10 WWE PPVs Which Drew Lower-Than-Expected Buyrates (And Why)
5. SummerSlam 2013 - 298,000 Buys
Sometimes, the amount of buys a show generates is no indicator of quality, and SummerSlam 2013 is a prime example of that. Though the show is mostly remembered for a stellar John Cena-Daniel Bryan main event and the angle that kicked off the Authority storyline, the rest of the card ranged from strong to excellent.
Still, the show got 298,000 buys, only barely edging out the 2011 edition to avoid being the least-purchased SummerSlam since the Attitude Era. It was down hugely from the 2012 show, which featured Brock Lesnar versus Triple H and got 358,000 buys.
Did the fans not connect with Daniel Bryan's run to the main event as well as live arena reactions would indicate? That's probably part of it. It's important to remember that Bryan was gifted the title shot by Cena, and wasn't treated as a babyface main eventer before then (in contrast to his WrestleMania XXX buildup). Also, by 2013, Pay-Per-View was less viable than ever for WWE , thanks to years of bad decisions. Six months after this show, the WWE Network launched, and the PPV model for the company became obsolete.