When WWE's full schedule of PPV events for 2018 was recently released, we noted that they would be doing 14 in 2018 as opposed to the 16 we got this year. The company will be running 5 RAW events, 4 SmackDown Live Events, and 5 which will feature both brands (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, Money in the Bank, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series). So, why has the change been made?
Dropping two a year is hardly a big deal and neither is the fact that only May and September are the only months which will feature two PPVs. However, there is actually a valid reason for this.
According to Dave Meltzer, WWE is cutting back because of WWE Network numbers. Adding extra shows made no difference to subscriber numbers and while the expense of adding these additional PPVs paid off in terms of ticket sales, it simply isn't worth it if people aren't taking out more $9.99 subscriptions! 14 a year isn't half bad, though, so we'll no doubt have plenty to talk about next year!