Summerslam PPV buyrates decline again

[Jackal960]

Hi all,

Several wrestling websites are reporting that WWE Summerslam buyrates declined again, it turned out to be lower than last year. Not to mention last years buyrates were already disappointing.

What could be the reason of the poor buyrate for summerslam? was it bad booking? was it nexus angle? or was that simply the result of the general decline in WWE ratings/buyrates?

I would say the booking was not that bad, we could have learned who the RAW GM was, or HHH and Taker could make possible returns, Miz could cash in MITB etc. I also think that Nexus was one of the refreshing storylines. However it seems like none of these helped.

What is your opinion? What do you think was the reason for the decline?

 

[Aeon Mathix]

Because none of the matches were appealing is in my opinion the main reason. No one wanted to see Sheamus/Orton again and kane vs mysterio was painfully obvious. The main event was the only one that would have made me consider buying it due to all the hype the stupid IWC made about something HISTORIC HAD TO HAPPEN. When all it was was Daniel Bryan returning (as cool as it was not hating, people were just dead for his return), and Cena to no surprise prevailing. All in all it was a pretty awful show. Im just glad Im in iraq and we get the WWE ppv's for free a day after they air.

 

[wushady]

I think it's simply that the cards haven't been anything special the last few years. It's always around the time school starts back parents have to shell out a lot of cash on back to school clothes, and supplies. Usually people will shell out the money if the cards worth it.

Summerslam used to be the second biggest PPV of the year. It has lost a lot of prestige and excitement in my opinion. I'm not a big fan of gimmick PPV, but many people are. That could have something to do with lower buyrats.

 

[T2KFreeker]

Hmm, well to be honest, for me it's the fact that I am tired fo the Cartoon Character WWE. The product hit the all time low for me with the "Guest Host" story lines and it just got worse and worse. Even though, from what little I have seen, the Nexus angle has been a little fresh for the WWE, it still isn't something that has made me want to watch the product. The WWE is in the same spot it was in now as it was in the first part of the 90's. Stale and predictable. The wrestlers do not pique my interest and the story lines, for the most part, are awful. The quality of the matches is sub-par as well. It seems like every time I turn on WWE programming, it gets worse and worse and I know several people I hang out with that used to watch WWE programming that feel the same way. We used to get together and split the cost on the Pay Per Views, but if we can't get into the shows themselves, why in the Hell would we want to buy the Pay Per Views for? Seems that many people feel the same way these days. I just want to watch wrestling. All the other crap can go away.

 

[Palange420]

It is as simple as this......the economy is in the shits right now. The mainstream news will lead you to believe that we are on a slight upswing, but this just isn't true. The US dollar is on a downward spiral, gold has hit an all time high at over 1300 US dollars per ounce, unheard of! People are losing jobs in every state left and right, we are a stones throw away from being in another great depression. So, with that being said, who has the money right now to spend 50 freakin dollars for a wrestling pay per view? I mean we're all fans but at the end of the day, its just wrestling, and at that, it was a horrible show. I'm a single guy without kids and a wife and have a decent job, and even I wouldn't even think about shelling out 50 dollars to watch anything right now, let alone wrestling. How can anyone justify spending that kind of money right now with the financial situation the way it currently is? 50 dollars is a ridiculous price to watch a 2 hour wrestling show from a promotion that hasn't delivered a "great" ppv consistently in quite some time. The WWE should seriously consider dropping their prices for these ppv's or else this is just going to keep happening until either the economy makes a real comeback or they start making their ppv's irresistable to the average consumer, which honestly, I don't see happening any time in the near future.

 

[Mac Attack]

we are a stones throw away from being in another great depression. So, with that being said, who has the money right now to spend 50 freakin dollars for a wrestling pay per view? .

Your absolutely wrong about this. We are nowhere near another Great Depression. At the time of the great depression we were three times as worse as we were today plus the new laws that automatically avoid a great depression.


Now the actual Paper View only went down 40,000 buys.Not to shabby as compared to last years 100,000 buyers loss. The simple reason for this is not the money it's that people are annoyed with the WWE booking. The current card for Paperviews is pathetic. WHo wants to buy a PPV when there is generally 3-4 matches announced a RAW before it. It is annoying because all people are getting before the actual PPV is the knowledgew of a WWE/WHC title match. Yeah the economy isn't too great but good compnaies know how to make money whenever wherever

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

Because there was only 1 match to look forward to, it was like a one match ppv, all the hype was in the main event, and as good as it was, the rest of the ppv was crap..a lot of the reviews stated the first 2 and a half hours were really poor and was lucky the main event saved the ppv, and I have to agree, the card wasn't all that.. I also think the reason is, well people have just fallen out with wrestling, not ordering it, not watching it, you can just see, if you compare buyrates and ratings from 5 years ago, they were much better! its just a trend..

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

This thread seems kinda incomplete without a number and credible source.

Maybe it is just me, but what should it matter as a fan what the buy rate or a rating of a show is. The only way it can affect me is by what they produce.. And we all know how slow Vince is to change his product. If Night of Champions' buy rate "sucks", hate to be someone who missed it because it was a great show. If the Raw rating is in the septic tank, why should I care? I am not a shareholder.

 

[Immaculate]

I think people are getting tired of the PG era and WWE ruined or handled the Nexus angle poorly. When Nexus debuted, they looked like NxtWo. They had two capable co-leaders in Barrett/Danielson and were eight members strong. They had muscle, they seemed to have something mic worthy in Otunga, and they had Justin Gabriel (and all attributes that he encompasses.) Then when Danielson was fired, I believe that was the end.

Who knows where Nexus could be today had Danielson not been fired. Though he probably would have been fired sooner or later anyway because of the PG era, which would not allow Danielson to do things the proper way as he did the night they debuted.

Then the WWE roster united too quickly against the Nexus.

Though it was not just poor booking or poor writing, some members of Nexus were not ready and still aren't. Though this could of been a non-factor if you had Danielson handling the mic and showing up in the ring.

All in all, I think the addiction of buying monthly PPV's is wearing off on a lot of fans. For a number of years, you didn't know what to expect in WWE and now the company has gotten complacent. They are throwing all their chips into 2-3 guys and people are realizing The E is not what it used to be.

All people can really look forward too is someone getting injured and then returning (Triple H, Jericho, Christian.)

I think Cena turning heel being the most discussed topic says it all.