Since the split began, I really haven't had much patience for people who clamored for brand exclusivity. Honestly, an entertaining product supersedes any kind of nitpicky stuff that the split entailed. Of course, blatant disregard for it leads to confusion more often than not, but I think the WWE has held somewhat true to the split, at least enough for it to be effective at giving each brand an identity (albeit a weak one).
So now, we're on the advent of the company's next PPV, Bragging Rights, where the winners of the matches from each brand will team up and face off against each other in a big RAW vs. Smackdown brouhaha to close the show (poor ECDub, left out in the cold like an orphan). This PPV should have a special feeling, since it's the first non-WrestleMania event to have mixing of the brands like this. Forget that inter-brand matches off the Grandaddy have happened more than a few times, even on PPV (Michaels/Batista, anyone?).
However, it doesn't. It doesn't feel special, and not because of anything that had to do with the integrity of the brand split. It's the same reason why Night of Champions doesn't feel special, why Hell in the Cell didn't feel special, why Tables, Ladders and Chairs won't feel special. It's because the WWE has desensitized us to pay-per-view.
I mean, how many events does the company run every year? It's gotta be more than 12, since we're now getting "next PPV - in 2 weeks!" the RAW after the previous PPV. I often wonder what the point is anymore, how they're going to make me care about feuds that are often poorly developed and then thrown onto the big stage with little build. On top of that, there are times when they trot out the same or almost the same lineup for consecutive PPVs. So, not only do they want our money for limited build, but for the same match sometimes for four PPVs in a row? Getthefuckouttahere.
Those two things are the problem, oversaturation of the market without varied options for the consumer. Either one by itself isn't going to be a problem, per se. Look at UFC. They have a comparable number of PPV events to the WWE per year, yet how many of them is their biggest draw, Brock Lesnar, going to headline? How about Anderson Silva? Lyoto Machada? The answer is far fewer than what John Cena, Triple H, Undertaker and Jeff Hardy have or will be asked to headline throughout the year. Hell, they don't even work every show, but that's the nature of the sport. Still, for each event, UFC is going to dust the WWE. Part of it is because of the MMA boom right now. In fact, it's probably a little dishonest of me to even compare the two, but still, UFC does Big Four PPV numbers for nearly every PPV event they have. A big reason has to be the allure that they're going to see a matchup they haven't seen before.
When was the last time the WWE gave you that on a regular basis? The trickle may be there, but it's just that - a trickle. We've gotten the elevation of CM Punk and Jeff Hardy over the last two years, but with the number of events and the number of times we've seen main events get repeated, be it consecutively or dispersed over the months, it's not nearly enough, and it's a formula for tired events that can't sell themselves like a wrestling PPV used to. This leaves a question for the 'E. What can they do to get back to the days when people actually cared to buy what they were selling for that premium price? As a consumer, one that the WWE might not be wholly catering to right now, but is 99.9% sure that they'd still love to have, I can give a choice.
They trim the number of PPV events and/or give us something fresh, something we haven't seen before. There's no way in hell that they can do what UFC does, and again, I'm freely admitting that the WWE/UFC comparison is a partially dishonest one, but what they can do is try different ideas instead of just slapping a gimmick on the PPV and trying to make the fans want to buy it by having Michael Cole scream about how fucking innovative the idea is or how historic the event will be. A different matchup can be just as appealing to the viewer as putting the same matchup they've had for 12 of the last 24 PPVs inside a neat little box.
For example, before SummerSlam, they ran a Beat the Clock gimmick to decide who'd face Randy Orton for the WWE Championship. Mark Henry almost won, and Evan Bourne actually had the quickest time despite being a fodder entrant rather than an eligible one. At the time, the crowd seemed hot for both finishes. Now, I'd be the first person to tell you that neither Mark Henry nor Evan Bourne are better ideas for a face challenger to the title at the second-biggest PPV of the year than John Cena. No way. However, at a lesser PPV? With CM Punk vs. a freshly returning Undertaker as the Smackdown main opposite it? Why not give Henry or Bourne a cup of coffee in the main event, just to see what was up?
Or another example, this time for the current BR PPV. Instead of lazily throwing something together because you need to have Orton/Cena pt. 239 AND ALSO need to have them in the main event, why not make the brand matchup the main event? Use it as a chance to elevate a few guys in the consciousnesses of people? If positioned right, the monumental struggle for bragging rights among the three brands would have importance, even if the usual suspects weren't involved. How about Jack Swagger putting aside his differences with Kofi Kingston and teaming up with him for the main event to prove that RAW, and by proxy himself, is the brand with the best talent, top to bottom? Or an unlikely but fan-favorite hookup between Finlay and Rey Mysterio, showing the other two brands that Friday nights are where it's at? With the right marketing, positioning and attention to detail, that tag match could be a boon to the event, in addition to the title matches and requisite feud matches featuring the big players.
Even if cutting back the number of PPVs wasn't an option, there would be a way that people like myself would actually consider buying more than just the Big Four in a given year (if even that much). The WWE does a good job positioning RAW and getting viewers for it, but while ratings and ad revenue are important, so is getting people to tune into the premium events, the spots where the really important stuff is supposed to happen. Even if titles aren't involved, there's no reason why a PPV event can't sell better numbers even in this day and age.
It's just a matter of whether the WWE really believes that bragging rights are important or not.
Banner by K. Sawyer Paul
