10 Fascinating WWE Survivor Series 2009 Facts

1. It Was The Least Bought Survivor Series In 13 Years

Survivor Series 2009 Randy Orton
WWE

The slow ticket sales were foretelling the future. Perhaps it was the guest hosts plaguing the TV product, or maybe it was the lack of a truly fresh and compelling main event match. Whatever the case, Survivor Series 2009 was a flop compared to previous incarnations, doing a mere 225,000 buys, the lowest since the 1996 version did a paltry 199,000 buys. It was down markedly from 2008's 319,000 buys, a more-than 29 percent plunge.

Making matters harder for Survivor Series was the fact that the night before, UFC held their own pay-per-view, doing 375,000 buys for a Tito Ortiz/Forrest Griffin fight. Original plans for the show had Brock Lesnar defending the Heavyweight Championship against Shane Carwin, which was postponed due to a Lesnar illness.

Had Brock (UFC's biggest box office draw at the time) fought on top, fans choosing between UFC and Survivor Series might have eroded WWE's final number even more.

Contributor
Contributor

Justin has been a wrestling fan since 1989, and has been writing about it since 2009. Since 2014, Justin has been a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine. Justin also writes for History of Wrestling, and is a contributing author to James Dixon's Titan series.