WWE: Relevant PPVs besides the ‘Big Four’

Over the years, WWE has provided us with various spectacles in the form of PPVs. Every year, WWE comes up with twelve or thirteen PPVs, which play the part of milestones in their programming.

WWE is a workhorse in itself, performing shows day in day out, throughout the year. Every week, there are at least two televised shows, followed by numerous non-televised house shows and live events.

So, when a PPV comes around, it is supposed to be something special. Something that you do not witness in their weekly shows. Something so special, that you have to actually buy the show and indeed, pay for per view.

However, not all PPVs are as spectacular as they should be, and often end up disappointing us. And as a result, WWE has been criticised for putting up with these half-hearted PPVs.

WWE, mainly, works around four major PPVs, namely, Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, Summerslam and Survivor Series.

In this article, we take a look at other relevant PPVs besides the traditional big four PPVs.

Extreme Rules

WWE starts its year with a PPV called ‘Extreme Rules’. As the name suggests, it is a PPV where anything goes. WWE drops the guard of being a PG Era show and puts on an extreme, hardcore PPV.

Usually, as the trend suggests, this PPV is the fall-out from the biggest show on the roster, WrestleMania. And similarly, most of the matches on the card of Extreme Rules are mainly rematches from the previous PPV.

However, the PPV has enough firepower of its own. Who would not like to watch two wrestlers tear each other apart by any means necessary?

This PPV is an important step for WWE as it either boosts or concludes the incomplete, rough around the edge storylines that come out of WrestleMania.

Verdict – Relevant.

Money in the Bank

Money in the Bank deserves a lot more credit than it gets as a PPV. After all, no other PPV on the roster has the ability to impact the storyline like this one.

Money in the Bank matches play a vital role in development of storylines and can, possibly, affect the match cards of next six PPVs.

This PPV also lays down the marker for WWE Summerslam, another big PPV of the year.

As an independent PPV, it does not fail to dazzle the audience with some mouth-watering ladder matches. It is a treat for spectators when six or more top wrestlers take part in one brutal ladder match.

The fact that it provides wrestlers with an opportunity at the title, at any given time in the future, makes this PPV a must watch.

Verdict - Relevant.

Elimination Chamber

The timing of this PPV takes the cake. Right after Royal Rumble and prior to WrestleMania, this PPV is a pit-stop on the road to biggest show of all.

Add to that a brutal metal structure with six people inside, and it makes for altogether, a better viewing.

Sure, some of the matches on the card are just to fill in the numbers, but it’s the bigger matches that take the centre stage on this PPV. These big matches go a long way in deciding WrestleMania’s match card and develop the storyline greatly.

If not for the storyline, then one could definitely pay for the brutal match that takes place inside the Chamber. This PPV is a must watch if one wishes to enjoy WWE’s storytelling, which, by the way, is at its finest by this time of the year.

Verdict - Relevant.

Labeling the aforementioned PPVs as relevant does not mean that the others lose their worth. All the other PPVs besides the top four PPVs are mainly set up to fulfill the quota of one PPV per month.

Dependent on the storylines, other PPVs can also provide some spectacular action, but there are only a few PPVs which design the path for WWE’s storylines throughout the year.

In short, these are the PPVs which keep WWE relevant throughout the year.