Every WWE Pay-Per-View And The Superstar That Defined It
Grandest Stage Superstars.
Vince McMahon cleverly asserted that pay-per-view was dying ahead of launching the WWE Network in 2014 - his goal wasn't just to drive every regular buyer to his streaming service, but to suggest that his new medium was the only way to absorb content. It sort of worked, too.
Ahead of All Elite Wrestling's launch show Double Or Nothing earlier this year, curious outsiders wanting to look in were forced to find it, or worse, actually buy it. They were served premium content at least, but the expectation thus became so, and the company couldn't (nor never really intended to) follow it up with the B-shows Fyter Fest and Fight For The Fallen that appeared in its wake.
The WWE Network model allows for these filler events, but the supercards should still be actually super. WWE's legendary league of super shows went from four to five to twelve and beyond because they became the reason for the weekly product to exist.
From main events to midcard classics, each one had a single star more associated with the prestige of the brand than any other. Yes, even Stomping Grounds. Especially Stomping Grounds.
53. Armageddon - The Undertaker
"The End Is Here", so went the Jim Johnston sub-Doors ditty that often accompanied this December event. For Rikishi, Randy Orton and several others over the years, this proved painfully (and spectacularly) true thanks to the handiwork of 'The Deadman'. Few were better suited to the theme.