It looked like WWE was “all in” with the extra pay-per-views for the brand split but the declining subscription numbers for the WWE Network has caused them to reconsider some things.
According to the latest Wrestling Observer newsletter, the last word is that they would be doing less pay-per-views than originally planned for 2017. Everything still needs to be worked out and there’s no word yet on what they are planning on dropping from the schedule. I guess the fact that the shows don’t feel as special and the costs to produce their shows might have played a factor in their decision.
I would be interested to know how they would handle the brand-specific shows. It might be a good idea to just do a brand-specific show every other month so that they feel more special and, of course, continue on with the “big 4” shows as usual.
As of this writing, this is what the 2017 PPV schedule looks like:
Royal Rumble (January)
Elimination Chamber (February)
Fastlane (March)
WrestleMania (April)
Payback (TBD)
Extreme Rules (May)
Money In The Bank (June)
Battleground (July)
SummerSlam (August)
Backlash (September)
Clash Of Champions (September)
No Mercy (October)
Hell in a Cell (October)
Survivor Series (November)
TLC (December)
Roadblock (December)
Source: WrestlingNews.co
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