10 WWE PPVs Which Drew Lower-Than-Expected Buyrates (And Why)
3. Survivor Series 2009 - 225,000 Buys
John Cena. Triple H. Shawn Michaels. Were there any three men who meant more to WWE in the 2000s than the trio, who clashed in the main event event of Survivor Series 2009? Was there any conceivable triple threat match that would have been grander? Evidently, yes, quite a few.
The problem with the match - and the show - wasn't the star power, but (once again) the buildup. There's plenty of history between Cena, Triple H, and Michaels - HHH and HBK were both part of DX and had spent years teaming and feuding, while Cena beat both men at back-to-back WrestleManias. Instead of mining history or creating something new though, Cena as WWE Champion was an afterthought in the buildup, and DX was focused on Hornswoggle's attempts to join their stable.
With that in mind, it's no surprise that the show dropped almost 100,000 buys from Survivor Series 2008. In 2010, Vince McMahon declared that Survivor Series was a dead concept and that the show would be removed from the schedule, but apparently, someone told the chairman that actually pushing a match tends to help business and cooler heads prevailed, because Survivor Series continues to this day.