WWE Royal Rumble 2016

It’s difficult to know what was more critical about this year’s Royal Rumble- that we were provided with a much needed boost to WWE’s narrative as we enter Wrestlemania season, or that the Rumble’s reputation was restored with an exciting and satisfying 30-man over the top rope main event. With so many injured superstars who would have no doubt played a part in the key matches at ‘Mania were it not for their respective ailments, WWE’s approach to the Rumble was vitally important- deliver here and it would be a good omen for a period that the company are hoping will lead to the biggest show in their history in Texas, fail to deliver and watch as Raw’s record-low autumn/winter TV ratings evolve into a catastrophe during the normally lucrative January-April season. As important, though less immediately, is that the last few years have seen the Royal Rumble brand take a bit of a pasting- since 2011 the Rumble match, for years the most anticipated contest in WWE’s calendar, has seen a dire mixture of uninspiring victors, lazy booking, poor execution and unpopular decisions. The last 2 in particular have seen mass rejections of the winners, Batista in 2014 and Roman Reigns in 2015- thanks in part to fans preference for the super-over and continuously overlooked Daniel Bryan, but also due to neither man’s suitability as the babyface mega star they were being portrayed as.

WWE TLC 2015

Following an autumn that has seen Raw ratings on the slide and a legion of voices calling for a change in WWE’s approach, the company suffered another blow following the go-home episode of Raw prior to TLC when the rating came in at a measly 2.15- a new historical low point stretching back to 1995. The injury to Seth Rollins and the tournament that happened as a consequence to crown a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion at Survivor Series had only continued WWE’s creative issues with an uninspiring programme between Roman Reigns and Sheamus lined up as the primary selling point of their television output in the build up to TLC. With John Cena not expected to return until the new year, Rollins and Orton on the long term injury list, and none of the legacy stars that the company have leant upon to prop up many of their recent pay-per-view offerings available, TLC was one of the least anticipated pay-per-views in the history of the company and certainly the year (a fact borne out by the Nielsen Social Media ratings which measured activity on Twitter during TLC at the lowest level the company has seen for all of their 12 PPV’s in 2015).

WWE Hell In A Cell 2015

WWE Hell in a Cell 2015 came square in the middle of WWE experiencing one of the least commercially and creatively successful periods in their history. Ratings for Monday Night Raw have fallen rapidly over the previous few months, reaching a nadir (at least for now) at the go home episode running into this pay-per-view. That was in spite of the presence of WWE’s part-time megastars and ratings bankers- Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, Steve Austin, Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels, who were all wheeled out in front of the cameras to absolutely no affect- the rating that came through the following day provided grim news. The show had only managed to garner a 2.21 TV rating- the lowest rating other than a Christmas episode in 2008, for over 18 years. The message was clear- relying on nostalgia, and names from the company’s past is no longer going to cut it- WWE simply must move their focus to building a new generation of top tier stars or face that meagre audience falling further. While WWE Hell in a Cell 2015 was set to be headlined by returning part time stars The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar, the rest of the show gave WWE a chance to put the spotlight on the future, and pave the way for the men and women who will be expected to carry the company over the next decade.