Update On WWE's Approach To Premium Live Events

This year has seen WWE tweak its approach to PLEs.

by Andrew Pollard
WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 Sami Zayn
WWE.com

While there's been no big press release or public mission statement around the matter, WWE has recently made some tweaks to how it approaches the company's Premium Live Events.

As per Fightful Select, a WWE source noted how the market leader is taking extra care to try and maximise the buzz around each PLE here in 2023. The organisation is looking to have each of these events have a certain purpose, whether that is a "thematic, financial, or strategic" one.

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For example, one prime sample of a thematic approach to a PLE was shining the spotlight on Sami Zayn in his hometown of Montreal for this year's Elimination Chamber. Likewise, announcing Bad Bunny as the host of Backlash in Puerto Rico this May is another example of this.

Where the financial side of things comes into play, that's the use of stadiums rather than arenas. And for the strategic element, that's represented by decisions such as running a PLE - as in this year's Money in the Bank in June - in London, England ahead of the TV rights renewal in that market, or hosting WrestleMania in Los Angeles as WWE looks to negotiate its next major US TV renewal and the potential sale of the company.

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As this WWE source detailed to Fightful, "It's about spacing out PLEs so the demand builds in the market" - which is why WWE will often cite how long it's been since the promotion visited a certain market.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.