[SabresBuffalo]

Sometimes, PPV's that have at least 2 big matches- sometimes 3- usually are sandwiched by other matches. But there are also instances in which these big matches will go back-to-back.

For example, at WrestleMania III, would it have been a smart idea to make the Savage-Steamboat IC Title epic match the second-to-last bout of the night before Hulk-Andre? Ditto for WrestleMania VII, with the Savage-Warrior career-ending match and the Hogan-Slaughter title match? In each of these cases, other matches were sandwiched in between (possibly to allow the crowd to catch its breath).

OTOH, I also remember two PPV's that had a triple main event and went in consecutive order: No Way Out 2002 (Rock/Undertaker, HHH/Angle, Austin/Jericho) and Fully Loaded 2000 (Angle/Undertaker, HHH/Jericho, Rock/Benoit).

With that in mind, what do you think of this? Would you put the big-money matches consecutively, or stretch them out between other matches?

 

[redban]

I definitely prefer something sandwiched in-between.

Wrestlemania 19 had these matches consecutively:

1) Michaels - Jericho
2) HHH- Booker T
3) Hogan - McMahon
4) Rock - Stone Cold
5) Lesnar - Angle

5 main-event matches in a row. By the time Lesnar - Angle arrived, I was tired (It was also midnight too. XIX is the longest PPV of all-time)

 

[Azuran]

I definitely prefer something sandwiched in-between.

Wrestlemania 19 had these matches consecutively:

1) Michaels - Jericho
2) HHH- Booker T
3) Hogan - McMahon
4) Rock - Stone Cold
5) Lesnar - Angle

5 main-event matches in a row. By the time Lesnar - Angle arrived, I was tired (It was also midnight too. XIX is the longest PPV of all-time)

Thanks for reminding me why WMXIX was awesome as hell. Best PPV of all time without a doubt.

 

[redban]

Thanks for reminding me why WMXIX was awesome as hell. Best PPV of all time without a doubt.

I agree. Even the stage/ring set-up was the best.

But you know what's ironic?

Wrestlemania XIX had the lowest buy-rate in Wrestlemania history.

 

[The Caped Crusader]

^ No. It didn't. It did 560,000 buys. While it was a low buyrate compared to the Wrestlemanias that had come recently before it, it wasn't the lowest in history.

WM 2 - 250,000
WM 3 - 400,000
WM 4 - 485,000
WM 6 - 550,000
WM 7 - 400,000
WM 8 - 300,000
WM 9 - 400,000
WM 10 - 420,000
WM 11 - 340,000
WM 12 - 290,000
WM 13 - 237,000 - Lowest grossing ever.

To give you even more perspective, Wrestlemania 26 only did 510,000 buys domestically and Wrestlemania 25 did 469,500 buys domestically. Both those Wrestlemanias received a few hundred thousand extra buys internationally (which no Wrestlemania listed above had as international audiences did not pay for PPV).

The only recent Wrestlemanias that have performed good on the domestic level since the Attitude Era are Wrestlemania 21, 22 and 23. All three of those went above 600,000 buys domestically.

 

[bme]

I'd stretch out the matches.

Fans are cheering, booing, clapping or just screaming their lungs out.
They need a break to rest.

A problem arrives when there are too many matches.
WrestleMania 20....i had to watch this ppv twice because i fell asleep during it TWICE.
4 matches could've been taken off the ppv but without those matches the crowd would've been dead by the 3rd match.

I definitely prefer something sandwiched in-between.

Wrestlemania 19 had these matches consecutively:

1) Michaels - Jericho
2) HHH- Booker T
3) Hogan - McMahon
4) Rock - Stone Cold
5) Lesnar - Angle

5 main-event matches in a row. By the time Lesnar - Angle arrived, I was tired (It was also midnight too. XIX is the longest PPV of all-time)

Actually Stacy Keibler/Torrie Wilson vs. The MillerLite Catfight Girls was sandwiched inbetween Michaels/Jericho & BookerT/HHH, but it easy to forget since it only lasted 2 and a half minutes.
WWE screwed up by having all the small matches on the first half of the show.

 

[redban]

^ No. It didn't. It did 560,000 buys. While it was a low buyrate compared to the Wrestlemanias that had come recently before it, it wasn't the lowest in history.

Just off the top of my head, Wrestlemania 11 (520,000 buys), 12 (480,000 buys) and 13 (308,000 buys) had lower buyrates.

You're right; it wasn't the lowest in history.

But it was the lowest since Wrestlemania 13, six years before.

And XIX was almost a 40% drop from Wrestlemania 18 - the biggest 1 year decline in history.

So the irony remains. The greatest Wrestlemania was arguably the worst financially.

 

[SabresBuffalo]

Here's an example of sandwiching two big matches- WrestleMania 23:

The Battle of the Billionaires and the HBK/Cena WWE Title Match were sandwiched by an Ashley/Melina women's title match.

 

[The Caped Crusader]

You're right; it wasn't the lowest in history.

But it was the lowest since Wrestlemania 13, six years before.

And XIX was almost a 40% drop from Wrestlemania 18 - the biggest 1 year decline in history.

So the irony remains. The greatest Wrestlemania was arguably the worst financially.

Please read my edited post for further clarification.

While it certainly underperformed, it actually did really well considering the domestic numbers WWE has for the past two Wrestlemania shows. As well as the fact that WWE was already notcing decreased domestic business.

It's not arguably the worst financially. That's a bunch of horsecrap, to put it bluntly. There's lots of Wrestlemania shows that have performed far worse.

 

[PGSucks]

I like the idea of sandwiching the matches unless it takes too much time away. Like, at WM22, instead of doing a PLAYBOY PILLOW FIGHT, they could've booked the Womens Championship match in between the world title matches and given the triple threat a little bit more time.

 

[MOBELS]

I definitely prefer something sandwiched in-between.

Wrestlemania 19 had these matches consecutively:

1) Michaels - Jericho
2) HHH- Booker T
3) Hogan - McMahon
4) Rock - Stone Cold
5) Lesnar - Angle

5 main-event matches in a row. By the time Lesnar - Angle arrived, I was tired (It was also midnight too. XIX is the longest PPV of all-time)

They had the miler cat fight girls in the middle of Micheals/Jericho and HHH/Booker T but still that match went for 2 minutes and most of the interviews went for longer.

 

[Razor King]

I prefer a Women's Title or an irrelevant match between the two/three main events.

WrestleMania XIX is probably the best WrestleMania of all time. All the big matches delivered gold, with Rock/Austin and Michaels/Jericho hitting the jackpot.

 

[FLAW]

depends on the type of matches but usually ME matches should be sandwiched

 

[haribo]

Depends how many main event matches you've got. If it's just 2 (often the case on smaller PPVs with the title matches), then you definitely need something in between. With WrestleMania, where you can end up with anything up to 5 main event worthy bouts, it's difficult to spread them. And like PGSucks says, it's usually best to sandwich with a match that doesn't kill the crowd completely (i.e. the Women's title match at 22 rather than the Playboy pillow fight).

Though, honestly, if you've got that many big matches, I'm never opposed to having one open the show. Prime example would be last year's WrestleMania; Punk/Rey or HHH/Sheamus could have definitely opened.