Survivor Series is no more!

Rjd2

To be honest I am not that dejected, the elimination matches in the last few years have been poor and honestly I can't recall the last Survivor Series that blew me away. Oh and the buyrates for the PPV was really bad.

Survivor Series (R) (2009) 235,000 - (2008) 319,000

The other buyrates for the end of the year for those who may care...
Hell in a Cell (TM) / No Mercy (R) (2009) 283,000 - (2008) 261,000

Bragging Rights (TM) / Cyber Sunday (R) (2009) 181,000 - (2008) 153,000

WWE TLC (TM) / Armageddon (R) (2009) 228,000 - (2008) 193,000

-PWInsider.com

VINCE MCMAHON'S EXPLANATION FOR DROPPING THE SURVIVOR SERIES NAME
Here is Vince McMahon's exact quote from today's WWE investor conference call, in which he revealed that after 23 years, WWE would be dropping the "Survivor Series" name, the second longest running WWE PPV title in the history of the company.
After being asked about Survivor Series being the only PPV in the fourth quarter to show a decrease in buys from the previous year, Vince stated:

"We think that Survivor Series is obsolete, as far as that title is concerned. It was something that worked many, many years ago, in terms of a creative standpoint, various teams competing. That really is not advantageous as the consumer now looks as what actually they are buying. And it's such a broad ... Survivor Series yes, many years ago, was one of the original four pay-per-views, but it's outlasted its usage and it is one of the things in terms of rebranding, this year and going forward, that will be rebranded. No longer will we have that title, Survivor Series."

http://www.pwinsider.com/article/45017/vince-mcmahons-explanation-for-dropping-the-survivor-series-name.html?p=1

tdv123

Rjd2 wrote: »

To be honest I am not that dejected, the elimination matches in the last few years have been poor and honestly I can't recall the last Survivor Series that blew me away.


http://www.pwinsider.com/article/45017/vince-mcmahons-explanation-for-dropping-the-survivor-series-name.html?p=1

Was there actually ever any good elimination matches in the history of the thing?

waltersobchak

Rjd2 wrote: »

To be honest I am not that dejected, the elimination matches in the last few years have been poor and honestly I can't recall the last Survivor Series that blew me away.


http://www.pwinsider.com/article/45017/vince-mcmahons-explanation-for-dropping-the-survivor-series-name.html?p=1

Did anyone do the questionaire thingy for WWE? One of the potential new matches/themes is WAR GAMES. That'd be frickin awesome
no loss as far as im concerned the last few SS have sucked

Rjd2

tdv123 wrote: »

Was there actually ever any good elimination matches in the history of the thing?

The last one I really enjoyed was in 2003 I think when Team Austin lost to team Bischoff. Their may have been other good ones but right now I can't think of many from the last few years.

Penn

Bloody hell.... Is nothing sacred?

While I agree that the past few Survivor Series have been less than stellar, better the devil you know. I mean, with most of the other PPVs being made gimmick events, what will we end up with in place of Survivor Series? I see they have a poll (http://www.pwinsider.com/article/45015/wwe-considering-bring-back-wcw-concept-ppvs.html?p=1) with some possible replacements including War Games, but at least with Survivor Series, anyone could be in a SS match, but the main events would be normal matches. Now it seems like nearly every PPV will have gimmick main events.

Bring back King of the Ring. A full PPV for it. Give it some prestige and honour. A great way to give someone an easy push

waltersobchak

The last one i enjoyed was Team WWF VS Team Alliance.. that was a decent PPV tbh but that was 9 years ago ffs
+1 Paddy they really need to bring back KOTR, there actually trying to be TNA with all these gimmick PPVs

Jolt2007

Teams competing is out of date? Does that mean that Bragging Rights is gone to then Vince? Bet he wont answer me.

A shame the name is gone with the history it has but let's see what comes next... Another gimmick PPV probably.

Rjd2

paddyirishman85 wrote: »

Bloody hell.... Is nothing sacred?

While I agree that the past few Survivor Series have been less than stellar, better the devil you know. I mean, with most of the other PPVs being made gimmick events, what will we end up with in place of Survivor Series? I see they have a poll (http://www.pwinsider.com/article/45015/wwe-considering-bring-back-wcw-concept-ppvs.html?p=1) with some possible replacements including War Games, but at least with Survivor Series, anyone could be in a SS match, but the main events would be normal matches. Now it seems like nearly every PPV will have gimmick main events.

Bring back King of the Ring. A full PPV for it. Give it some prestige and honour. A great way to give someone an easy push

Some of those options are really really bad, a MITB PPV or a draft PPV? :pac:

davrho

Survivor Series has been treated terribly the last few years. Little to no build up, teams being announced on the net and no fueds so the teams made sense.

Years ago I remember team USA v Foreign Fanatics, team USA v Canada, and the tag team divisions were widely used. Road Warriors with a couple of others v The Nation of Domination etc. Stables were a big part of SS too but they are gone. Truth Commision ,Disciples of the Apocalypse, DX ,Mean Street Posse etc. It dont sound great but it was built up properly.

Years of neglect have led to this decision.

JP Liz V1

Its a shame

Mr.Nice Guy

I think it's a shame it's going and I don't think rebranding it is going to do a lot of good.

I reckon a lack of creativity as well as the gimmick matches not being perceived as special any more are the main factors for recent poor PPV performances.

Penn

Rjd2 wrote: »

Some of those options are really really bad, a MITB PPV or a draft PPV? :pac:

And what about the Legends event? Considering most of them seem to be in TNA I doubt that'd be a goer

And can anyone explain that Battle Bowl option?

Random tag-teams compete together - sometimes arch rivals - with the winning teams being put in a 2-ring Battle Royal. The winner could potentially receive a championship title match.

If I understand correctly:
A number of random teams are made (Matt Hardy and Khali are the favourites so far )
Winning teams go into 2 rings (a-la War games minus cages)
Teams split up, every man for himself, double Battle Royal
Winner gets title match

Jesus, was that in another promotion or did someone make that up? Thats harder to understand than Kamala and Santino's love child

Machismo Fan

And once again Vince blames the name and concept of the PPV rather than the lack of interesting, well built TV. Can anybody say that the build to Cena vs. HHH vs. HBK this year was even remotely interesting?

Rjd2

Machismo Fan wrote: »

And once again Vince blames the name and concept of the PPV rather than the lack of interesting, well built TV. Can anybody say that the build to Cena vs. HHH vs. HBK this year was even remotely interesting?

It made sense for a big PPV to put in three of your strongest draws in the main event title match but after that it was a farce. The build up consisted of DX playing with Hornswoggle, sure some kids may have got a giggle out of it and it may have sold some shirts but it was never going to sell PPV'S in such tough economic times.

This is the recent Survivor Series buyrate which I seen elsewhere..



Survivor Series 08 which was headlined by Chris Jericho and the returning John Cena did 319,000.

Survivor Series 07 which was headlined by Batista/Undertaker inside HIAC did 341,000.

Survivor Series 06 which was headlined by Batista/King Booker did approximately 384,000.

Survivor Series 05 which was headlined by Team Batista vs Team HBK in a Raw/Smackdown feud did approximately 376,000.

D2D

I'm shocked they'd even think about dropping the Survivor Series name, let alone do actually drop it. Expect to see Mania, the Rumble and SummerSlam to be re-branded soon

Dare_2_defy

Dare_2_defy wrote: »

I'm shocked they'd even think about dropping the Survivor Series name, let alone do actually drop it. Expect to see Mania, the Rumble and SummerSlam to be re-branded soon

The only reason it's being dropped is because it flopped so bad this year.
down 26% since last year, Thats more than a quarter of the PPV buys of last year. If Mania, The Rumble or Summerslam took a hit like that then the company needs to be re-branded and not the PPV.

mdwexford

Wow pretty shocking but its been pretty much a standard ppv the last few years.

Should have kept it only 4 on 4 matches with a grand finale, like 1990, best SS ever.

flahavaj

waltersobchak wrote: »

Did anyone do the questionaire thingy for WWE? One of the potential new matches/themes is WAR GAMES. That'd be frickin awesome
no loss as far as im concerned the last few SS have sucked

Wargames! This MUST happen. Some of the old JCP/WCW Wargames matches were f*cking immense.

Rjd2

Deleted User wrote: »

The only reason it's being dropped is because it flopped so bad this year.
down 26% since last year, Thats more than a quarter of the PPV buys of last year. If Mania, The Rumble or Summerslam took a hit like that then the company needs to be re-branded and not the PPV.

I could be wrong but I am nearly sure I read before that NOC and Extreme Rules outdrew Survivor Series.

waltersobchak

flahavaj wrote: »

Wargames! This MUST happen. Some of the old JCP/WCW Wargames matches were f*cking immense.

Ah dude the War Games match at WrestleWar 1991 is unreal, plus its a great concept..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKgI_-0gGDA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiaycKXgDJk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeVfQKOu3K4

Paulegend

i just find it ironic that people complain about replacing Survivor series(the original gimmick ppv) with a gimmick PPV:D

i like the idea of King of the Ring tourny.

joepenguin

Paulegend wrote: »

i just find it ironic that people complain about replacing Survivor series(the original gimmick ppv) with a gimmick PPV:D

i like the idea of King of the Ring tourny.

If wwe cant sell survivor series then there is something seriously wrong with wwe. Its a mainstay and has centimental value which i know doesnt count for much to businessmen like vince but on top of that it is a concept that works and could give mid card guys a place to shine.

Defo bring back king of the ring. Will have a look at those wargames over the weekend.

dsmythy

Jolt2007 wrote: »

Teams competing is out of date? Does that mean that Bragging Rights is gone to then Vince? Bet he wont answer me.

A shame the name is gone with the history it has but let's see what comes next... Another gimmick PPV probably.

He seems to be ignoring Bragging Right's impact. Why would people sign up to two PPV's where the main matches are both team events?

geeky

Even if the last PPV was pants, it's a shocking indictment of WWE creative if they can't come up with compelling storylines and matches to make a 4 on 4 elimination tag match exciting.

Never seen wargames matches - can someone explain the rules?

Rjd2

Here's a breakdown of last years buyrates from PW Torch, some of them are scary for Vince.

http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_News_3/article_38937.shtml



PPV - buys (% increase/decrease vs. 2008 event)

-- WrestleMania 25 - 960,000 buys (down 9.3 percent)
-- Royal Rumble - 450,000 buys (down 15.6 percent)
-- Summerslam - 369,000 buys (down 22.6 percent)
-- Hell in a Cell - 283,000 buys (up 8.4 percent)
-- No Way Out - 272,000 buys (down 17.3 percent)
-- Night of Champions - 267,000 buys (down 2.2 percent)
-- Survivor Series - 235,000 buys (down 26.3 percent)
-- TLC PPV - 228,000 buys (up 18.1 percent)
-- Judgment Day - 228,000 buys (down 9.5 percent)
-- Extreme Rules - 213,000 buys (up 9.7 percent)
-- Backlash - 182,000 buys (down 9.0 percent)
-- Bragging Rights - 181,000 buys (up 18.3 percent)
-- The Bash - 178,000 buys (down 9.2 percent)
-- Breaking Point - 169,000 buys (down 19.1 percent)

Penn

Wow, nearly all the gimmick PPVs were up on their predecessor. Shame they pretty much all sucked though

paddyismaddy

the name of the ppv wont change the buyrate of a ppv its the line up and card that will

i love the ss ppv and as of the last few years there hasnt been many traditional ss matches it needed more

its a real travesty

Ironman76

I can remember as a kid watching the very first Survivor Series on "Sky Channel" back in 1987 on St Stephens Day (the PPVs werent shown until months later). I thought it was brilliant. It was a brilliant concept at the time.

The best ever match was from the second one. . the 5 heel tag teams v the 5 face teams.

G-Money

I was surprised to read they were ditching the Survivor Series, but even back in the day when they only had 4-5 PPV's per year, the Survivor Series was always my least favourite of the lot. Am just not that interested in a series of 4 person tag matches.

Ironman76

grandmaster wrote: »

I was surprised to read they were ditching the Survivor Series, but even back in the day when they only had 4-5 PPV's per year, the Survivor Series was always my least favourite of the lot. Am just not that interested in a series of 4 person tag matches.

Well is anything in wrestling interesting these days? Survivor Series was great at one time. Back when wrestling was worth watching. (1985-1992 and 1996-2002).

Back in the day guys that were crap wrestlers still had tonnes of charisma, which is why the Survivor Series worked so well.

waltersobchak

From WWE.Com
h 28th: WrestleMania 26
* April 25th: Extreme Rules
* May 23rd: WWE Wild Card
* June 20th: Fatal Four Way
* July 18th: Money In The Bank
* August 15th: Summerslam
* September 19th: Night Of Champions
* October 3rd: Hell in a Cell

waltersobchak

From Dave Scherer

It looks that way as WWE is now advertising that the July 18th PPV is titled "Money In The Bank". Also, they have April 25 PPV listed as "Extreme Rules" while the May 23rd show is now being called "WWE Wild Card". A new show called "Fatal Four Way" is slated for June 20.
There has been talk around the company for months about coming up with new concepts around which to sell the shows. While I will miss the MITB match at WrestleMania, it does make sense to build a PPV around it later in the year and then have the winner use his match to push SummerSlam, much the way that the Royal Rumble winner has done with WrestleMania.

Super-Rush

The Wildcard PPV sounds interesting.

waltersobchak

super-rush wrote: »

The Wildcard PPV sounds interesting.

Yeah im curious to see that one too, its a pity MITB wont be on Mania anymore.. I always thought they should have booked the winner to cash it in at the end of the show at least once..

Degag

I'm not sure what to make of it. Out of the 8 ppvs in the OP, Survivor Series is rated no 1 and 4 out of them and on a yearly basis, 1 and 2. Dropping the actual name "Survivor Series" suggests a lack of being able to create fueds and matches that the viewers are interested in and more towards creating gimmicks that the viewers are interested in. A succinct difference, but a difference non the same.

I would imagine that in the short run, the WWE, may do well, in the long term, they will not. Imagine if in future years that the WWE want to create a fued, and the first PPV in the fued is Hell in A Cell, they are putting their two subjects in a match which normally should signify the end of a fued. Therefore instead of elevating the brutality of a Hell in a Cell match, they are really understating it by creating the fued in it instead of ending it in it.

johnn

So is "Wild Card" gonna be like the Wild Card match they had at Survivor Series 1995? They're really testing the WWE Universe kids memories lately what with the references to montreal 1997 too!

Imagine us fans when most of us were probably kids in 1997 if WWE starting referencing things in storylines back from 1984! .......maybe i should give the "kids" a break.

For anyone who doesnt remember the Wild Card match was a traditional Survivor Series elimination match were the teams were drawn at random so you had faces and heels(most of whom were feuding with each other at the time) on the same team, so you had the likes of HBK & Psycho Sid on the same team. Actually made for a really interesting match, one of my favourites at the time! It was the night when HBK took all those head shots and then would "collapse" the next night on RAW versus Owen Hart!

Angron

MiTB belongs at Mania My fav match of it remains the year RVD won it

Penn

Anyone else think this 'Wild Card' thing might be some sort of Roulette thing where the match types are decided at random?

Memnoch99

Wild Card will be the Raw Roulette Wheel but on PPV. Lets face it it wouldnt be anything unusual to see face v face or heel v heel these days.
(look at this weeks raw for example)

D2D

From WWE.Com
* March 28th: WrestleMania 26
* April 25th: Extreme Rules
* May 23rd: WWE Wild Card
* June 20th: Fatal Four Way
* July 18th: Money In The Bank
* August 15th: Summerslam
* September 19th: Night Of Champions
* October 3rd: Hell in a Cell

WWE.com has deleted its list of upcoming pay-per-views after WrestleMania 26

Penn

Horseradish2.0 wrote: »

Looks like Survivor Series is back on!

Dear WWE Affiliates,



As part of our continuing efforts to energize the WWE brand and the pay-per-view business, we are making a few branding changes to our 2010 pay-per-view calendar. Please note that event dates and venues will remain the same.



The branding changes are as follows:

· April pay-per-view will no longer be titled BACKLASH; it will instead be titled EXTREME RULES

· May pay-per-view will no longer be titled EXTREME RULES; it will instead be titled OVER THE LIMIT

· June pay-per-view will no longer be titled THE BASH; it will instead be title FATAL FOUR WAY

· July pay-per-view will be titled MONEY IN THE BANK



Please find below and attached the 2010 WWE pay-per-view calendar of our remaining events which reflect these branding changes (in bold):


WrestleMania XXVI
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Glendale, AZ
University of Phoenix

Extreme Rules
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Baltimore, MD
1st Mariner Arena

Over The Limit
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Detroit, MI
Joe Louis Arena

Fatal Four Way
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Uniondale, NY
Nassau Coliseum

Money In The Bank
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Kansas City, MO
Sprint Center

SummerSlam
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Los Angeles, CA
Staples Center

Night of Champions
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Chicago, IL
Allstate Arena

Hell in the Cell
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Dallas, TX
American Airlines Center

WWE Bragging Rights
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Minneapolis, MN
Target Center

Survivor Series
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Miami, FL
American Airlines Arena

WWE Tables, Ladders & Chairs
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Houston, TX
Toyota Center

So, Survivor Series seems to be back. One interesting thing though, it's on after Bragging Rights? To be honest, I still think Survivor Series will be changed. I think they just have it on this list because they haven't come up with a new name or theme for it.

Also, I wonder what 'Over The Limit' is

D2D

Just to bring this back up, it is being reported that WWE will now hold the 24th annual Survivor Series this year from the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Fl on November 21. On February 11, 2010 WWE announced that it would drop the Survivor Series name and rebrand the event but decided not to because of backlash from fans.

jaykhunter

Ah, Series is back. Now just remember not to book Survivor Series matches at Bragging Rights, which is on a few weeks before the Series. And also not have your main eventers laughing over being in the main event (Tripper and Shawn!)....and actually booking a PPV that people want to see/look forward to.

I'm still in favour of the 'survivor survivor' match (where the winners of the match compete in a final match; said winners of that could host raw one person per week) and having the champions put their belts up in the 8 man tag as well. (i.e. whoever eliminates them gets their belt). There's no point in booking matches without any consequence or ramifications (i.e. Bragging Rights 'brand supremacy' etc)