Is WWE Moving Its PPVs To Saturdays A Good Or Bad Move?

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• WWE's PPVs Are Staying On Saturday For The Foreseeable Future

WWE has been airing PPV events for a very long time. The very first PPV event was the inaugural WrestleMania, all the way back in 1985, and was nothing less than a gamble taken by Vince McMahon. McMahon was obsessed with the idea of his company going national and touring across the country, but he also needed capital as this concept was not very sustainable in terms of finances. And so, McMahon devised the idea of a wrestling super card, featuring a number of high-profile matches and celebrity cameos to truly make the event larger than life.

UPDATE: 2022/10/31 15:00 EST BY Andrew Kelly

WWE's PPVs Are Staying On Saturday For The Foreseeable Future

WWE decided to rip up the playbook by changing up their PPV schedule in 2021, with Vince McMahon and those in the head roles in WWE making the decision to put some PPVs (or now as they’re called, “Premium Live Events”) on a Saturday instead of the conventional night of a Sunday. At first, this did seem like just a trial, as WWE were chopping and changing from show to show in terms of what night they were on, with it now seeming as though Saturday is the more desired night. The question still arises though about whether or not this was a smart move from WWE, or a mistake.

WWE Revolutionised The PPV Business In Wrestling

WrestleMania 1 was a success. And while the actual wrestling and storytelling was nothing too spectacular, the glitz, glamor, hype, and spectacle drew in people and the company made bank. Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest boxers of all time, was the referee in the main event. This clearly demonstrated that McMahon had gone all-out and hinged the future of the company, and his dreams, on one night.

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With the gamble paying dividends, WWE continued airing PPVs from that point on and early on, the lineup consisted of just WrestleMania and Survivor Series. SummerSlam and Royal Rumble were soon added, and when WCW started breathing down their neck, WWE introduced In Your House PPVs to match its rival.

The Recent PPV Announcement Broke Tradition

Over the years, the company has altered the lineup by the introduction and cessation of different concepts, but McMahon has remained steadfast about the day on which the PPV events air. Aside from very few exceptions, the bulk of WWE PPVs have aired on Sundays. However, when the company unveiled the PPV schedule of 2022, surprisingly, most events were set to air on Saturdays.This breaks a longstanding tradition in the company and many fans have been wondering whether the alteration was the correct decision or a fumble.

The call to move PPV events to Saturday has been echoed for a long time by international fans as a Sunday night PPV usually encompasses the early hours of Monday. Appeasing international fans was most definitely a factor but in the last few years, the company has tested the waters in regards to a change in the airing day. WrestleMania followed the template set by Wrestle Kingdom 14 and for the past two years, the Showcase of Immortals has been a two-night affair, and night one is scheduled for Saturday. Moreover, SummerSlam of this year was also hosted on a Saturday night and with an attendance of 51,236 spectators, ending up as the highest-grossing SummerSlam of all time. As usual, the attendance figure is highly likely not the most accurate, but there was an undeniable buzz in the arena. These two instances of success likely motivated the company to go through with this change in tradition and while not entirely unanimous, fan response to this announcement has been more positive.

The Shift To Saturday PPVs Is A Good Move Overall

Indeed, fans have been calling for a change in the scheduled day for years now. but the main concern previously was stiff competition from UFC and occasionally, mega-boxing events. Much like WWE, UFC holds PPVs and Fight Nights on Saturdays, and given how massive MMA has gotten over the years, McMahon likely wanted no part of the UFC in head-to-head competition. There was always a difference in timing as the main card of each UFC PPV starts up when the WWE event goes off the air. but that would still put the corporations in competition. However, with the recent deal with Peacock, WWE has moved away from the traditional method in favor of a subscription-based deal, and the experiments have instilled enough confidence in the company to go ahead on a permanent basis.

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Lastly, this recent change might be evidence that WWE is finally taking its main competition, All Elite Wrestling, seriously and intends to hurt rather than just compete. Contrary to Vince McMahon claiming that he does not view Tony Khan’s empire as a rival, the fact that WWE released late the details for their event in September suggested that McMahon was looking to run his September event against AEW’s All Out. As much flak WWE gets for being complacent, this move does suggest that the company is willing to evolve but ultimately, time will tell how well this goes. SummerSlam not happening in August will take some time getting used to, however.

WWE Has Stuck With A Saturday Night PPV Schedule

Since the 2022 edition of Money in the Bank, every WWE PPV event has taken place on a Saturday night, whereas prior to that, it seemed to be a case-by-case deal in which only some aired on a Saturday and some on a Sunday. Big shows such as SummerSlam, Clash at the Castle were hosted on a Saturday, and both the upcoming big four events such as Survivor Series and Royal Rumble events are each on that day too. It seems as though WWE has decided to permanently make the bold move of switching things up and making Saturday a “WWE” night, even with competition.

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This may very well have prompted a knock-on effect in AEW, because since WWE moved some PPVs to a Saturday, AEW have steered well clear of that day, with every PPV in the last two years taking place on a Sunday, despite previously never running a show on that day. The validity of that claim isn’t entirely clear, as the upcoming Full Gear event is on a Saturday, but this may be due to the fact that there is no competition on that night from WWE, although there is some competition from the UFC, though the main card will likely begin after Full Gear is finished.

Overall though, WWE’s move to Saturdays hasn’t seemed to cause any issues for the company, with fans looking to be quite happy with the current schedule, allowing a day’s rest between a PPV and Monday Night Raw (aside from on WrestleMania weekend). Additionally, WWE are making record profits, with a change in night only doing positives from a business perspective too.