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Pay-Per-Views

Wrestlemania 1

Pay-per-views (PPV) began after Vince McMahon Jr. bought many wrestling territories in the United States. The first ever PPV was Wrestlemania debuting in 1984. Wrestlemania was smaller a production than it is nowadays. In fact, next year in 2024, it will be the 40th Wrestlemania held in Philadelphia, PA. Looking at the commercials, it will be one of the biggest events yet! Every month there is a pay-per-view all with different gimmicks and titles, but there are four shows that have stayed the same yearly.

Wrestlemania, Summer Slam, Survivor Series, and the Royal Rumble are continuous each year. Survivor Series came up first in 1987. It normally is always around Thanksgiving time. The show itself has evolved since it used to be just five against five with random teams; they tried to focus on good versus bad. Now, like every PPV, there are more matches that are important to the show. The other two were both introduced in 1988.

Summer Slam’s best memory has to be “The Mega Bucks vs. The Mega Powers,” which still is one of the best tag team matches in WWE history. It was during the first ever Summer Slam, putting Andre the Giant and the "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase versus the "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan. Summer Slam was probably the most viewed PPV after Wrestlemania as it plays toward the end of the summer.


Hulk Hogan (right) and Macho Man (left)

The Royal Rumble is my favorite PPV. As stated above, it also was introduced in 1988. This PPV normally happens in late January, the name given because of the large Battle Royal that happens. 30 men get into a ring and battle it out! It’s quite funny. It was not an important PPV until 1992 when they changed the rule that whoever won would win the World Heavyweight Championship. The first to win was Ric Flair.


Other PPVs that change up yearly are the Money in the Bank, where they climb ladders to get the contract from the briefcase for a title match of their choosing, and the Elimination Chamber where six people fight. Two start and four others are in pods at the corners of the ring. There is a black, steel cage surrounding them, but the only way to win is to get pinned. No matter what the PPV is, there is one every month!


Recently, women have been allowed to have their own matches like the men. Women’s Royal Rumble, Women’s Money in the Bank, Women’s Elimination Chamber, etc. Other matches that have been added include the Andre the Giant Battle Royal at Wrestlemania which began in 2014. It is a fight in honor of Andre the Giant, and the winner gets the large Andre the Giant trophy.


Carmella winning Money in the Bank in 2017

My dad told me they no longer call these events PPVs as you don’t really have to buy them anymore like you had to when growing up. Now, everything is streamed. He said they are called Premium Live Events; however, the UFC just finalized their purchase of WWE, so who knows? Maybe the classic PPV will make a comeback?


Pics:

https://411mania.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/wrestlemania1-645x370.jpg


https://media.bleacherreport.com/w_800,h_533,c_fill/br-img-images/002/987/335/c27814015c2eb9509b7110f1c2c7fc29_crop_north.jpg


https://www.wwe.com/f/styles/gallery_img_ml/public/all/2018/05/119_SD_06272017ej_1309--3d024591c9320ec2a0d2f02f31130733.jpg


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