The days of marathon WWE pay-per-views appear to be firmly in the rearview mirror, and longtime executive Bruce Prichard believes the product is better for it.
Since the creative transition away from Vince McMahon, WWE has adopted a “less is more” approach to its Premium Live Events (PLEs), typically featuring cards with only five or six matches. Speaking on his Something To Wrestle podcast, Prichard offered a detailed defense of this strategy, arguing that bloated cards often dilute the viewer’s experience.
“I go back and watch; ten matches on a card is hard to watch,” Prichard said. “When you look at the presentation, and you put so many things in a ten-match card, at the end of the night, what do you remember? You’re most likely going to remember the main event, the last match on the card. But there may have been an angle in the third match and a hell of a match, but you have forgotten because you have seen so much other s**t. Good, bad, or indifferent. I think less is more.”
Prichard also highlighted how the business model of streaming has fundamentally changed how cards are constructed. In the traditional pay-per-view era, promoters felt pressure to load the card to justify the high price point. In the era of Peacock and Netflix, that pressure has evaporated.
“Sometimes you have to battle that demon of, ‘We have to get more people on this.’ The PLE streaming aspect of the business has changed that completely. Because A, Talent is not paid on pay-per-view buys because there are no PPV buys. There is no time allotment. You can give them an hour, you can give them five hours, whatever. They don’t really want more than three (hours),” Prichard explained.
He also addressed the talent’s desire to be on the card for exposure, noting that weekly television has become just as valuable—if not more so—due to the massive rights fees commanded by Raw and SmackDown.
“It’s a different time and a different way people consume. ‘I need my WrestleMania moment.’ You have a moment next month in the main event. ‘I want to be on WrestleMania.’ Where? It’s going to get lost here… Television is just as valuable as the PLEs with rights fees. To be on television to a huge number of people versus PLEs, that has changed. Every time you’re on screen is valuable.”
This philosophy will be put to the test later this month when WWE heads to Saudi Arabia for the Royal Rumble on January 31. Traditionally one of the longer events on the calendar due to the two Rumble matches, the undercard is expected to remain tight to accommodate the runtime of the signature bouts.
