5 recent WWE pay-per-views that did not last beyond a year

WWE are presenting their seventh pay-per-view of the year this Sunday -- Stomping Grounds. However, the ticket sales for this show are reportedly not doing too well. This could be for various reasons, such as the lack of appeal in the match card and the general blandness in the product.

However, that is a different story altogether. The result of that could possibly mean that this pay-per-view will be scrapped from the calendar in the following years.

It was a head-scratcher when WWE decided to have a new pay-per-view take the place of the universally popular Backlash, but they could do away with this one as well. There have been a few shows that only happened once for some reason or another, plus one that happened twice in the same year.

This was mainly the result of WWE attempting to revamp their entire pay-per-view schedule in 2009 and 2010, in a possible attempt to drift further from the TV-14 years, along with a need for more shows in the wake of the second coming of the brand split.

Here are five recent WWE pay-per-views that did not get a second edition (or year, in one case).

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#5 Breaking Point (2009)

This was the first of WWE's 2009 pay-per-view revamp

Around mid-2009, WWE decided to revamp the entire calendar. Pretty much every event, aside from the 'Big Four' was either replaced or moved. The likes of Judgement Day, Unforgiven and Armageddon would never be used again. Unforgiven, the September event, was replaced by Breaking Point. And thus began the era of pay-per-views based on gimmick matches.

This show had a submission theme to it, with the top three matches all having submission-based stipulations. John Cena defeated Randy Orton for the WWE Championship in a brutal "I Quit" Match. Orton's Legacy stablemates shocked the WWE universe when they picked Triple H and Shawn Michaels apart in a Submissions Count Anywhere match.

However, the main event of the show was a Submission Match between the Undertaker and World Heavyweight Champion, CM Punk. With the event being in Montreal, WWE obviously booked a screwjob finish, with Punk retaining his title without actually making the Deadman tap out to the Anaconda Vice.

It was a decent show, but the submission gimmick was not sustainable enough to hold future editions. In short, it was a poor man's Hell in a Cell or TLC and was replaced by Night of Champions in the early fall spot on the WWE pay-per-view calendar.

#4 Fatal-4-Way (2010)

What a weird concept for a pay.-per-view

WWE continued their obsession with gimmick match pay-per-views throughout 2009 and into 2010, but this may have crossed the line. They actually named a show after a 4-way match in June 2010. It was one thing to base a show around Hell in a Cell or Elimination Chamber matches, but having multiple fatal-4-way matches would be overkill, right?

There were three of those on this card, with all of them resulting in a title change. Alicia Fox won the Divas Championship, while Rey Mysterio ended Jack Swagger's pitiful reign as the World Heavyweight Champion. This was also the only pay-per-view where CM Punk wrestled with his mask.

The WWE Championship main event was invaded by the Nexus, who had absolutely destroyed the entire place two weeks ago on Raw. Sheamus profited from the carnage to steal the title, and that was that. If it wasn't for an incredible match between Chris Jericho and Evan Bourne in the middle of the show, this would have been an absolute bust.

The gimmick was a bust though. There wasn't another show named Fatal-4-Way until NXT had a Takeover with the same name in 2014. But we are talking about the WWE main roster here. The June spot had a lot of shows come and go during this time, from 2009 until WWE settled and put Money in the Bank in that position, the most successful gimmick-based pay-per-view created in the last ten years.

#3 Capitol Punishment (2011)

Well, would you look at that?

As mentioned just now, WWE had problems with the June spot on their pay-per-view calendar. 2011 was possibly the most glaring of them all. With a poster featuring the then-president of the United States, Barack Obama, and a pretty well-done stage with the Capitol building, WWE had a politically-themed show.

Capitol Punishment was an average pay-per-view. There were some good matches, like Dolph Ziggler vs Kofi Kingston and CM Punk vs Rey Mysterio. Randy Orton retained his World Heavyweight Championship against Christian in a very good match, despite Christian's foot being on the rope.

The main event was one of the most bizarre in recent WWE history. John Cena defended his WWE Championship against, drum roll please, R-Truth of all people! That's right, the former WWE 24/7 Champion had a WWE Championship pay-per-view main event against John Cena. Crazy to think that even happened.

WWE even had an Obama doll at the event, showcasing the bizarre nature of this entire pay-per-view. It would not return in 2012, as No Way Out returned for one year only before WWE created Payback, another show that is not taking place any more. And it looks like WWE's pay-per-view troubles in June might return again if Stomping Grounds fails to impress.

#2 Roadblock (2016)

WWE actually booked two Roadblock events in one year.

This pay-per-view only lasted one year, but it happened twice. WWE carelessly booked two Roadblock pay-per-views in 2016, even if the second one had a tagline at the end of it. The first was a WWE Network special between Fastlane and WrestleMania 32 and the second was the final event of the year, as WWE needed a new name for a Raw-exclusive pay-per-view.

The pre-Mania show had some interesting matches, like Brock Lesnar vs Bray Wyatt, which got turned into Lesnar vs Luke Harper on the fly. Charlotte Flair defeated Natalya in the final Divas Championship match in WWE history. The main event was Triple H vs Dean Ambrose for the Game's WWE Championship. It served as a last-ditch effort to spice up the main event of WrestleMania, but nothing major actually happened.

The December show, Roadblock: End of the Line was similarly inconsequential. There were some big moments on the show though. Charlotte defeated Sasha Banks in a feud-ending Iron Man match, while the main events were decent but formulaic, involving the likes of Owens, Jericho, Reigns and Rollins. Also, Neville made his return here and joined the Cruiserweight division, turning heel in the process.

The shows were fine, but WWE decided not to continue with Roadblock when they scaled down the number of pay-per-views on the calendar in 2017. It's funny though, Roadblock is a much better pay-per-view name than Fastlane.

#1 Great Balls of Fire (2017)

This still remains an insane name.

Here we are, the most noteworthy and bizarre one-and-done WWE pay-per-view in recent history. This was initially going to be Bad Blood. However, WWE did not want 'Blood' in the name, so they went with 'Balls'. Great Balls of Fire -- which seemed bizzare -- sparked major controversy amongst the Internet Wrestling Community. They could have gone full old-school with the look, but it was just a regular WWE pay-per-view. The company missed a step.

The show was actually pretty great. It had a fun build and the action lived up to some of the hype. The Bar defeated the Hardy Boyz to retain their Raw Tag Team Championships in a 30-minute Iron Man match, while Alexa Bliss and Sasha Banks wrestled their best match together. Even the build to Enzo Amore vs Big Cass was pretty good, even if the action was average.

However, this show will be defined by the two biggest matches. Braun Strowman defeated Roman Reigns in an Ambulance Match before Reigns completely snapped and attempted to kill Strowman by locking him in the ambulance and crashing it into a truck. We need more of that drama in today's WWE, please. That was followed by the hotly anticipated Universal Championship match between Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe.

It was intense as hell and despite being pretty short, will be remembered as one of the better Universal title matches involving the Beast. This show was good, but the name just could not continue. Especially since WWE moved away from brand-exclusive pay-per-views.

Do you think any of these events could make a return in the future? It seems extremely unlikely, but anything can happen in the WWE.