Survivor Series - 1 Million Buys?

[EStreet]

I'm going out on a limb and saying that Survivor Series, in the World's Most Famous Arena, could reach Wrestlemania level buyrates if booked to its fullest potential this year. Not just reach it, but reach it easily!!

WWE is in the unique position of being as close to the "attitude era" in terms of crossing unspoken lines and using language as it likely will ever get. The thing the "attitude era" didnt have, which plays as a benefit now, is social media. Forget ratings, social media indicates how engaged fans are in a product and as we've seen in recent months, the fanbase is engaged and the casual fan base is starting to get interested with the media attention Punk has received.

WWE has never been shy to bring in one-off's for the big event - Mania. Im suggesting they do it for Survivor Series, play it off in the world of social media, use guys like Punk, Cena, Miz, and (do I have to say his name) THE ROCK in the mainstream media, and promote the hell ouf of this show.

Survivor series is known for the big elimination tag matches. What better way to reach two huge audience bases that likely are not purchasing WWE ppv's than create a match between the original DX and a ROH stable. Let Punk declare he is recruiting his guys and dare HHH to go call his buddies (Waltman and Billy Gun I believe are already working in developmental + Nash). Let this build for a month+. This alone sells this ticket to people who will want to see the original DX together plus all indy fans who may not buy ppvs on the regular but would pay anything to see Punk, Bryan, Ryder? Hawkings? Cabanda? together as a team. This all ties in perfectly because Punk has talked about these guys like they are his boys and they are the "voiceless". while people may pop for DX, the ironies Punk can point out can certainly keep them from being completely face, plus these guys all know how to get heat quickly (just look at Nash).

So now that you have a huge selling point, let me remind everyone that The Rock alone sold 1M buys for Mania. Guaranteed to show at the Garden in the biggest media market of them all, he should carry this PPV alone, but since we don't expect him to wrestle, let the above event be the wrestling highlight, and this event be the "attraction".

pair these two together and I'm pretty sure the card stacks up to the Wrestlemania card from a few months ago, and probably appeals to more people who will buy a ppv (older fans who grew up watching DX in the 90s and now have disposable income; hardcore fans who know the ROH history and will mark out and buy to see this because they have been paying for ROH for years).


A bit of fantasy booking but the idea could sell 1M buys is built. Thoughts on hitting the mark?

 

[Redemption-2012]

You have some great idea's in this card, however everyone that you stated are all really old, like in their mid to late 40's and this would make it boring, and also steal the show away from some of the younger talent which I believe is not fair on them, it hurts the mid-carders status. The Rock would be ONE of the attractions to Survivor Series, however, saying that WrestleMania sold over 1Mil PPV buys were down a guy who didn't even have a match, all he did, well as punk said, he did nothing entertaining, he just used the same old stale crap that he's been using since 1999. Whether the Rock was involved or not, WrestleMania is always successful and people buy it for the matches, not to see some guy stand in a ring and use outdates catchphrases from 1999. So you are a bit of an idiot really for saying that.

 

[rge2010]

I really can't see Survivor Series breaking the 1m PPV buys. No way at all!!! Maybe it could hit half a million buys or beyond that but will be no where near 1m buys.

As for your D-X idea, sorry it won't work. Without Shawn Michaels active, with Chyna in TNA and Nash never even involved with D-X it seems a stupid idea. Pretty sure Gunn and Dogg have heat with Triple H aswell. Could be wrong.

Now a 'more' realistic, but still far fetched idea would be to have 'The Clique'. Triple H, Kevin Nash, X-Pac who are all under contract with WWE and draft in Scott Hall. HOWEVER, WWE won't want anything to do with that waste of space Hall so again, another idea that is unworkable.

I do like the idea of Punk getting his buddies involved though in a team. Daniel Bryan would be the obvious starting point as he is under contract. Colt Cobana would also be very possible as he has wrestled try out matches. Haven't WWE just signed that ROH Tag Team? A possible solution there to make up the 5 piece. Then there is Samoe Joe over at TNA, but not sure when his contract is up. 'Rumours' he is interested in WWE, but would WWE be interested in him.

As for his opponents, well a heel Triple H, Kevin Nash, X-Pac and 2 more would be the obvious solution.

 

[EStreet]

You have some great idea's in this card, however everyone that you stated are all really old, like in their mid to late 40's and this would make it boring, and also steal the show away from some of the younger talent which I believe is not fair on them, it hurts the mid-carders status. The Rock would be ONE of the attractions to Survivor Series, however, saying that WrestleMania sold over 1Mil PPV buys were down a guy who didn't even have a match, all he did, well as punk said, he did nothing entertaining, he just used the same old stale crap that he's been using since 1999. Whether the Rock was involved or not, WrestleMania is always successful and people buy it for the matches, not to see some guy stand in a ring and use outdates catchphrases from 1999. So you are a bit of an idiot really for saying that.

Funny that you decide to call me an idiot for saying that The Rock is the reason the ppv did over 1M Buys. It is well documented that Vince brought him in for the huge media storm he brings and that his goal this year was to push the 1M-Buy line. In fact, the previous two years dipped below that line and trends for the past 4 years were declining since Donald Trump was brought in and they set the buyrate record. Last year was up roughly 30% domestically and 15% internationally from the previous year. You can dislike my ideas but insult the FACTS!

Considering 40something stars have been the main attraction of the company for years now (Taker, HHH, HBK) and considering it would be to aide a relavent storyline, i do not see how it would be boring. TNA uses 40/50 year olds to run their program and that is boring, this is one match, that takes place every year anyway, and actually allows for younger stars to be showcased (on the ROH side) as well as on the rest of the card (remember the survivor series match-ups are usually lumping all mid-carders together anyway).

once again, know your facts. Rock was brought in to turn around the WM buyrate trend and it succeeded. FACT

 

[DeathClutch]

Sorry but as much as I love survivor series (top 3 fav ppv) it's never going to do 1 million buys. Now look back at WWE's history in MSG they ALWAYS pull something special out so I expect no less at this PPV.

Rumors have HHH/Punk in some kind of match personally I'd rather see both lead a team against each other leading to WrestleMania's singles match but that is just me.

Also would like to see TEAM BRING IT vs Cenation 5 on 5 with Cena and Rock captaining their respective teams, maybe Rock not wrestling but defos captain a collection of guys against Cena's team.

 

[TUFFY54]

Survivor Series was always my favorite PPV until the started messing it up. SS should revolve around a huge 10 man tag as the main event. It's the only time of the year that we get to see such a match. Instead, they throw a jobber elimination match on in the begging and have the same matches we see every week for the rest of the card. I love the idea of the Clique facing a ROH stable, but I think I have a better idea.

Triple H's group vs. CM Punk and the other young guys.

You already have HHH and Nash, and Foley has resigned with the company. Bring back HBK and Undertaker for the match and you have a hell of a team. Have them face Punk, Cena, Orton, Miz, and maybe Sheamus. That would be a hell of a main event. A lot of you might wonder why I didn't put the Rock on the "old" team. There is no way they are going to blow Rock vs. Cena until Mania.

Triple H, Nash, HBK, Foley, and Undertaker

vs.

Punk, Cena, Orton, Miz, and Sheamus


That would make for a hell of main event. Have Rock come out and cost Punk's team the match to keep the feuds going.

 

[ahoyhoy]

Survivor Series isn't going to make 1 million buys. The last two, for perspective, did around 250k. Summer Slam doesn't even usually break 500k buys. You could say they could book a terrific, money-drawing card and you may very well be correct, but the best booked Survivor Series won't top 350k buy rates.

People buy Wrestlemania and that is it. Maybe they'll stump for SummerSlam. If they are really into it, they'll chip in for Survivor Series and the Rumble. (I wouldn't be surprised if MITB starts to join this 5.) And then there are about 100, 000 who will buy every PPV. Remember, Wrestlemania XXVI had Shawn Michaels's last ever match and couldn't break 900k.

 

[rvdiswhatsforme]

Let me try to explain this in a way thats easily understood. Look in my eyes? What do you see? I've bought the past 2 wwe ppvs for that reason. Because I see change in the wwe product. The wrestling is 10 times better than it has been, even Mark Henry and Shaemus was watchable, dare I say a decent match. I even purchased a CM Punk shirt. The story lines have been great even Smackdown has been pretty good. So can Survivor Series get 1 million buys? No not a chance, I do think that 500,00 is pretty attainable and would be a massive home run for wwe. I'm not sure if it will be Punk and Triple H headlining or some combo of Cena Miz and Del Rio. Maybe Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes or Barret. Point is wwe is on the right track to eclipse the 1 mil buy rate at WRESTLEMANIA.

 

[Rckstrtmmy]

Survivor Series was always my favorite PPV until the started messing it up. SS should revolve around a huge 10 man tag as the main event. It's the only time of the year that we get to see such a match. Instead, they throw a jobber elimination match on in the begging and have the same matches we see every week for the rest of the card. I love the idea of the Clique facing a ROH stable, but I think I have a better idea.

Triple H's group vs. CM Punk and the other young guys.

You already have HHH and Nash, and Foley has resigned with the company. Bring back HBK and Undertaker for the match and you have a hell of a team. Have them face Punk, Cena, Orton, Miz, and maybe Sheamus. That would be a hell of a main event. A lot of you might wonder why I didn't put the Rock on the "old" team. There is no way they are going to blow Rock vs. Cena until Mania.

Triple H, Nash, HBK, Foley, and Undertaker

vs.

Punk, Cena, Orton, Miz, and Sheamus


That would make for a hell of main event. Have Rock come out and cost Punk's team the match to keep the feuds going.

Sorry, but this idea is not even close to the OPs original idea. First off, HBK isn't coming back. Time to get over that. Secondly CM Punks team makes ZERO sense! How do you get Orton and Sheamus in the fold? Different show, plus the WH champ so no title match? Doubt that would ever happen. And why is Miz with all the faces? Can't turn him yet so that doesn't work either. Cena and Punk won't be on the same team anytime soon. They have the best feud the WWE has seen in years, its too soon for them to work together. Plus you have all the Raw main eventers in the match besides Alberto Del Rio, the WWE champ. Whats he left to do? Can't leave the champ off the show especially if you're other champ is in a non title match. This match would make no sense and youre just throwing people together

As for Survivor Series hitting 1M buys. No chance in hell. A good buyrate for a WWE PPV is 300-400k buys. To jump to 1M is a huge stretch. The only reason WM gets so many buys is because its fucking WRESTLEMANIA, the biggest wrestling show of the year every year. WM has an entire 3 months build generally for one, and even non-fans know about it. For Survivor Series, if they have a fantastic card with a match along the lines of what the OP said, 500k would be a resounding success. That's still a solid 100k jump or so from what they've been doing. And hell if they keep putting on great shows the number will continue to increase of course.

 

[jace6911]

I think SSeries could look like this ....

Team Punk vs Team Johnny Ace/Kliq
Team Bring It vs Team Cenation
Del Rio, Henry, Swagger, Christian vs Sheamus, JoMo, Dolph & Sin Cara
Team Skinny vs Team Divas of Doom (which eve will join)
Tag Team Elimination 4 way
.....And they should bring back the Soul Survivor Match too

 

[TheTruNoLimit]

You have some great idea's in this card, however everyone that you stated are all really old, like in their mid to late 40's and this would make it boring, and also steal the show away from some of the younger talent which I believe is not fair on them, it hurts the mid-carders status. The Rock would be ONE of the attractions to Survivor Series, however, saying that WrestleMania sold over 1Mil PPV buys were down a guy who didn't even have a match, all he did, well as punk said, he did nothing entertaining, he just used the same old stale crap that he's been using since 1999. Whether the Rock was involved or not, WrestleMania is always successful and people buy it for the matches, not to see some guy stand in a ring and use outdates catchphrases from 1999. So you are a bit of an idiot really for saying that.

Calling someone an idiot for speaking their mind is ridiculous, so I suggest everyone just grows up. Now, onto said point, no the Rock didn't sell the Wrestlemania PPV all by himself, but let's face it, his appeal cannot be argued. Wrestlemania did do over a million buys and the Rock is a big part of that. Now, certainly that doesn't mean the Rock was responsible for a million buys.

Wrestlemania, even if the buyrate for this year stayed consistent with other decreasing buyrates, still would've done roughly 750,000 buys easy (and that's on a down year). Would it be so hard then to argue that the Rock and all his mainstream appeal combined with the promotion the Rock brought to the show from outside media outlets added 250,000 buys? Sure, then we become much more reasonable.

As far as the Survivor Series is concerned, this is an event that doesn't hold all the grandeur of Wrestlemania and once undoubtedly one of the biggest shows of the year has seen its stock fade in recent years.

The Rock and a great card being a million buys? I will say nothing's impossible, but I don't think any WWE PPV in today's climate will eclipse a million buys except Wrestlemania. You have to remember the Survivor Series last year was up in buy rate and didn't come close to cracking even 300,000. Again, we're looking at a case where best case scenario, being in MSG, being a good media center, having the Rock, promoting it all over, I can see Rock attracting more buys. An incredibly well promoted well booked Survivor Series I see more in line with about 500,000 buys than a million. It would be a great way to re-invigorate interest in the WWE's fall classic though.

 

[EStreet]

by now everyone has shattered the idea of 1M buys and I agree, the number was a far cry from reality. but the truth is, it is no the end of August with 3 full months to go before the event. In comparison to Mania, that is the same build time and with the slow introduction of people and the booking of a story now - it could have that same spectacle feel. If they can book Rock-Cena a year for 28, why not book the survivor series matchup 3 months out and slowly build it with the introduction of allies and team members.

1 Million may have been a stretch, but I guarentee Vince would like the idea of it (not the booking, but the goal) and he should absolutely be shooting for it. The opportunity to raise buyrates coming off MITB, Summer Slam, and now the new reality-era is there like it hasnt been for years.

 

[The Suplexer Perfecter]

Has anyone else noticed that UFC 139 with Velasquez vs. Dos Santos is THE DAY BEFORE Survivor Series?

I say that will effect the buy rate BIG TIME.

WWE would have to have an AWESOME card for them to even get 750k buys I say. Far better than Summerslam.

Maybe The Rock being there could boost the buy rate, but I still say that UFC show will do some damage.

 

[oogieboogie]

Yeah i cannot see SS doing 1m buyrates. The only PPV which can and has done this is WM as this is the BIG PPV, which WWE will promote to the fullest.

The problem is (I know it was mentioned to build up towards SS as there are 3 months to go) that with PPV's every month, it is kinda difficult to put all the focus on something a few months off. Cos i believe this kinda makes the other PPV's look weaker and more or less a stepping stone.

Back in the day when i got into WWF there were 4 PPV's a year and the build up was pretty cool. As you would have a few months for each PPV. It was a major build up and you couldn't wait until the PPV as you had been waiting months. But now you see the same main events over and over whether on PPV or TV, unlike back in the day.

 

[TUFFY54]

Sorry, but this idea is not even close to the OPs original idea. First off, HBK isn't coming back. Time to get over that. Secondly CM Punks team makes ZERO sense! How do you get Orton and Sheamus in the fold? Different show, plus the WH champ so no title match? Doubt that would ever happen. And why is Miz with all the faces? Can't turn him yet so that doesn't work either. Cena and Punk won't be on the same team anytime soon. They have the best feud the WWE has seen in years, its too soon for them to work together. Plus you have all the Raw main eventers in the match besides Alberto Del Rio, the WWE champ. Whats he left to do? Can't leave the champ off the show especially if you're other champ is in a non title match. This match would make no sense and youre just throwing people together

I get so tired of you "crystal ball" wrestling "authorities" that can always know exactly what a guy is going to do with the rest of his career. You think I need to "get over" the fact that Shawn is retired huh? I'll bet your never wrong when you tell people what's gonna happen. Lets just imagine.

Did you tell someone to "GET OVER IT" in 2008 when they said they thought Ric Flair was gonna go to TNA after he retired?

Did you tell someone to "GET OVER IT" before 2010 when they said they would like to see Bret Hart come back and wrestle Vince?

Did you tell someone to "GET OVER IT" before 2011 when someone said they think the Rock will come back and feud with Cena?

Did you tell someone to "GET OVER IT" before Summer Slam when they said they thought Nash should start feuding with Punk?

Point being, nobody knows what the fuck is ever going to happen in the WWE. Therefor, it is best not to tell someone they are an idiot when they suggest someone might make a return!


As far as the rest of my post, I think it's fine. You claim my team would never work because their "throw together". Your right. That has absolutely never happened in the WWE. Oh wait, nevermind, the main event of last years Summer Slam had a team with Edge, Jericho, and Cena "throw together" on it. And I do believe that Survivor Series 2005 had a main event of two teams that were "throw together" for a cause. As far as Del Rio, gee, I just he could just DEFEND HIS FUCKING TITLE IN A MATCH. I didn't realize that the guy who you assume will be champion in 3 months has to be in an elimination match.

 

[Rckstrtmmy]

I get so tired of you "crystal ball" wrestling "authorities" that can always know exactly what a guy is going to do with the rest of his career. You think I need to "get over" the fact that Shawn is retired huh? I'll bet your never wrong when you tell people what's gonna happen. Lets just imagine.

Did you tell someone to "GET OVER IT" in 2008 when they said they thought Ric Flair was gonna go to TNA after he retired?

Did you tell someone to "GET OVER IT" before 2010 when they said they would like to see Bret Hart come back and wrestle Vince?

Did you tell someone to "GET OVER IT" before 2011 when someone said they think the Rock will come back and feud with Cena?

Did you tell someone to "GET OVER IT" before Summer Slam when they said they thought Nash should start feuding with Punk?

Point being, nobody knows what the fuck is ever going to happen in the WWE. Therefor, it is best not to tell someone they are an idiot when they suggest someone might make a return!


As far as the rest of my post, I think it's fine. You claim my team would never work because their "throw together". Your right. That has absolutely never happened in the WWE. Oh wait, nevermind, the main event of last years Summer Slam had a team with Edge, Jericho, and Cena "throw together" on it. And I do believe that Survivor Series 2005 had a main event of two teams that were "throw together" for a cause. As far as Del Rio, gee, I just he could just DEFEND HIS FUCKING TITLE IN A MATCH. I didn't realize that the guy who you assume will be champion in 3 months has to be in an elimination match.

Dude, Michaels himself is the one that said he's not coming back to wrestle, not me so stop acting all butthurt and yes get over it. I never called you an idiot either so dry your tears gypsy. And I'm pretty sure that if he did come back, it wouldn't be as part of an elimination match with 9 other guys. The guy went out as the main event at WM in one of the best matches ever. Sure he might come back in a similiar fashion as the Rock and headline one more WM down the line, but your scenario kind of sucks to drag one of the best ever out of retirement IMO.

And yes your match is throwN together. God forbid I disagree with you and say your match doesn't make any sense! Oh no! And instead of coming up with a plausible idea for your team, you bitch. As far as Del Rio, the point I was making is that there's no one left for him to have a good title match really as you have everyone he's involved with in the elimination match and you left him out. God.

 

[killer425]

I think a TLC between the USO, Koffi and Evan, and Big Zeke and Zach Ryder would be a great way to start off for the TAG titles

another great match would be HHH, Nash, Miz, Mark Henry, and Del Rio

vs

Shane o mac, John Cena, Randy Orton, Cm Punk, and the return of Big Show

with Steph or Vince hitting Punk with brass knucks allowing HHH to pick up the win leading to a bigger storyline

the WWE doesn't need to rely on old retired guys to get ratings they need to push the young old and use what they got

Swagger vs Ziggler would be decent in hardcore match for the US title would be another good opening match

and as far as the Diva how about Beth, Natayla, Alica Fox, AJ, Kaitlyn, the Bellas, Eve, and Kelly in a scramble casket match or something like that

 

[Dagger Dias]

let me remind everyone that The Rock alone sold 1M buys for Mania.

The Rock alone sold 1 million guys for WRESTLEMANIA. Survivor Series is nowhere near the level it used to be at and there is no way it could ever reach 1 million buys. You could have a unification match for the world titles, another for the midcard titles, have the tag team champions defend against a legendary tag team, bring back Trish to challenge the divas champion, have every single filler match be between legends and today's bigger stars, do the DX VS ROH idea that the threadstarter mentioned, and then bring in The Rock to host it. This epic card will still be lucky to hit 500,000 let alone 1 million because not enough people care about Survivor Series. Wrestlemania is THE show of the year for Wrestling. Even people who have never watched a single match in their whole lives know what it is. That's the only show that will ever hit 1 million buys unless WWE ever got lucky enough to become more popular than they were in the Attitude Era or the Hogan days, and we know that won't happen anytime soon.

 

[oogieboogie]

let me remind everyone that The Rock alone sold 1M buys for Mania.

I cannot see the logic behind this comment. I will say that cos of the Rock that the WWE sold anything from thousands to tens of thousands more PPV buyrates. But to say he was the single reason for selling 1m buys is crazy talk.

Now over the last few years the WM buyrates have been going up, right? (Someone correct me if i am wrong). They have been selling like 800-900k buyrates. Now this year they sold 1.2m buyrates, correct? So you are saying if Rock hadn't appeared that the WM buyrate would be like 200k? I DON'T THINK SO!

 

[XXJJ]

WM 26 I think had 885,000 buys. WM 25 had 960,000 buys. The Rock did help them get a million buys. But to say Rock alone got them a million buys is wrong.

SS should be a big time ppv. With The Rock coming back, and possibly a Triple H in ring return. But I dont think they will even get close to one million buys. I would shoot for 500k.

 

[rge2010]

Survivor Series tickets sold out in less than 90 minutes. Yes it is in MSG but I think The Rock had something to do with that!!!

If booked well and Rock heavily in the build they could reach 500k.

 

[Sin Jackal]

I just hope the WWE will run the Survivor Series the way they used to. Where nearly every single match was actually 4-5 man tag elimination matches! That's supposed to be the entire point of the PPV. The last one I saw was a complete joke. . .it had like one tag team elimination match and the rest were boring regular old matches. It's like watching the Royal Rumble and no royal rumble even happens. WTF do they think we watch it for?

As long as WWE doesn't ruin the event with a bunch of boring shitty matches, and has at least 3-4 tag team elimination matches like the PPV is supposed to be about, it should be a good event with all the culminating storylines and The Rock supposedly "coming back to action".

Speaking of The Rock, I'm very skeptical that he will face Cena. I think WWE is saving that cannonball for Wrestlemania. The most we will see until then are skirmishes. . .no actual matches. Then again, perhaps them fighting a little bit during a survivor series elimination match is just the spark and teaser needed to make the next Wrestlemania break the record for the most sales yet. It would also make sense for them to start there, with the rumors of "three matches" between the two supposedly being thought about to take place. Perhaps with Rock winning the first two (at Survivor series than at say, the Royal Rumble in some other non one on one match), then Cena being put over at Wrestlemania with a clean win one on one with no interfereance.

You have some great idea's in this card, however everyone that you stated are all really old, like in their mid to late 40's and this would make it boring, and also steal the show away from some of the younger talent which I believe is not fair on them, it hurts the mid-carders status. The Rock would be ONE of the attractions to Survivor Series, however, saying that WrestleMania sold over 1Mil PPV buys were down a guy who didn't even have a match, all he did, well as punk said, he did nothing entertaining, he just used the same old stale crap that he's been using since 1999. Whether the Rock was involved or not, WrestleMania is always successful and people buy it for the matches, not to see some guy stand in a ring and use outdates catchphrases from 1999. So you are a bit of an idiot really for saying that.

Yeah, I'm sure that insanely popped main event with Miz and Cena really rocked the house down. As did that amazing Lawler/Cole match that took forever to complete.

If The Rock was not there. . .that would have been literally the worst Wrestlemania in the history of the WWE. It still might have been even with Rock. It was an awful overall event. The one really good match (HHH/Taker) had a patheticly disappointing ending to it with HHH jobbing to a guy who was supposedly just given a severe concussion and was basically supposed to be KOed in the middle of the ring. The Rock's mere presence saved that Wrestlemania from a shitstorm of disappointment hatemail.

Again, that event was basically like an extended episode of Raw with the exception of 2 matches that actually seemed like PPV quality matches. As a whole, this year's WM was a massive failure in my eyes. It was no better than any of the other watered down monthly PPVs. The Rock giving Cena a Rock Bottom saved the entire event from being a complete waste of time imo.