News on the Web is that WWE will be dropping the Elimination Chamber Pay-Per View from their line-up. Good. Here is why that choice is great and some others they need to drop as well.
Elimination Chamber should have been dropped a while back. The idea that the WWE championship has no stable owner going from Royal Rumble to Wrestlemania always lessened the meaning, for me. The Chamber should be used in special circumstances, when needed. Sure, you can use it once per year, IF YOU MUST…but I would like to see it used once every few years, so that people get excited for it when it is brought out. Maybe a controversy brews around a champion’s legitimacy…or the champion has been winning matches cheaply…or who knows why. Just making it happen yearly took the steam from it, if you asked me.
Now, here are some more PPVs that need to die immediately:
Hell in a Cell is a match-type. It would be like having WWE Lumberjack Match or WWE Fatal Four Way…oh wait. They did do that one.
This match should be brought out as an occasion, rarely. Not as a yearly event. Use it to settle a big feud. Make it’s appearance unpredictable. Don’t just make the thing something we have every October – it isn’t a surprise and loses it’s shock value then. Plus, it becomes less about the feud between two wrestlers and more about finding two wrestlers to stick in these matches.
I hate this show. Almost every year, they add a stupid “chairs” match to the card to prove how gimmicky and stupid it is, too. TLC matches should be just that – matches. The Hardys/Dudleys/Edge and Christian made the match a famous event because they were locked in a feud for the tag-team belts and this match was used to cap off the feud. Now, it is a yearly event. We know there is a 99% chance Cena will be in the TLC match and we know it will probably suck.
Drop this! Besides a “match” like the Royal Rumble – which includes virtually every wrestler (that matters) – we don’t need gimmick-match show!
First up, this logo sucks and needs to die. But it is also time to put this show out to pasture. It was a knock-off of ECW One Night Stand – a phenomenal show that did everything right that WWE normally doesn’t do, because WWE didn’t book it. Now, it ends up being a gimmick-match event. I might be OK with this if EVERY match was No DQ – but only the main-event is. This year, someone thought we might want to see Daniel Bryan vs. Kane for that main event and of course, we didn’t.
Lose this show and lose the pre-determined stipulations, except for Money In The Bank…for the simple reason that said-show is often the most entertaining of the year that WWE puts on.
Thankfully, they dropped the “lock” theme but I wish they wouldn’t have brought this show back. Let it go. However, in my list of shows that should be axed, this is probably the one I am least adamant about.
Now, to look at PPVs WWE needs to keep or possibly move around.
I don’t think Payback should be killed off – totally. It just needs to be moved to the show following Wrestlemania. Backlash was traditionally that show – but Payback makes sense to fill it, since Extreme Rules is now the PPV for that particular night. Since all WWE ever does for this show is follow-up with Wrestlemania storylines, this would make a lot of sense. It would also leave open new stipulations, so we could make things more unique than the same thing every year.
This show ends up having a pretty cool theme. I would do more to highlight past champions, as has been done recently. It would be a great evening to showcase WWE legends or alumni, if they managed to stay on good terms with WWE (which no one does).
This ends up being WWE’s most entertaining show of the year all-too often. The biggest complaint I have about the show is that someone uses Donald Trumps old “Money…money money money MONEY” theme EVERY YEAR for the show. It is the worst song ever. Know what I would do? Use a song like this
You could also use this song, since it has the words “Money in the Bank” in it.
Of course, WWE will likely end up using this piece of shit, once again.
Of course, we must keep the BIG 4.
Arguably, the best show of the year. We’ve seen Diesel return enough, though. Should include some new legends every year.
Mania isn’t going anywhere. However, that logo needs to immediately be changed. It has a stupid PLAY button in the middle of it. Looks idiotic and in 20 years, it especially will come across as dated. No way. Lose the stupid play button, now.
Classic.
Another logo that needs to be updated – but this is the biggest show of the summer. It has to stay.
I hate this logo but I love the event. Survivor Series has had a few sucky logos over the years. To me – nothing will ever compare to this:
Now, by my count, we have a few PPVs that need to be introduced or brought back, to replace the stupid shit ones.
Should immediately return as a summer PPV just after Payback. Also, should have this logo or a modern take on it (not the stupid K logo). The King of the Ring gives a talent the opportunity to win a tournament of prestige and hopefully, make a name or further cement their name. Don’t make them wear a crown or a goofy robe. Unnecessary. Bret Hart never did that and he won it twice.
Should replace Hell in a Cell. This year, it is almost Halloween anyway for that show. This opens plenty of options for themed matches or simply, just a cool set design. We don’t necessarily need the “Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal” shit but I’m game for it if they want to do that. Unfortunately, this is Vince McMahon and if he didn’t invent the idea…well, you know.
Fall Brawl has needed to return for a while, now. War Games is a match type and doesn’t necessarily have to come with it – although I sort of want it to. This could replace WWE Battleground – a stupid PPV name. The War Games match itself always did rock and has several options for faction warfare. It could easily be adjusted for a 6-man-battle for individuals, too.
Another WCW PPV, sure, but this one was always a great theme. It could be done at a beach, but most of the memorable events were just at some coastal city. Has great set options and leaves matches open for whatever gimmick you want to do with them.
This should replace TLC as the December PPV. Think about it – it is actually older than Wrestlemania and would have great options for not only any gimmick match you wanted – but you could have classic WCW stars host it. Goldberg, Sting, Flair, thats….thats really all WCW had in terms of their own stars. But that is three years! Then, have the nWo do it one year and by then, you could start over with Flair again and maybe the Horsemen or some others. The point is that these classic stars would have a reason for suddenly showing up on TV in weeks prior and interacting with today’s stars.
Even though that logo sucked, No Mercy has some history with WWE. It also was perhaps the best videogame ever in relation to pro-wrestling. I like the idea of this coming back, somewhat…but I think there are better options.
Break Down had a cool-theme because of the crashed car-set and people wrestling on those. This show could make a return, sans the In Your House subtitle.
However, with WWE being family friendly again…why not let our old friend make a comeback?
Why not? My first WWE event was an In Your House and it has a family-friendly feel to it. PG-era WWE could certainly bring back the colorful logo, with a modern touch, and maybe even construct some goofy looking house with a front-door the wrestlers could walk-through to the ring. Ok, maybe not.
Whatever the case, I’m glad to see WWE dropping Elimination Chamber from it’s lineup. I think several other adjustments could be made to further enhance the WWE PPV schedule while freeing some constrictions on the creative team but time will tell if those happen.