Gone are the days when pay per views occurred every once in a blue moon, with almost two dozen events taking place on a yearly basis for WWE in 2017. It sounds like an incredibly schedule (probably because it is), but as fans, we should probably start to appreciate just how much content the company are putting out for us to enjoy.
Of course, that’s not how everyone within the WWE Universe sees it, with many fans wanting to see quality over quantity above all else. It’s a mentality that makes sense once you break down how meaningless some of these shows can be, and because of that, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to examine which events WWE could live without in 2018 and beyond.
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A few of these shows may hold a special place in the hearts of some fans, but ultimately we can’t imagine that they’ll be all too missed. After all, the majority of these entries are just names with no real meaning behind them while others are gimmick pay per views that simply do not need to exist.
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So with all of that being said, here are five PPVs that should definitely be cancelled in 2018.
#1 Great Balls of Fire
This one may cause a bit of controversy given the quality of the match card for Sunday’s pay per view, but come on now – Great Balls of Fire? It’s a name that only serves to cause embarrassment for WWE fans across the globe, and the pay per view calendar is better off without it. Plus, think about what kind of legacy the show could have if it turns out to be great.
A one and done type of system could work wonders for this and future pay per views, with fans going back and remembering just how great the event was. Much like movies that have bad sequels, follow-up editions of the event in years to come could only serve to drag down the legacy of the event. Let’s not allow that to happen to the ugly stepchild that is Great Balls of Fire.
#2 Extreme Rules
Extreme Rules has been a valiant servant as the PPV after Mania in recent years, but as of late it hasn’t even happened until late May/early June. It was always a pay per view that had one sole purpose: blow off feuds with gimmick matches that will excite the fans and send everyone home happy. Sounds simple enough, right?
Well bafflingly enough, WWE managed to screw that up somewhat this year with an event that wasn’t extreme in the slightest. It made a bit of a mockery of what was supposed to be a blood bath (maybe not that bad but you know what we mean), and it’s something you would expect to have happened in the early PG era days – but not in 2017.
#3 Battleground
Battleground, to us, will always be known as the event that wasted the first ever Shield triple threat. Sure it was a great match and sure Ambrose winning was a nice touch, but SummerSlam was quite literally just over a month away. This felt completely rushed which is exactly what we didn’t want to happen, and this year’s edition doesn’t seem like it’ll do any better.
The general quality of Battleground events has been quite poor ever since it’s inception, with a few decent matches here and there glossing over the fact that it really doesn’t need to exist. Cut it out completely and make the build to SummerSlam even longer for both brands, because God knows we could do with a long run up to one of the big four PPVs.
#4 Clash of Champions
The whole point of the Clash of Champions pay per view is that it features every championship being defended. That’s all well and good, but when it isn’t a dual branded event and when other pay per views also have the same concept it just makes it feel kind of redundant. Plus, the 2016 edition of this show didn’t exactly light our world on fire.
Clash of Champions is an event that’s best left to the annals of WWE history, with fans going back and watching classic versions of the show on the WWE Network. Of course, WCW was home to many of those events, but they still featured some legendary matches.
#5 Hell in a Cell
Believe it or not, there used to be a time when a Hell in a Cell match was reserved for bitter and long-standing rivalries and feuds. Nowadays it’s used for whichever world title feud is on the horizon, and call us old fashioned but that just feels a little bit wrong in more ways than one.
Take Triple H vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 28 as an example. When it was announced that the two would wage war inside the unforgiving structure, that instantly made the bout feel like one of the biggest matches of the year. Let’s get back to a place where that’s the case once again.
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