They're building great storylines - but are they forgetting about PPV's?

[Bobby B]

So both Raw and Smackdown are being dominated by ongoing "bigger" storylines. Raw has the Nexus and (by accident) the GM, and Smackdown has the Kane/Undertaker vegatative state storyline.

But having now seen both shows this week, does anyone think that they've forgotten to hype both main events? We saw Sheamus and Cena fighting of the Nexus in the main event on Raw (The nexus - who have no official part in Money in the Bank).

And on Smackdown, the closing segment was Kane (another man, with no part in the PPV officially) having a go at Swagger. Where was the World Champion? A run in at the end.

Overall - they're building great storylines, but at the same time I think they've been neglecting to build their two world title matches. Yes, the PPV is built around the Money in the Bank concept (the match to win a contract to earn a match against the World Champion) and have forgotten the matches for the actual world titles...

 

[Wullief23]

I can see where your coming from here. Another point i'd like to point out as well is, as much as i like Raw and Smackdown and their storylines, because the main events of the shows are frequently the same as ppv matches it takes away the excitment of ppv's. I've been watching WWE for over 20 years and i used to love the excitement waiting for (one of the 4 per year) PPV's and seeing the matches that we had been waiting, sometimes nearly 3 months, to see.

Raw and Smackdown certainly moved on with the ages, as opposed to old WWE programming (Superstars, All American, Primetime etc) when the Stars would wrestle "ham and eggers" as Bobby Heenan would call them, but i do feel due to this we have too many ppv's now, and it takes away the excitement.

 

[Ferbian]

That's ridiculous. Of course the two shows has been hyping their main events. The WWE championship hype has been functional all the time. In the past few weeks we've seen both shows hyping both championships.

John Cena and Sheamus has been either cutting promos against each other. Or been on stage at the same time all the time. There's no denying that while they seemed to be working together. That has happened before. The WWE has had the people involved in a feud together work together before. And still hype the Pay Per View nicely.

The same goes for Rey and Jack Swagger. They're just not paired together. The match is hyped all the time. Jack Swagger dominating with the Ankle Lock. Hell Rey Mysterio even coming to the ring during Jack Swaggers attack on Kane.

So there's no forgetting about the PPVs. None whatsoever.

 

[smfiscus1]

Kane's actually in the MITB match. Nexus isn't exclusive to RAW as we've seen them attack on NXT too, and possibly Smackdown soon. And as far as not hyping the main event? I think the attacks by Swagger coupled with Rey's little superman-esque attitude have made for a pretty good build up. As for RAW, Cena and Sheamus has been done before, a couple times now. Sheamus beat Cena for that title twice now so it only makes sense to move to the next step in their relationship...an awkward "i hate you, but we hate them more" phase. So far, it's working, and unbelievably, though only Wade Barrett is sticking out, the Nexus is helping put over RAW's ppv main event and now, they're helping put over the second season of NXT in general.

 

[The Prod1gy]

Yea, I guess I can see were your coming from but I personally think at the moment WWE is doing a great job at hyping their main events.

Though most of them are predictable they are still entertaining and that's the important bit. Though I must say I have no idea why Kane is in MITB considering he is currently in a rivalry with Swagger that could go to SummerSlam if Taker isn't back intime to say Kane was the attacker.

I guess maybe Swagger could beat Mysterio and Kane wins MITB and cashes it in RVD style and faces him at Summerslam. Maybe. I don't know, but to your point I guess you could argue that WWE are not hyping their main events.
But I personally think they are fine at the moment.

 

[RKOx7]

Well, I believe that the WWE is doing a good job hyping main events. Last week we had Jack Swagger throw Rey around with an ankle lock all over the SmackDown Arena and Cena and Sheamus are always throwing cracks at each other. The main event is important, however ever since Fatal 4Way, it seems as though everyone, even people not directly in the main event scene, are in the main event scene. With the unpredictability of Fatal 4Way followed by the mega unpredictability of Money in the Bank, it is hard to maintain focus on the "main event world title matches" cuz it seems as though from now on, the months of June and July will be made so that anyone can be champion.

What I mean by this is simply, you had Randy Orton and Edge at Fatal4Way, now they are odds on favorite to win the MITB, but then you have Chris Jericho back in the picture, with rising heels and faces such as the Miz and Evan Bourne, mixed in with the super skilled John Morrison. Oh and don't forget Nexus, Barrett has a title opportunity too.

On the SmackDown side, you have Rey and Swagger, the Big Show and Kane, and CM Punk all basically in some way or another in the title picture. Then you add in the MITB people and the vegetated Undertaker...

It just seems to me the WWE has way too many contenders or contender hopefuls at the moment to just be focusing on their respective world title match.

 

[newc868]

I want the SD! MitB match to be the main event. I don't like Raw's at all. Too many people who're already main eventers for me.
However, I know that Cena vs Sheamus will be the headliner. I think this match is being heavily promoted all the time. I mean they're teasing a Sheamus face/tweener turn with this Nexus angle but you know that Sheamus is still gonna be the heel (My favourite RAW wrestler atm).

As for Mysterio vs Swagger - typical rematch stuff and while I think good for Rey having another title run, it won't be any longer than the previous runs. Swagger is getting nice coverage with his Ankle Lock shenanigans and Mysterio's run-in's show he's defending the show as a face - which is all good.

 

[SpoodBeest]

There is no "forgetting" of these pay-per-views that you are talking about, but I will agree that at least from my point of view they have been a mild distraction for the past two pay-per-views. The first pay-per-view they distracted from being Fatal 4 Way and now the second one being MITB. At Fatal 4 Way the entire video package to the SmackDown main event featured Kane interrogating the participants of the match, the promo was all about Kane. But it was realistic as throughout the entire build of the match Kane did attack and interrogate all participants throughout the weeks leading up to the match. Also when the match was going on, you weren't really thinking about the match at hand you were just thinking "ok when is Kane going to get involved?".

Same thing goes for RAW's main event from Fatal 4 Way, with the Nexus stuff that was happening at that time, you weren't really paying attention to the match, you were just wondering when the Nexus were gonna go out there and reck havoc on those involved in the main event.

The exact same thing is happening with the two world title matches for MITB. You are just going to be wondering what either Kane or the Nexus are going to do during these matches' durations. The world title matches are getting great hype, so you're wrong on that aspect as they are heavily promoted multiple times during a RAW or SmackDown episode, but you are right when you talk about these aspects distracting from these matches that actually happen on the pay-per-view at least in my opinion anyway.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I don't think WWE has forgotten their PPVs. WWE has been doing a good job of building the Mysterio VS Swagger feud. For weeks Swagger has been terrorizing Rey, and he's using the ankle lock as a deadly weapon. As far as Raw goes, the Sheamus VS Cena feud has been built up nicely. Sure the Nexus storyline is being tied in with their feud, but still, there have been plenty of backstage segments and in ring promos hyping the feud.

The Nexus storyline is a big deal, but WWE hasn't forgot about their PPVs. Not at all.

 

[The People's Peep]

No. The WWE has been doing a great job with managing to hype all of the matches in the PPV's.

Lets look at the RAW side for the MITB PPV. They have done a fantastic job with the two main events, those being the MITB match and the Championship match. They have me really excited for the match. Then theres the cage match. You may think that The Nexus is the main angle on RAW, but within that angle you have the build for the cage match. I will say that there is a little less of build this time, but it isnt completely neglected. They are getting enough hype for the match from the Nexus story-line.

On Smackdown, its pretty much the same as RAW. The MITB match hype is great. Sure, the main event is getting a little less hype, but the build is there. Swagger is running rampant with his new ankle lock and has even injured Rey's ankle, not to mention that this is Swagger's rematch.

Yeah, the MITB matches are getting most of the hype, but there is enough of build for the championship matches.

 

[WWEIsLife2]

I think the Hype has been fine. You got Cena/Sheamus which has been Promoted very well and tying in what Nexus may do to them next at MITB. Rey/Swagger I have liked with Swagger going nuts with his Ankle Lock and having Mysterio go into the Match one leg and all. Both MITB Ladder Matches have been hyped very well and I look forward to both of them. Plus what will Kane do next in his Storyline with Undertaker's Attacker.

So I think the Build has been good and I look forward to see what happens next.

 

[Coco]

WWE's been forgetting PPVs for years. The priority is television ad revenue. Insiders have been saying this for years, and the lack of thought put into most pay per views these days (theme shows with poor feuds) is really making it clear. I don't think it's the inherently negative move most people will see it as, either. I know us internet folk dig on our lengthy, commercial free pay per view bouts, but that's not the current business model. I'm entirely indifferent to what's happening now, but yes... it is happening.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Overall, I think that the build up for the main event matches have been decent. I think it could have been stronger, I agree with that, but the main event matches aren't really going to be the "main event" matches at this ppv. The centerpiece for this particular show are going to be the MITB ladder matches.

The MITB matches have usually been a highlight at WrestleMania and the WWE has spent a great deal of time and effort over the years touting how important winning MITB at WM can be and has been to the careers of a lot of wrestlers. I think they've done an excellent job of building those matches for the show and they're primarily what most people are going to be tuning in to see.

 

[osborne79]

i think wwe are not focusing on the ppvs but instead on the promotion of rivariles the ppv coming up has 2 divas matchesd which wont even last 10 min and are not worthy of ppv match hame toug

 

[mrbrownstone]

I can see where your coming from but I dont think it is completly true sure these Two storylines have been dominating Raw and SD but they have still been building the two title matches, we have seen Cena and Sheamus in the ring together cutting promos and this week they were in the ring fighting off the nexus. Over on smackdown Jack has locked Rey in tha ankle lock and dragged him backstage and this week Rey cut a promo on swagger. So while I aggree with you the focu has been on the Nexus/Undertaker/Kane storylines and not the PPV there has still been build towards the PPV.

 

[Dave]

I think you have a point, to some degree. However, what you are failing to comprehend is that the “Big storylines” that are running on both Raw and Smackdown are incorporating the main event scene on both of those respective shows and whilst the matches themselves haven’t been hyped all that well, the big angles are helping to keep them relevant whilst further the angles themselves.

Take for example the Raw scenario. The Nexus have been running wild on that show for the better part of a month now and they have made a point of attacking John Cena consistently. However, Sheamus has always been in the forefront of the angle too. He has never been forgotten about and left to take a back seat to the Nexus. Sure, he in embroiled in an angle that is a lot bigger and more important than he is right now but when I watch him and John Cena, I always have their match in the back of my mind and I am sure that that is what the WWE were shooting for when they wrote this angle.

However, I do agree with you on some level. The feud between John Cena and Sheamus has been made to take a backseat to the overwhelming angle of the Nexus. When we watch Money in the Bank tonight, I am sure that a lot of people will be looking for the Nexus to get involved with the cage match between Cena and Sheamus. The WWE have run the risk of over-exposing the Nexus to that feud and now it may not function without it. With that being said, perhaps the Nexus is part of that feud and as such should be treated that way. If they are, which I suspect is true, then the PPV matches have been utterly justified and hyped well.

 

[Da Prophet]

No, Swagger and Rey have been at each other for weeks.Swagger has attacked the ankle which will play a major role in their match at Money in the Bank.So they have hyped that match.Then you have Raw, the Nexus angle has helped this build up, you have Sheamus who wouldn't help his roster and Cena who tried to get him to see the light.Plus you have Cena cutting promo after promo on how he will take down Nexus and beat Sheamus inside the cage.So the answer to your question is no.