edit: i knew i had something to add! Apparently Rock did an interview this week, about his plans over the summer, and he may be a semi-permanent GM guest host of raw over the summer? would be awesome (i think he said no plans to wrestle though)

Official line as of a few hours ago when i read it:

If it hasn't been mentioned already awesome segment between Flair/aj styles/samoa joe from last week. Most entertaining segment I have seen in some time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUR-yo2Vdso

Vince announced yesterday that he is ending the Survivor Series PPV after 23 years:

"We think that Survivor Series is obsolete, as far as that title is concerned. It was something that worked many, many years ago, in terms of a creative standpoint, various teams competing. That really is not advantageous as the consumer now looks as what actually they are buying. And it's such a broad ... Survivor Series
yes, many years ago, was one of the original four pay-per-views, but it's outlasted its usage and it is one of the things in terms of rebranding, this year and going forward, that will be rebranded. No longer will we have that title, Survivor Series."

I'm not sure if this means they're dropping the concept of elimination tag team matches or just the name itself. Seems silly to can a PPV that has a unique concept (even if they only do 1 or 2 matches of it) for a PPV that is identical to the other 14 PPV's they do every year. I'm sure this had a lot to do with the buyrate last year tanking, but that almost certainly had more to do with 2 crappy main events than it did with the title of the show.

Seems ironic given they plan to extend the gimmick branding of PPVs with Hell in a Cell and TLC (and others ive forgotten but am too lazy to look up) considered successes (last i read anyway).

Survivor series seems as valid to me as any other match but it comes down to how its used. I mean i dont consider the weakness of the last SS match being the SS concept but it being used for three seperate matches where the womens match no one gave a flyer about and of the other two it did a pretty solid job putting over Kofi and a few of the heels from the others (Drew, Sheamus and Miz iirc). To use it for one single SS match but to stack it with actual main event talent is a MUCH better use rather than having your two title main events having 6 main event stars meaning the two mens SS matches had just 2 former champs, both of which were used to put over Kofi.

I think its really short sighted to set up three pretty average SS matches, two main events which had almost zero chance of having new champs and rounding out the card with Batista vs Rey and to blame the bad buy rates on the SS match concept. I mean id have booked just one SS match with teams of:
Batista, Orton, Punk, Rhodes and DiBiase taking on Rey, Kofi, Christian, Morrison and Bourne.

Id extend the SS match to 30 minutes, book a 10 minute midcard match for the US title (Miz had it iirc at the time, if not MVP must have held it, either way its out there) and some kind of 5 minutes team Raw vs team SD womens tag match (the usual fast 4 on 4 kinda thing).

With one solid SS match they dont overegg the pudding and keep it relevant and i didnt even have to rebook the two main events which i thought were ok but not great. As it stands we instead get 3 SS matches that no one really cared much about instead of one which can be build really well to up buyrates given we have 3 true storylines going into it and a lot more quality condensed in it.

I've only seen the last few years, but I've hatedddd the Survivor Series PPV's, I usually don't even bother watching. A 5 on 5 match, which could be interesting, usually isn't, and is just everyone hitting finishers at the end til you get to a winner. Plus, usually the champions are in it, so there aren't as many title matches on the card, thus leaving it even less dramatic. Thank goodness they are, I'm prolly one of the few who disliked it.

"-The pay-per-view schedule for 2010 has been reduced to 13 events. Barrios noted that they increased the non-WrestleMania pay-per-view price by five dollars. "
Lame, just what they need, if anything they need to lower prices....(from the same statement Vince made with the SS comment)

Also, WWE sent out an email/survey for new ideas for PPV (I'd guess to replace SS)

Roulette Event (Main event match stipulations would be determined by the spin of a roulette-type wheel.)

War Games Event (Teams of 5 collide in 2 cages. 2 participants begin the match with a new participant added every 5 minutes. This process is alternated between teams until all members from both teams are present.)

WWE Draft Event (WWE's annual Draft where Superstars and Divas learn which brand they'll be a part of for the next year. The Draft is often the beginning of new conflicts and matchups.)

Money in the Bank Event (The main event "Money in the Bank" match requires Superstars to climb a ladder and retrieve a briefcase hung high above the ring. The winner can "cash in" the briefcase for a championship title shot throughout the year. Qualifying matches earlier in the event will determine participants for the "Money in the Bank" match.)

Battle Bowl Event (Random tag-teams compete together - sometimes arch rivals - with the winning teams being put in a 2-ring Battle Royal. The winner could potentially receive a championship title match.)

Tournament Event (Single elimination "bracket style" tournament where Superstars would compete in multiple matches during the night to become the tournament winner.)

Street Fight Event (Main events would include"street fight" matches where there are no disqualifications and pin-falls count anywhere. Superstars often compete in normal street clothes.)

Legends Event (Match participants would include WWE Legends from the past.)

I'm guessing War Games will replace SS since it's fairly similar (I've never seen one before, but seems similar with teams of 5). A Battle Bowl, with all Tag-Team matches could be good, but I doubt they'd use it well at all. A Tournament event though, they could bring back KOTR and do something similar to that, which would be good I'd think, but they'll prolly just use War Games

i love spin the wheel make the deal!

Isnt that tournament even just King of the Ring?

Also Raw Roulette is a favourite concept of Vince's so i wouldnt be shocked to see an entire PPV of that. Tbh i prefer the Cyber Sunday concept of fans voting for the match types and competitors, if only because it created the great Matt Hardy vs Evan Bourne match that the company did everything they could to not have. Same goes for them campaigning to get Koslov voted for when they overwealmingly picked Jeff Hardy.

Any time the fans get to tell the company what they want to see is a good thing imo.

I agree, I'm thinking those are just to replace SS though, I don't see them taking away Cyber Sunday right now

Also, I think keep Roulette to Raw imo, the 3 hour specials when they have it is awesome, when it's a PPV it could lead to some odd things, like making the main event all of a sudden a tag match, or something completely dumb/useless. At least on raw, they can make it a match where even if it doesn't finish how they want, it's not for a title (usually) and on a mainstage like a PPV.
Same goes for MITB/Draft, keep it where it is. IMO replace SS with KOTR or something similar, and make the winner get the #1 contender spot or something, would definitely be quite fun and interesting.

Lol STWMTD, Battle Bowl, and War Games were all WCW PPV's. How original.

I really hate the idea of PPV's that have guaranteed gimmick matches. First of all, they'll never start new feuds in time for them. Which is to say, if John Cena and HHH wrestle at 1 PPV and the next PPV is the TLC PPC or the HITC PPV, they're guaranteed to wrestle again, since it makes no sense to start a new feud with a gimmick match. This just compounds the problem they already have in repeating main events for months on in.

Second, it totally waters down the effect of those gimmicks since they're planned per the calendar and not per the feud itself. Say Edge and Christian were feuding. The natural blowoff would be a ladder match right? But because it's "submission match PPV" month, they have to wrestle a submission match. That's just stupid.

Just because it makes no sense for the WWE to start a feud with a gimmick match, doesn't mean the WWE won't do it. Sense is not a requirement.

Also, the old-school Survivor Series format where there would be 4-5 SS matches with teams of five, and whoever survived in each match would get added to a main-event SS match, was pretty damn cool. Lots of opportunities to push guys throughout the show. The SS format is not the issue, bad booking is.

This only happened in 1990 I think. The previous three just had the five or so tag matches.

I get Vince's point in the original idea of the PPV being obsolete, as the first Survivor Series was the first time Hogan and Andre wrestled since WM III, so it was a great way to get those two involved without having a one on one match/also working as a teaser for the inevitable rematch. Now you will never have a situation where the #1 face and heel stay apart all the way from March through November.

They should just keep the name though. The PPV doesn't need to have tons of elimination tag matches in order to be a good show (see 1992).

A Street Fight PPV with no blood is the stupidest idea yet

I miss HLA to be honest.

Vince

What's the deal with HBK refusing to put over Punk and Gallows?

Do you really believe they won't just rig the results?

Did I miss something?

Hopefully someone will [Phill] us in shortly.

I really liked War Games but it's quite similar to Elimination Chamber now. When we watched War Games in the past it always felt like it was such a huge event and was so epic. Sadly that feeling nowadays is lost with how the industry is run today. I suspect if WWE had a poll asking fans we would see the Money in the Bank PPV as that's what most fans are familiar with and WWE does a really good job making the MITB feel important unlike the ******edly booked TNA's feast or fired which means absolutely squat (IE Rob Terry wins X-division title shot and just hands it over to Doug Williams..so stupid)

If Vince Russo booked Cyber Sunday would it be a poll on a pole match?

Bret's back, he has to do everything possible to retain his image.

On a serious note (I know nothing about this situation), I wonder if HBK is pissy that Punk's taking a Jesus-like approach to sXe? Seems like something that might irk him.

Getting rid of Survivor Series. I <3 it, and if they booked it halfway well it could be very successful (though, still the lowest of the four originals).