WWE To Extend Length Of Monthly Pay-Per-Views?
Brace yourselves for five hour shows...
The Wrestling Observer are reporting speculation that WWE plan to extend their monthly pay-per-views to five hours following WrestleMania 34.
Reports suggest the company could implement this new idea by Backlash on May 6. That event was previously a Raw exclusive, but it now looks like all pay-per-views will be dual-branded and feature talent from both Raw and SmackDown.
The Observer are also speculating that each event will be split into one hour for the Kickoff and four for the main show. This could be problematic for lower-tier talent. Spots on pay-per-view will be more limited than before if WWE choose to have two World Title (Universal and WWE), two Women's and two Tag-Team matches on each show.
On the plus side, this means fans are likely to get more "pay-per-view quality" matches on free television. That still doesn't solve the issue of talent being treated as second-rate stars who aren't good enough to be on the monthly specials though.
Bigger shows such as Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series have been the only pay-per-views around four hours long over the past few years. Now, those exhausting cards could be about to become WWE's norm.