10 WWE One-Hit PPVS That Totally Failed To Hit The Mark
The only ones punished at Capitol Punishment were wrestling fans...
Events like the Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series and (obviously) WrestleMania are ingrained in wrestling tradition. It's impossible to imagine a WWE product without these pay-per-views, even if there was talk a few years ago of Vince McMahon growing sour on and possibly ditching Survivor Series.
They are the longest running event titles in company history for a reason, and they're routinely the most highly-anticipated shows of the year. That's remarkable, because they had to start somewhere. There was a time when these classics were new concepts, not yet yearly customs that fans could bank on.
Whenever WWE comes up with a new premise for a pay-per-view, there's bound to be skepticism. Such disdain comes not from the thought of older events being replaced, but more because the promotion hasn't always hit the mark when implementing fresh ideas.
Over the years, numerous pay-per-view concepts have fallen by the wayside. Unable to convince the core fan base or even company management that they were viable, these uninspiring ideas didn't stick around too long.
Let's look at 10 such pay-per-view creations, those that just didn't cut it...
10. Bragging Rights
Admittedly, Bragging Rights was an event that happened more than once. In both 2009 and 2010, WWE decided to lift the concept of their SmackDown vs. Raw video games and present them on live pay-per-view. The end result saw back-to-back shows lacking in excitement, centred on a brand extension concept that was waning.
This is the kind of thing that may have worked right at the start of the brand split in 2002, but it was a little late coming in 2009. Heels and babyfaces worked together on the same side, with fans being told that they had an incredible sense of loyalty to the show they featured on.
It was all a bit tame, and it's surprising to see that Bragging Rights happened twice. On neither occasion did the Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown focal point ring true, as other matches were the main event of each show.
There was talk of bringing the concept back in 2012, but thankfully WWE decided to do something else. Booked in October both previous times, it stepped on the toes of Survivor Series in the process.