Ranking WWE's One-Off Pay-Per-Views From Worst To Best
This list has me at Breaking Point...
The 27th annual Survivor Series pay-per-view is fast approaching and the card has just been given a major boost with the addition of a dream match between Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles.
One of WWE’s traditional ‘Big Four’, this fall extravaganza is steeped in history, from the debuts of The Undertaker, The Rock and The Shield, to multi-person tag team classics, the first-ever Elimination Chamber match, and the infamous Montreal Screwjob.
But what about those WWE pay-per-views that came and went without making as much of an impression? Some shows through the WWE archives are not enriched with the legacy of a Survivor Series, a WrestleMania, or even a No Mercy, and have only had a single edition.
The majority of these one-off pay-per-views are exactly that for a reason, because they were awful and WWE wants as little trace of them as possible in their record books. There are some, though, that are more fondly remembered and are deserving of a second chance.
Please note this list does not include any pay-per-views which fell under the In Your House series, or Roadblock: End of the Line, which was the second event in the Roadblock chronology after the special on the WWE Network, which is a paid subscription service.
12. No Holds Barred - 1989
This WWF pay-per-view featured only one wrestling match - a steel cage tag pitting Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake against Zeus and Randy Savage - and was designed to sustain the mainstream spotlight the company received on the back of the titular movie.
No Holds Barred was Hogan’s first starring turn in Hollywood alongside Tony Lister, who brought his antagonist character of Zeus to several WWF events over the summer of 1989 to begin a programme with ‘The Hulkster’ over who should have had top billing for the film.
Vince McMahon aligned Zeus with ’The Macho Man’, WWF’s top heel at the time who had recently feuded with both Hogan and Beefcake, to set up a payoff two days after Christmas Day in 1989. The match had actually been recorded at a Wrestling Challenge taping a fortnight beforehand, and was only shown after a full screening of the Hogan-Lister film.
This was McMahon pandering to Hollywood at its worst.