List of WWE pay-per-view events
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Month | Event |
|---|---|
| January | Royal Rumble |
| February | No Way Out |
| Late March/Early April | WrestleMania |
| April | Backlash |
| May | Judgment Day |
| June | One Night Stand |
| Night of Champions | |
| July | The Great American Bash |
| August | SummerSlam |
| September | Unforgiven |
| October | No Mercy |
| Cyber Sunday | |
| November | Survivor Series |
| December | Armageddon |
This is a chronological list of pay-per-views that are/were/will be promoted by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Each month, WWE holds one or two annual pay-per-view events. One event is usually three hours long and features six to twelve matches. Pay-per-view events are a big part of the revenue stream for WWE.[1][2]
Contents |
[edit] History
It is a commonly held misconception that the first WWE, then known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), pay-per-view was November 1985's The Wrestling Classic, a tournament held at the Rosemont Horizon near Chicago, but the first WrestleMania event, in March of the same year, was available on pay-per-view in some markets.[3] The first two WrestleManias were undeniable financial successes, and after WrestleMania III became perhaps the best known event in wrestling history, the WWF then decided to expand their pay-per-view offerings.
The first Survivor Series event was offered on November 29, 1987, scheduled directly against NWA's Starrcade, traditionally considered to be that promotion's biggest yearly event. The WWF informed cable companies that if they chose to carry Starrcade, they would not be allowed to carry future WWF events. The vast majority of companies showed Survivor Series (only three opted to remain loyal to their contract with the NWA), and the resulting financial blow to Starrcade was in many ways the beginning of the end for Jim Crockett Promotions.[4]
The debut of the Royal Rumble in January 1988 was actually shown on the USA Network, where it drew the highest rating to that time in the network's history. The event became a pay-per-view the following year.[5]
The first SummerSlam was held in Madison Square Garden in August 1988.[6] These four events - the Royal Rumble in January, WrestleMania in March or April, SummerSlam in August, and Survivor Series in November - were the only annual pay-per-view offerings (other than the King of the Ring) from the WWF until 1995, after rival World Championship Wrestling had expanded the number of their pay-per-view shows. Initially, the WWF used the In Your House brand, but beginning in 1996 began using other names to complement the In Your House name (such as Badd Blood and No Way Out), to avoid confusion. By the end of February of 1999, the In Your House name was nonexistent.
This trend escalated to the point that by 1996, both companies showed monthly events on pay-per-view. Until recently, World Wrestling Entertainment had a once-a-month pay-per-view schedule, which they had from the late '90s until 2003 totalling twelve a year. The pay-per-view events in the United States can be bought through iN DEMAND, Dish Network or DirecTV.
The WWE ran twice yearly pay-per-views which were exclusive to the UK up to 2003, but after the brand extension occurred they were scrapped in favor of international tours, with a TV taping included. Currently, WWE has the WrestleMania Revenge tour, after WrestleMania, at the beginning of the year and the Survivor Series tour, at the end of the year, in the UK. Each includes a RAW, SmackDown!, and an ECW taping.
In Australia, WWE's pay-per-views are shown on Main Event. In the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, some pay-per-views are shown on Sky Sports 1 and others on Sky Box Office.
Starting with the 2008 Royal Rumble, all WWE pay-per-views were broadcast in High-definition.
[edit] Brand extension
In June 2003, WWE announced to further their brand extension and make their pay-per-views exclusive to a particular brand (RAW, SmackDown!, and later, ECW). The only exceptions to this were the established Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series events which remained joint productions, and WrestleMania being the only event with wrestlers from different brands competing against each other. This allowed WWE to eventually add more pay-per-view events to their offerings, such as Cyber Sunday and The Great American Bash (itself a revival of an old NWA and WCW event). From late 2005, the restrictions were relaxed and interbrand matches became more frequent. In March 2007, it was announced that the idea of brand-exclusive events was scrapped and would now feature matches from all three brands.[7] The brand-exclusive events were:
| Pay-per-view | Brand | Years | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Year's Revolution | RAW | 2005-2007 | |
| Backlash | RAW | 2004-2006 | |
| Bad Blood | RAW | 2003-2004 | |
| Vengeance[8] | SmackDown! | 2003[9] | |
| RAW | 2004-2006 | ||
| Unforgiven | RAW | 2003-2006 | |
| Cyber Sunday | RAW | 2004-2006 | From 2004-2005, the event was promoted under the name Taboo Tuesday.[10][11][12] |
| Armageddon | RAW | 2003[13] | |
| SmackDown! | 2004-2006 | ||
| No Way Out | SmackDown! | 2002-2007 | |
| Judgment Day | SmackDown! | 2004-2006 | |
| The Great American Bash | SmackDown! | 2004-2006 | |
| No Mercy | SmackDown! | 2003-2006 | |
| December to Dismember | ECW | 2006 | Was the only ECW exclusive pay-per-view.[14] |
[edit] Former pay-per-view events
| Pay-per-view | Year(s) Active | Note |
|---|---|---|
| The Wrestling Classic | 1985 | |
| This Tuesday in Texas | 1991 | |
| King of the Ring | 1993-2002 | |
| In Your House | 1995-1999 | |
| Badd Blood | 1997, 2003-2004 | |
| Fully Loaded | 1998-2000 | |
| Over the Edge | 1998-1999 | Name retired after Owen Hart fell to his death at the 1999 event. |
| InVasion | 2001 | |
| Taboo Tuesday | 2004-2005 | Now Cyber Sunday. |
| December to Dismember | 2006 | |
| New Year's Revolution | 2005-2007 | |
| ECW One Night Stand | 2005-2006 | Now WWE One Night Stand. |
| Vengeance | 2001-2007 | Now WWE Night of Champions. |
[edit] International pay-per-view events
| Pay-per-view | Year(s) Active | Note |
|---|---|---|
| One Night Only | 1997 | |
| Mayhem in Manchester | 1998 | |
| Capital Carnage | 1998 | |
| No Mercy (UK) | 1999 | Despite being held in the UK, another PPV called "No Mercy" was held the same year in the U.S. |
| Rebellion | 1999-2002 | |
| Global Warning | 2002 | |
| Insurrextion | 2000-2003 |
[edit] Upcoming pay-per-view schedule
[edit] Non-pay-per-view supercards
| Supercard | Year(s) Active | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday Night's Main Event | 1985-1991/2006-present | The show was revived in 2006[18] |
| The Main Event | 1988-1991 | Was a spin-off of Saturday Night's Main Event |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ WWE Corporate 2003 Quarter 1 Issues. WWE Corporate (2003-08-13). Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ WWE Corporate 2003 Quarter 2. WWE Corporate (2003-11-17). Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ Survivor Series 1989 Venue history. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ Cohen, Eric. The History of Survivor Series. About.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ Royal Rumble History. Bella. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ Summerslam Venue 1988 Venue History. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ WWE Pay-Per-Views to follow WrestleMania formula. WWE Corporate. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ http://www.wwe.com/schedules/events/eventdetail/?id=6623948
- ^ Vengeance 2003 Homepage. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ Cyber Sunday All time results. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ Taboo Tuesday 2004 Results. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ Taboo Tuesday 2005 Homepage. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ WWE Armageddon 2003 Homepage. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ December to Dismember 2006 Homepage. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ "Greatest Moments in Pay-Per-View History" (Special 2007). WWE Magazine: 64-65.
- ^ http://www.wwe.com/schedules/events/eventdetail/?id=6623948
- ^ http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/news/75384/WWE-News%3A-Backlash-2009-Location%2C-SD-Rating%2C-Press-Release.htm
- ^ WWE returns to NBC with Saturday Night's Main Event. WWE Corporate (2006-02-22). Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
[edit] External links
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