4 Former PPV concepts WWE should bring back
WWE has always had a schedule chock full of PPVs. What used to be only the Big Four (Wrestlemania, Survivor Series, SummerSlam and the Royal Rumble) in the 1980s and early 1990s became much different during the rest of the 1990s.
The company then decided to put on at least one PPV a month, saturating the product for the WWE fans. It allowed them to book things month to month rather than wait sometimes three months between PPVs.
Since WWE is constantly going through its Rolodex of PPVs every year, there are definitely some that are staples (Money in the Bank, TLC) and some shows that have come and gone (No Way Out, Armageddon, No Mercy).
Here's the WWE PPV schedule from last year:
January - Royal Rumble
February - Elimination Chamber
March - Fastlane
April - WrestleMania
May - Money in the Bank
June - Backlash/Saudi Arabia show
July - Extreme Rules
August - SummerSlam
September - Hell in a Cell
October - Super Showdown/Evolution
November - Crown Jewel/Survivor Series
December - TLC
And with a quarter of the year down, WWE has many more shows slated to go down in 2019 with two more trips back to Saudi Arabia. Here is the rest of the PPV schedule for 2019:
WWE Money in the Bank – May 19, 2019, in Hartford, CT
Saudi Arabia PPV – June 7, 2019, in Saudi Arabia
WWE Stomping Grounds – June 23, 2019, in Tacoma, WA
WWE Extreme Rules – July 14, 2019, in Philadelphia, PA
WWE SummerSlam – August 11, 2019, in Toronto, ON
WWE Hell in a Cell – September 15, 2019, in Atlanta, GA
WWE Clash of Champions – October 6, 2019, in Sacramento, CA
Saudi Arabia PPV- November 1, 2019, in Saudi Arabia
WWE Survivor Series – November 24, 2019, in Chicago, IL
WWE TLC – December 15, 2019, in Minneapolis, MN
As WWE continues to make alterations to its schedule this year, there are certainly some former PPVs that could be brought back. They could either take a current PPVs spot or be presented as a WWE Network Special over a few nights. Here are four former concepts for PPVs that WWE should bring back.
#1 Lethal Lottery Tag Team Show could be a Network Special
One of the most interesting concepts from WCW back in the early 1990s was the Battlebowl/Lethal Lottery Tag Team show. While WCW used 40 stars to break into 20 teams etc., as mentioned in the above DVD cover, I'd propose an updated tweak to the concept. I'd first focus only on the tag team part and exclude the Battlebowl part altogether.
Instead of 40 superstars, WWE could select 20 women and 20 men for the PPV/Network Special. Or they could limit it to five teams each for the men and women respectively. That would allow for fewer teams albeit ones that if picked correctly, could provide both excellent matches and/or storylines.
Would Kevin Owens be able to not turn on his partner? How much potential would the team of Braun Strowman and Ricochet have? If WWE doesn't want to thrust either man into the Universal Title picture, they'd be a great tag team.
And that's not even considering the top champs. WWE could still book the WWE/Universal/Women's Title for matches, but the focus would also be on the storylines leading up to the PPV. Can the Miz and Bobby Lashley co-exist as a team? Even if they didn't want to have featured singles bouts, they could have two of the top men/women tag together before they face off at another PPV.
The winners of the tournament could earn tag team title shots or future World Title opportunities. WWE wanted to book the tag team divisions better and promised teams like the Revival that they would, but this would be a confirmation of that and way to show faith in the tag division.