enough time and really just let it all hang out. This is a good opportunity to elevate Cody Rhodes and it should be a high energy, fast paced match.

Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio - This should be a very solid title match with some good storytelling. Del Rio is a great heel that's drawn tons of heat since his debut on SmackDown!. Edge, while not as good in the ring as he used to be, can still get it done and this could be a really good back and forth match.

So yeah, so far, it's shaping up to be a really good card. I'm hoping we find out tonight whether or not we'll see something solidified with Sheamus & Daniel Bryan. It'd be a damn shame for Bryan to not have a WM match with his talent and the fact that he's been United States Champion for the last 5.5 months.

 

[Tech N9ne]

I wouldn't say it is impossible by any means. The hype has started and it looks promising. It seems like Vince is willing to pull out the stops needed, or possible, to make it happen.

Just based on the things that have been done so far, is a good indication that Vince is surely trying to get it done. Hopefully, we haven't seen the biggest of the hype for these feuds and matches. I think The Rock/Cena thing will continue to grow and therefore continue to create interest.

For whatever it is worth, they have 1 FOR SURE buy sitting right here. Only 999,999 buys to go.

 

[Toxs]

The Rock isn't wrestling.

That's what I think is going to stop this from getting a million buys. People want to see The Rock vs Cena at WrestleMania not Cena vs Miz. Obviously Rock hosting won't hurt but at the end of the day it can only do so much.

The entire card looks terrible. Maybe a few years from now when most these guys like Jomo, Ziggler, & the rest are Cena/Orton status people will look back and say this was an important WM, but from the looks of it now, it doesn't look good at all.

 

[Richard]

It's entirely possible to achieve one million buys for WrestleMania 27, no doubt about it.

This mania has something that we havn't seen since WrestleMania 20, The Rock. The Rock will do wonders for WrestleMania 27's buyrate. The RAW rating went up the week following his debut and I can pretty much say that a lot of the older wrestling fans who were watching during the Attitude Era but still watch occasionally, they will be damn interested to see what The Rock does about John Cena at WrestleMania this year. There will be a lot of them who buy WrestleMania to see The Rock.

What about Triple H and The Undertaker? That match alone will be a big match, it will be awesome, those two can deliever when it comes to the big time matches and perhaps people will buy it and tune in to see if since Shawn Michaels will be there for the Hall of Fame segment where they walk out, if Shawn has a run in on the HHH/Taker match to see if he tries to screw Taker out of the match or wether he just stays in the back and lets Triple H fall victim.

The Miz is champion and he's been getting some good heat so there's always going to be the massive Cena fan base who tune in to see Cena get his shot at Miz and his WWE Championship.

There is every chance it gets one million buys, oh also if Justin Bieber ends up performing then yeah, they could get it. I'm not going to be suprised if they do, but I won't be suprised if they don't.

 

[Marv95]

No chance in hell.

A card featuring Miz, Del Rio and a played out transitional champ Edge doesn't scream "a must buy Wrestlemania". Neither does Taker/HHH again.

Now if it were Rock/Cena and Sting replaced HHH as Taker's opponent, then it'll be much different.

 

[stasheroo]

No chance in hell.

A card featuring Miz, Del Rio and a played out transitional champ Edge doesn't scream "a must buy Wrestlemania". Neither does Taker/HHH again.

Now if it were Rock/Cena and Sting replaced HHH as Taker's opponent, then it'll be much different.

Spot on!

A card of:

Undertaker/Sting
Cena/Rock
Miz/Morrison
Edge/Del Rio
HHH/Sheamus
Mysterio/Rhodes
Nexus/Corre

Looks a lot better to me than what we're getting

It's like the IWC can book a better card than the folks getting paid to do it.

This is a disappointing Wrestlemania resulting from poor planning.

That seems obvious to me.

 

[Kofi/ZigglerClassic]

Poor, tacked on planning and booking is going to cost Vince one million buys. It would be nice if he got that many but it ain't happening.

 

[ITALIAN NYC]

Truth is, i looked forward to HBK matches at wrestlemania the most lately. Him not being in it means that theres no one guarenteed amazing match i will see. HBK never disappointed. HHH vs Taker doesnt even feel appealing to me at all. Its just not a believable fued to me. Lets be honest here. The truth is that the reason the past 2 taker matches at mania were so wanted was because we wanted to see HBK win. I dont want to see HHH win at all. Even the year with flair vs taker, i wanted to see flair more then taker.

 

[mrbooker]

Truth is, i looked forward to HBK matches at wrestlemania the most lately. Him not being in it means that theres no one guarenteed amazing match i will see. HBK never disappointed. HHH vs Taker doesnt even feel appealing to me at all. Its just not a believable fued to me. Lets be honest here. The truth is that the reason the past 2 taker matches at mania were so wanted was because we wanted to see HBK win. I dont want to see HHH win at all. Even the year with flair vs taker, i wanted to see flair more then taker.

Spot on wrestlemania the past two years where all about HBK vs Taker that was the draw, and that was THE match everyone knew to get ready to see greatness.

BACK TO THE OP

There is not a ice cream cones chance in hell for 1 million buys at all

As was said before
Cena vs Rock
Sting vs Taker
Miz vs Morrison
Edge vs Del Rio

No question in my mind that Vince would have surpassed 1 million buys with EASE, and someone would be making a post about it being 1.5 million

simple Fact the most popular wrestler today against WWE's most electric wrestler from its most popular time.

Then Taker WWE legend vs Sting the Legend of WCW you are attracting a whole other audience to buy this PPV alone with that match and then you still have all of todays star.

but no WWE will not make 1 million buys, IF a promo or face to face interaction got heated enough for Cena to come on raw relinquish his title shot and throw out the challenge to the Rock at the very end of the broadcast it would be enough to make news headlines and get common people talking and questioning what if??? which would make the answer breaking news if it ended up Rock vs Cena THENNNN I would say possibly but we all now that does not stand and a ice cream cones chance in hell either

 

[Sparky]

It's possible but it all rides on the biggest draw for Wrestlemania. The rock, if the rock makes a few more appearances on raw hyping up or even teasing that he will be doing something big at wrestlemania then they will achieve it. The card at the moment is still lacking a bit of star power.