Why WWE Is Cutting Back On Pay-Per-Views This Year

A few years ago WWE decided to reinstate the brand split, and the split inflated the company’s pay-per-view schedule due to both Raw and SmackDown Live getting their own exclusive events.

But things often change in the world of professional wrestling, and WWE recently confirmed that brand exclusive pay-per-views will be ending soon with Elimination Chamber and Fastlane being the last two brand exclusive events on the PPV schedule.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that original plans following the brand split called for WWE to air 20 pay-per-views annually, but that number was cut back to 18 and then to 16.

The reason for the reduction in pay-per-view events has to do with the fact that WWE officials looked at the numbers and saw that the number of shows had nothing to do with increasing WWE Network subscriptions.

There was hope that more shows would increase the perceived value of the WWE Network, leading to more subscribers signing up, but that wasn’t the case.

The company realized they were spending more money producing more PPV events, but the events weren’t bringing in any new money.

With WWE cutting back on the number of events, the brands won’t have to go months without having their own individual shows.

You can check out the current pay-per-view schedule below.

WWE Elimination Chamber – February 25, 2018

WWE Fastlane – March 11, 2018

WrestleMania 34 – April 8, 2018

WWE Backlash – May 6, 2018

WWE Money in the Bank – June 17, 2018

WWE Extreme Rules – July 15, 2018

SummerSlam – Aug. 19, 2018

WWE Hell in a Cell – Sept. 16, 2018

WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs – Oct. 21, 2018

Survivor Series – Nov. 18, 2018

WWE Clash of Champions – Dec. 16, 2018