Gimmick Pay-Per-Views (Part 1)

I got thinking about gimmick pay-per-views after the Hell in a Cell PPV in October. This called out to me because it featured a Hell in a Cell match between WWE Champion CM Punk and a relative newcomer, Ryback. This type of match was not warranted for how far along their feud they were. Granted, Ryback was a last minute addition to this match to cover for the injured John Cena, but it highlighted something that has been going on for some time now.

It occurred to me that the timing of such gimmick pay-per-views might not help/make sense during the course of a feud. In the next three posts I'm going to attempt to breakdown the pay-per-view calender and see what each contributes, and to see if they are helping or hindering feuds throughout the year. I will use the events from the 2012 calender.

This first post will concentrate on the first four pay-per-views of the year; Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, Wrestlemania (briefly) and Extreme Rules.

Royal Rumble - January
The Royal Rumble is considered one of the 'big four' events of the year. It stands alone in being the only event that has a 30-man over-the-top-rope (battle royal variation) match [usually] as it's main event. This is also an event that doesn't rely on anything other than the wrestlers (no cages/cells/ladders etc). Since 1993, the Royal Rumble winner has earned the right to challenge for the WWE Championship and main event at Wrestlemania. This privilege was slightly changed in 2004 when the winner could choose from the two champions that WWE had on offer (at the time, Raw had the World Heavyweight Championship and Smackdown had the WWE Championship). This added an extra element of unpredictability to winning this prestigious match type.

Overall, this match is a great tradition of the pay-per-view calender. It is, and always needs to be, a mainstay on the WWE event calender. The only knock to its credit in the last couple of years is that the winners (Alberto Del Rio (2011) and Sheamus (2012)) have gone onto challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship but have been first on the card - this has got to change otherwise it could start to be seen as a worthless match to win in future.

Elimination Chamber - February
The Elimination Chamber match was introduced to the WWE audience by Eric Bischoff on the October 21st 2002 episode of Raw. It was presented as being a 'demonic' structure and a career ender. That being said, the first few Chamber matches were brutal and gruelling. In the last few years they have been toned down as the PG era took over (2008). Originally, this PPV was named 'No Way Out', with the 2008 and 2009 Chamber matches taking place at this event, before being renamed to coincide with the feature match.

Each year (since 2008) this event has either decided the champions of both Raw and Smackdown or the number one contenders to either titles leading into Wrestlemania. Ideally they should be for the titles as the number one contender would have already been decided at the previous month's Royal Rumble.

Also ideally, this match should not be an annual attraction. It should be used when needed - possibly when there are several contenders vying for whichever title is on their show (Raw/Smackdown). By having it in the February pay-per-view spot it almost looks like an unnecessary challenge leading to Wrestlemania - there's already been a Royal Rumble in January and now this?!

Wrestlemania - Late March/Early April
This event is by far the 'granddaddy of them all', the Superbowl of wrestling, the greatest chance to shine. This is where the biggest matches of the year happen and the largest effort happens. This is also where the most famous stars come together - in recent years Floyd 'Money' Mayweather jr has been part of the festivities. In the 80s Mr T and Cyndi Lauper graced the big stage, and in the 90s Pamela Anderson and Mike Tyson associated themselves with Wrestlemania.

This event's place on the calender is not in doubt as it is the ultimate place to get yourself recognised. Feuds are generally at boiling point leading into this event and a place on the card usually backs this up.

Extreme Rules - April
As the name suggests, this event's matches are all contested under extreme rules. This has been in a variety of ways such as strap matches, falls count anywhere matches, 2-out-of-3-falls matches and tables matches.

This event was previously called 'One Night Stand' and was scheduled in June. This was originally an ECW revival event and then continued with the hardcore ways into the new name.

Compared with the Elimination Chamber and Hell in a Cell (to be explored in a later post) pay-per-views, this event has match types that are perceived as less brutal/less of an attraction. This event could easily be renamed and toned down to just having regular matches.

Coming soon: Part 2 of 'Gimmick Pay-Per-Views' - the continuation of looking at the WWE pay-per-views and what they contribute... follow me on Twitter @jimmosangle to keep up with my latest posts/articles