In a conference call to his shareholders, Vince McMahon announced that the Survivor Series name is going to be scrapped and the PPV rebranded. It's unclear as to whether the name is the only thing changing about the PPV, but whether it is or not, this is huge, huge news. Survivor Series has been traditionally one of the company's Big Four PPVs and was the second oldest PPV in the company after WrestleMania. The fact that they're going to rebrand it is not a decision to be taken lightly. Aiding in the decision no doubt is the news on PPV buys from the last quarter of 2009. Buys were up for three out of the four PPV slots. Guess which one didn't increase buys? You guessed it, Survivor Series. Hell in a Cell, Bragging Rights and Tables, Ladders and Chairs all had more buys than their counterparts last year, No Mercy, Cyber Sunday and Armageddon. It certainly puts a hurting on the talking points of folks like myself who liked the less direct names, but it's definitely a win for McMahon and his marketing strategy.
As for the concept, I like and have always liked the multi-man elimination matches, and I hope that they don't do away with them completely. They can be used effectively in the building of new stars or to test out newer feuds, shaking up the main event scene. Had they not dropped the ball afterwards, Kofi Kingston's Survivor Series moment would have been remembered as his breakthrough.
But if it's not selling, it's not selling. Still, sad to see a part of my childhood and wrestling history go by the wayside.
