WWE News: Major Changes Coming To Pay-Per-Views – All Dual-Branded, WWE Drops Two Events Entirely
The past week has been full of rumors regarding WWE’s pay-per-view events and how they could become dual-branded. Not only has the company come out and confirmed all of that speculation and even added a bit onto the news. On Saturday morning, WWE sent out an official statement saying that all PPVs would be dual-branded with Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live starting in May and a few shows are even being eliminated entirely.
With each brand having its own PPVs since the superstar draft back in 2016, things have become a bit stale. Some of the matches are being repeated constantly to help fill time on the shows and the only new action comes on the major events where superstars from both shows appear.
Wrestling Inc. reported the information from WWE’s official announcement which states all pay-per-views will be dual-branded beginning with Backlash on May 6. There will still be a couple more exclusive events before both Raw and SmackDown will have matches on each show through the end of the year.
Along with the PPVs becoming dual-branded, WWE removed a couple of shows from its 2018 schedule as well. Payback was set to be a SmackDown-exclusive in May, but it has been removed. Battleground was a Raw show set for July, but it has also been eliminated.
WWE revealed that fans will now “get the best of both brands” every month and on every pay-per-view after WrestleMania 34 in April. The full schedule through the rest of 2018 was unveiled and it also included a few events moving dates.
- Elimination Chamber (Raw) – February 25, 2018
- Fastlane (SmackDown Live) – March 11, 2018
- WrestleMania 34 – April 8, 2018
- WWE Backlash – May 6, 2018
- WWE Money in the Bank – June 17, 2018
- WWE Extreme Rules – July 15, 2018
- SummerSlam – Aug. 19, 2018
- WWE Hell in a Cell – Sept. 16, 2018
- WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs – Oct. 21, 2018
- Survivor Series – Nov. 18, 2018
- WWE Clash of Champions – Dec. 16, 2018
Extreme Rules was originally scheduled for Sept. 16, but it was moved to mid-summer after it no longer was a Raw-exclusive event. Hell in a Cell used to be SmackDown-only, but it is now also dual-branded and moved from Sept. 30 to mid-September.
PPVs are now expected to each be four hours long.
Couldn’t be happier about dual branded PPVs. Each show having their own PPV was overkill.
— Ryan Satin (@ryansatin) February 17, 2018
WWE taking pay-per-view events and making them dual-branded for Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live makes a lot of sense and the eliminated events aren’t a huge deal. Now, things won’t become overly stale and fans can still see their favorite superstars from both brands on a big stage each month. There’s still no word on the rumored superstar draft at Backlash, but only time will tell on that one.
