WWE Rumors: Backstage update on atmosphere around Stomping Grounds being similar to 'In Your House' era
What's the story?
WWE's next PPV is Stomping Grounds. It will feature several rematches from Super Showdown as well as one from WrestleMania 35 in Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre.
WrestleVotes is reporting that because of the number of rematches, the backstage atmosphere heading into the PPV is reminiscent of another tough time in WWE's history - the 'In Your House' PPV days of the mid-1990s.
In case you didn't know...
The 'In Your House' era of WWE basically predated the concept of having standalone PPVs monthly. Instead of naming them individually, WWE named them 'In Your House' with a numbered list, similar to how the UFC numbers its shows.
The heart of the matter
The card for Stomping Grounds includes rematches from Super Showdown for both the Universal and WWE Championships. The main difference for both matches is that Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston are facing off in a Steel Cage match whereas Baron Corbin and Seth Rollins will have a special guest referee in their match.
WWE also suffered from ratings' troubles in 1995 and 1996 as they transitioned away from the likes of Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior to Superstars like Bret Hart and Michaels. The time was also filled with occupation-based gimmicks like T.L. Hopper (a plumber), Duke 'the Dumpster' Droese (a garbageman) and Isaac Yankem, DDS.
Since the WWE is once again having problems with dropping ratings, WrestleVotes reported that a backstage source informed him that today's woes were similar to the ratings struggles of 1995 and 1996 during the 'In Your House' era of PPVs.
What's next?
It's not a big surprise that some people backstage aren't exactly excited with Stomping Grounds. WWE has almost made a habit out of booking the same match for consecutive PPVs for some time now.
The ratings issues aren't going away and might remind some long-time employees of similar struggles some 20 years ago. With Stomping Grounds being brand new, it will have to be filled with some amazing performances in order for it not to be considered a failure.