Bruce Prichard Explains Why WWE Does Fewer Matches On PLEs, ‘Ten Matches On A Card Is Hard To Watch’
Bruce Prichard offers insight as to why WWE does less matches on PLEs.
Over the years, WWE has cut down on the number of matches on PLE events, typically filling out a card with five matches.
As the company has moved away from traditional PPV to streaming, times have changed, and WWE executive Bruce Prichard gave insight on Something To Wrestle as to why they have done less matches.
“I go back in time; ten matches on a card is hard to watch. When you look at the presentation and you put so many things in a ten match card, at the end of the night, what do you remember? You’re most likely going to remember the main event, but there may have been an angle in the third match and a hell of a match, but you have forgotten because you have seen so much other shit. Good, bad, or indifferent. I think less is more.
“Sometimes you have to battle that demon of, ‘We have to get more people on this.’ The PLE streaming aspect of the business has changed that completely. Talent is not paid on pay-per-view buys. There is no time allotment. They don’t really want more than three (hours). It’s a different time and a different way people consume. ‘I need my WrestleMania moment.’ You have a moment next month in the main event. ‘I want to be on WrestleMania.’ Where? It’s going to get lost here and we’re doing this here. There is a lot more territory and avenues. Plus, you’re doing television every week. Television is just as valuable as the PLEs with rights fees. To be on television to a huge number of people versus PLEs, that has changed. Every time you’re on screen is valuable.”
WrestleMania has moved to two nights to allow for more time and matches, but the majority of PLEs have five matches on the card.
WWE does do nearly six hours of main roster television with Raw being two and a half hours and SmackDown now being three hours.
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