10 WWE PPVs That Changed EVERYTHING
4. The Wrestling Classic
By the original definition, The Wrestling Classic is the first true national pay-per-view in WWE history. WrestleMania I took place seven months prior, but was a closed-circuit event that hit PPV only in select markets, with Vince McMahon waiting until November 1985 before adopting a distribution method the NWA had already utilised to great effect.
That's why this show was a game-changer. It certainly wasn't for the match quality (which was inconsistent at best, with only Randy Savage's scraps with Dynamite Kid and Ricky Steamboat saving it from hell), but because The Wrestling Classic, like several others on our list, signposted WWE's future. A successful buyrate pushed McMahon to adopt the pay-per-view format permanently, and it became a huge part of his business model all the way through to the explosion of streaming platforms in the mid-2010s.
In delivering a night-long single-elimination tournament and adding a second major show to WWE's annual calendar, The Wrestling Classic served as a prototype for both King of the Ring and Survivor Series. As a show, it was far from great, and something nobody really needs to revisit on Network binges, but it drew a blueprint.