Green Eyes #26: Pretty Pleased Viewers
Greetings one and all and welcome to Green Eyes #26. I am da_shee and this will be my entry into the first round of LOP NXT.
The powers that be have seen fit to pair me with the man who thought Shawn Michaels was cool before cool was even cool, the one and only, Degenerate.
As per the topic of the first round, the 1990s, Degen has decided to hit me with a statistics column that focuses on the competition that existed between WWF and WCW during the 1990s. However, rather than focus entirely on the Monday Night Wars, I will investigate the varying PPV buy rates between the two companies throughout the decade.
As per my instructions I will be looking at the big four PPVs for each company:
WWF Big Four PPVs: Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, Summerslam, Survivor Series
WCW Big Four PPVs: Super Brawl, The Great American Bash, Halloween Havoc, Starrcade.
Following WWF’s success throughout the 80s and in particular the company’s explosion into a global phenomenon, Vince McMahon reigned supreme as the WWF became recognised as the number one brand in wrestling worldwide. However in 1994, WCW would change forever when a young Eric Bischoff managed to sign the WWF’s biggest star and arguably the industry’s biggest draw, Hulk Hogan. From there, a battle for power would ensue; a battle that saw stars jumping from company to company, belts beings tossed in trash cans, amazing new innovative matches and of course, the Shockmaster.
But first, let’s back this bad boy up a little. When Vince decided to expand WWF programming and go above and beyond the territorial game, he made one or two people unhappy. None the less he managed to turn WWF into a global super power allowing the company’s popularity to soar during the late 80s. In 1987, Wrestlemania 3 saw the WWF take in over 4 million in PPV buys as leading face hulk Hogan battled and defeated Andre the Giant. Where as the event epitomised everything Vince had worked to create, it also set a monstrous precedence for future PPVs.
That, my friends, brings us to the 1990s. I’m going to look at each year from 1990 through to 1999 and along the way I will be inputting the performance of the “Big Four” PPV buy rates versus the previous year.
1990
WWF PPVS 1990 vs 1989: -18%
WCW PPVS 1990 vs 1989: +5%
Major Events: - WWF suffers PPV buy rate decreases
- Ultimate Warrior defeats Hulk Hogan for WWF title
- WCW record minor increase in PPV buys but are still far a drift of the WWF’s buy rate
WWF came into the decade with impressive PPV numbers but were failing to maintain the PPV success rates of previous years. The main feud saw the Ultimate Warrior de-throne Hulk Hogan for the WWF title at Wrestlemania 6. Despite a decrease of 19% against the previous year, WWF’s big four PPV’s still brought in over 5 million PPV buys by the end of 1990. Closest rivals WCW’s big four were going strong at 1.7 million for the year but were far from a threat to Vince at the start of the decade.
WCW, however, were enjoying success with Ric Flair as one of their main draws. The Great American Bash in 1990 saw WCW take in 680,000 buys for the PPV; a figure they would not better until Starrcade 1997. Ric Flair, under the guise of the Black Scorpion would fail to take the World title from Sting at Starrcade 1990. The event took in half a million buys for WCW that year. WCW’s big four totalled 1.7 million PPV buys by the end of 1990 which is an impressive figure given Super Brawl only came into play in 1991.
Now obviously both companies would be unhappy with the overall decrease coming off the back of the 80s, but I still feel they had respectable market shares at the time. To put into perspective what kind of success WWF had garnered in the late 1980s, let me tell you this. Wrestlemania 6 received only 37% of the buys that Wrestlemania 3 received. If you don’t think that’s too surprising then its worth noting that Wrestlemania 6 proved to be WWF’s most successful PPV of the 1990s. WWF had set itself colossal footsteps to follow in.
1991
WWF PPVS 1991 vs 1990: -14%
WCW PPVS 1991 vs 1990: -11%
Major Events:
- WCW introduce Super Brawl
- WWF PPV buy rates continue to decrease despite an impressive start to the year
WCW would suffer a big loss to the roster during 1991, as Ric Flair would leave the company and sign with the WWF. WCW’s inability to draw fans away from their rivals was compounded with an 11% drop in their PPV buys for the year in spite of the addition of a new PPV, Super Brawl. WWF were continuing to lose out on PPV buys despite being well ahead of the competition. Hogan would re-claim the WWF title but a less than spectacular feud with Sgt. Slaughter was doing little to draw the fans back to the PPVs in greater numbers. Overall, WWF enjoyed a relatively respectable year with 4.3 million PPV buys but this ultimately accounted for a decrease of 12% on the previous year.
WWF were maintaining a large audience but failing to reach the heights of the late 1980s. I feel that stars like Hogan and Savage were beginning to become stale in the eyes of many. The Royal Rumble, in particular that year, saw a 55% increase on the previous Rumble. This would leave the rest of 1991 looking very positive but instead the remaining PPVs bombed. Hogan winning the rumble for the second consecutive year might have been enough for many fans to lose interest.
WCW would suffer in the PPV market following Flairs departure. The Great American Bash saw PPV buys down 40% on the previous year. The event would, however, see Lex Luger become the world champion defeating Barry Windham in a steel cage match. Luger would remain champion into 1992, successfully defending the title at Halloween Havoc along the way by defeating Ron Simmons. In spite of a moderately successful Starrcade, WCW would end the year with a loss of 200,000 PPV buys.
As big as Hogan was, it appeared to be his umpteenth success in the WWF. The big names would continue to draw crowds but on a global scale the wrestling world would need to develop new talents to lead the industry into the 1990s. WWF had a wealth of mid-card talent ranging from Bret Hart to Shawn Michaels to the British Bulldog. With the golden era of WWF stars beginning to lose the crowd, the company needed to let the up and coming stars step up and fulfil their full potential.
1992
WWF PPVS 1992 vs 1991:-35%
WCW PPVS 1992 vs 1991: -28%
Major Events: - Hulk Hogan and steroid scandal sends shockwaves through the industry
- WWF are forced to begin pushing less muscular stars
- WWF PPV buy-rates plummet with WCW also suffering
- Summerslam and Survivor Series suffer 44% and 36% respective decreases
Disaster struck the world or professional wrestling when golden boy Hulk Hogan admitted to steroid use. Apparently all the prayers, vitamins and press ups in the world couldn’t account for his 24 inch pythons. As Vince McMahon sat reading the headlines in his office he could only mutter one word.
“Shit”.
A poor start to the year got even worse when the revelations came to light. Summerslam 1992 emulated from Wembley with home boy Davey Boy Smith headlining the event. He would defeat Bret Hart for the Intercontinental title to close out the show. In spite of this being one of the best matches of the decade, the PPV buy rates would see Summerslam down 44% for the year and Survivor Series followed suit with a 36% decrease.
Sting would capture the WCW title from Luger at Star Brawl but it wasn’t enough to boost the PPV buys as the event went down 8% on buys from the previous year. Big Van Vader would take the title from Sting at the Great American bash but the event suffered one of WCW’s worst buy rates of the decade receiving only a little over 150,000 buys. WCW were clearly feeling the affects of the steroid scandal that had spread across pro-wrestling and despite crowning the first ever African American world champion in Ron Simmons, WCW ultimately would suffer a loss of almost half a million PPV buys for the year. WCW would have thought any damage to their competition as positive but it seemed that wrestling, as a whole, was suffering from the steroid scandal.
Thinking back, the exposure of steroids throughout the industry is no great surprise but it did mean that an already dwindling audience dwindled even further. With Hogan’s reputation under serious scrutiny and the world beginning to tire of the golden era of wrestling, it was time for the mid-card talents to step up and carry the mantle.
1993
WWF PPVS 1993 vs 1992: -25%
WCW PPVS 1993 vs 1992: -44%
Major Events: - WWF introduce new TV show “Monday Night Raw” but PPV buy-rates continue to drop
- Eric Bischoff takes control of WCW
- WCW hit decade low in PPV buy rates
There was little or no let up in the drop for PPV buys as 1993 rolled in. WWF slipped another 25% where as WCW were now at 620,000 buys for their big 4 PPVs. WWF, however, may well have taken their eyes off the PPVs during 1993 as Vince McMahon decided that a new weekly show was needed. Monday Night Raw was created and became an instant success with fans. Raw was a grittier show compared to other weekly wrestling shows at the time and the company began to showcase the less muscle bound talents such as Razor Ramon, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker.
WCW handed the reins to the brash young Eric Bischoff in an attempt to boost their ratings against their competition. It would not be the best of starts for young Eric as WCWs PPV buys for the year reached an overall low for the decade. This was in spite of Ric Flair’s return to the company, albeit in an initial non-wrestling capacity.
1993 was not a good year for wrestling PPVs overall and this is strongly reflected in the numbers. However with television programming becoming more and more available in both the U.S. and aboard, the business would move towards focusing on the quality of shows available to fans on a weekly basis. As the name “Raw” suggests, WWF were planning to showcase edgier storylines and controversial characters that would both appeal and contrast to the ever changing society outside the ring. Vince McMahon, I’m sure, was readily aware of WCW bringing in Eric Bischoff. Little did he know Eric was watching every move McMahon made with Raw, with future plans of his own Monday Night venture.
1994
WWF PPVS 1994 vs 1993: -9%
WCW PPVS 1994 vs 1993: +34%
Major Events: - WCW sign the industry’s biggest star, Hulk Hogan
- WCW begin airing PPVs on a monthly basis
- WCW record the first increase of the decade with a 34% buy-rate increase to their top 4 PPVs
- WWF buy-rates continue to fall
Hogan jumps ship and WCW is now officially on the map. WCW rages through 1994 with the big four PPVs all receiving major increases in buy rates allowing the company to record an overall 34% increase for the year marking the first increase of the decade. WWF were left with another decrease in buy-rates for the year, falling by a further 9%. In spite of being on top of the weekly ratings WWF were unable to break out of the downward trend in PPV buys. Furthermore, WCW began airing PPVs on a monthly basis in a move that was no doubt an attempt to increase WCW’s market share. With the addition of Hogan to the roster, WCW saw themselves increase their buy-rates for the big 4 PPVS and in the process, make up some serious ground on the WWF by the end of 1994.
WWF were still very much ahead with the PPVs but the gap had been considerably lessened. Back at the end of 1990, WWF were outselling WCW by almost 3.5 million PPVs a years. However, as 1994 came to a close, this number had fallen to just over a million. It’s fair to say WCW had improved under Hogan and Bischoff. Without eclipsing WWF immediately WCW had managed to increase their PPV buy rates and slowly fans were beginning see that WCW brought something different to the menu. Interesting times lay ahead for sure as Bischoff locked his sights firmly on McMahon.
1995
WWF PPVS 1995 vs 1994: -21%
WCW PPVS 1995 vs 1994: +17%
Major Events: - WCW PPV buys continue to increase with Monday Nitro introduced to compete with WWF Raw
- WWF follow suit with WCW by airing monthly PPVs with the introduction of “In your House”
- WWF PPVs fall a further 21% as WCW’s buys continue to rise
1995 saw one of WWF top heels step into the World title picture as Shawn Michaels battled his former tag team partner and new WWF champion Diesal. This came after Shawn Michaels had seemingly done the impossible by winning the 1995 Royal Rumble after entering at number 1. Despite a slight increase in the Rumble buy-rate for 1995, WWF would go on to have another poor year in PPV buys with rates dropping a further 21% as more and more fans were continuing to find WCW. It was during 1995 that WCW aired the first ever Monday Nitro in an attempt to take from WWF’s solid Monday night fan-base. This would also signal the beginning of the Monday Night Wars, a battle that would eventually claim one of the companies. In spite of the new TV show, WWF remained in front on PPV buys by half a million but the gap was now quickly closing.
WCW, I feel, goaded WWF into following suit with the monthly PPVs. In Your House, albeit a bit basic at first was a growing into a main stay in WWF programming and was certainly benefiting WWF as the ratings war came into full flow. 1995 was a year of transition in many years for both companies. WWF were pushing stars like Diesal, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels as their top draws while WCW were basking in the glory of their new found Hulkamania.
Nitro set the stage for a rivalry but WCW needed a spark to really get things going. The PPV buy rates still weren’t there, despite Hogan leading the company. Despite even Lex Luger jumping ship, I think Eric realised if he was going to catch Vince he was going to have to reach out to his rival’s top dogs.
1996
WWF PPVS 1996 vs 1995: -8%
WCW PPVS 1996 vs 1995: +14%
Major Events: - WCW signs two of WWF’s biggest stars in Kevin Nash and Scott Hall
- Hulk Hogan turns heel and the NWO is formed
- Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels fight a one hour Iron man match at Wrestlemania
- Monday Nitro overtakes Monday Night RAW in the weekly ratings.
- In spite of Monday night success WCW cannot overtake WWF in PPVs
- “Pillman’s gotta gun” incident almost costs WWF it’s weekly TV spot for RAW
WCW decide to up their game in the ratings war with The Outsiders, Hall and Nash, jumping ship. Conversely, WWF lost two of their biggest stars in Hall and Nash and continue to suffer in the PPV buys with Wrestlemania down 8% on the previous year. Hulk Hogan then shocks the world by attacking Macho Man Randy Savage, turning heel in the process. In June 1996 WCW overtake WWF in the Monday night ratings with the NWO now in full swing. However in spite of this over turn in the weekly ratings, WCW fail to capitalise on PPVs.
WWF have a strong start to the year with Shawn Michaels return at the Royal Rumble accounting for a 10% increase in buys for the event. However, the gap between the two companies was still closing as WWF ultimately failed to break their downward trend that year. Despite the strength in WWF’s PPVs fading, glimpses of success were still there to be seen. The 1996 Survivor Series saw Bret Hart return after a 7 month absence to take on the up and coming Stone Cold Steve Austin. This would see a slight increase of 2% in PPV buys on the previous year. Given the lack of success that year’s Summerslam had in PPV buys, this was a major positive the WWF could take into the following year.
Ultimately, PPV buy rates did not mimic the success that Nitro was having over Raw and WWF still finish the year 200,000 buys ahead. This may well have been the turning point in the Monday Night competition. WWF were behind on the Monday Night Rating but still remained on top in the big PPVs. WCW were putting all their eggs into one basket with Nitro and the NWO. If WCW had put more money into building solid PPVS instead of paying crazy money to their hyped up stars, there would have been a solid base to fall back on once the WWF attitude era took over. WWF were building new stars and it was only a matter of time before the talent tree bore fruit.
1997
WWF PPVS 1997 vs 1996: -9%
WCW PPVS 1997 vs 1996: +58%
Major Events: - WCW eclipse WWF PPV buy-rates by almost half a million buys
- Monday Night Raw becomes a two hour show.
- The emergence of DX and Stone Cold Steve Austin attract huge followings as WWF begins to change its programming style.
- Bret Hart signs for WCW following the Montreal Screwjob
- Rick rude appears on Monday Night Raw and Monday Nitro on the same night
- WCW Starrcade records 760,000 PPV buys; the highest of the decade for WCW with Hulk Hogan taking on Sting in the main event.
- Hogan vs. Sting match slated by critics prompting downward trend in WCW PPV buys
WCW continued to dominate on a weekly basis, with Monday Nitro firmly ahead in the ratings. WCW finally see success in PPV buy rates, scoring over 500,000 more PPVs than the WWF in 1997. WWF fight back, extending RAW by an hour each week. However, Wrestlemania draws a decade low rating of just over 300,000 buys. WWF were, however, digging in and began to promote new edgier storylines. Stone Cold Steve Austin emerged as a major fan favourite and was greatly praised for his Wrestlemania performance against main event main stay, Bret Hart.
WCW end the year very strongly following Bret Hart’s controversial exit from the WWF. The heavily hyped match against Shawn Michaels quickly became known as his last for the company, with the match taking place in Bret’s home country. The heated rivalry between the two stars over the years was enough to make Survivor Series 1997 WWF’s strongest PPV of the year with over 350,000 buys. However, the main event is shrouded in controversy, as Bret Hart loses the title in what later became known as the Montreal Screwjob.
The move sees several of WWF top star including Mick Foley and the Undertaker threaten to quit the company while stars such as Rick Rude actually end up leaving the company. WCW finishes the year with its strongest Starrcade to date at 760,000 buys. This event was the main contributor to their “Big Four” PPV dominance over the WWF that year.
However, the success of Starrcade on paper does not represent the overall success of the event. Many fans slated the main event that saw Hulk Hogan ‘lose’ the world title to Sting. Hogan and Sting would finally meet at Starrcade 1997 after almost a year of feuding. In stark contrast to their feud Hogan would actually go on to dominate a good portion of the match before seemingly beating Sting via the “fast count” by referee Nick Patrick. I’ve gone as far as to re-watch this match to investigate this “count” and, well, it doesn’t seem very fast at all. Never the less the now debuting Bret Hart decides he has the authority to re-start the match and becomes referee. This allows Sting to win via submission and become champion prompting in ring celebrations with all the WCW superstars.
This was a confusing and very unsatisfying match for a large number of supporters. WCW would suffer a large decrease in PPV rates heading into the next year and Starrcade 1997’s disastrous main event had a lot do with it.
On the larger scale, what goes up must come down and the money and controversy in WCW was set to dry up sooner rather than later. In spite of their success in the Monday night wars, WCW were not maximising the potential of PPVs. Bischoff took his foot well and truly off the gas and this would allow WWF to re-group and fight back. The money being paid to Hogan, Nash, Savage, Flair and now Hart was weakening the company financially and the advent of creative control in contracts would sow the seeds of countless backstage disputes. WCW may well have taken the lead but it would prove to be the kick up the back side that WWF needed.
1998
WWF PPVS 1998 vs 1997: +91%
WCW PPVS 1998 vs 1997: -13%
Major Events:
- WCW fail to turn weekly ratings into PPV success
- Raw beats Nitro for the first time in almost two years
- WWF push Stone Cold Steve Austin as top star as the WWF begin the attitude era.
- WCW bring in Bill Goldberg and Ultimate Warrior in at attempt to regain dominance
- WWF PPV rates soar for the first time in years with WWF receiving almost a million more buys than WCW.
WCW fail to build on their success in the Monday night Wars as WWF takes firm control. Steve Austin’s feud with Vince McMahon leads the way going into the attitude era. Austin’s world title win at Wrestlemania marks WWF’s return to the head of the Monday night ratings for the first time in almost two years. WWF were producing must see storylines that would see the success of Monday Night Raw translate into success for the PPVs. Wrestlemania increase by 200% in PPV buys for a single year. WCW fail to combat the turn around with Eric Bischoff under growing pressure to produce family friendly programming and reduce expenditure. As a result the company ultimately loses 200,000 PPV buys for the year.
WCW move to bring in Bill Goldberg who grows into a massive fan-favourite while the Ultimate Warrior is also recruited to rekindle his feud with Hulk Hogan in an attempt to regain ratings. Warrior and Hogan however, deliver possibly the worst PPV main event in history at Halloween Havoc 1998. Events like this were doing nothing to bring back the already mass-departing Nitro fans. The event brings in just over 300,000 buys but leads the way for a massive decline in PPV buys in 1999. The effect is seen almost immediately with Starrcade suffering a 40% drop in PPV buys at the end of the year; this single event suffering the most critical hit.
With 1998 drawing to an end, WWF regained firm control of the PPV buy rates by moving almost a million buys ahead of WCW for the year. The cracks were fast appearing in WCW and in spite of their continued success with Monday Nitro, the company once again began to suffer with PPV buys. If you give a good striker time and space, he’s going to score. WWF took their chance. Instead of building a Wrestlemania or a Royal Rumble, WCW continued to push storyline’s based around Hogan and the NWO where as the WWF were building new main event stars in Austin, The Rock, HHH and Mick Foley. WWF had quickly rebuilt its PPV status with Wrestlemania up 600,000 buys on the previous year. The attitude era had arrived and WWF had WCW on the ropes.
1999
WWF PPVS 1999 vs 1998: 13%
WCW PPVS 1999 vs 1998: -37%
Major Events: - Monday Night Wars begin the year neck and neck.
- WWF maintain healthy lead in PPV buys
- January 4th’s WCW Nitro loses over half a million viewers after announcing Mick Foley is to win the WWF title on Raw.
- WCW continues to decline as WWF attitude era moves into full flow.
- WCW bring in Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara but fail to rejuvenate the company
- WWF end the decade firmly in control of ratings both weekly and in the big four PPVs.
WCW may well have shot themselves in the foot during the first head to head broadcast of 1999. With Mick Foley having won his first WWF title at a Raw taping, Eric Bischoff saw fit to make the announcement live on Nitro. This lead to an estimated 600,000 viewer’s instantly changing channel to watch Raw instead on Nitro. It was a pivotal moment that saw WCW fall behind in the Monday Night Wars. Mick Foley would go on to feud with the Rock showing the effect that a decent Monday Night Raw feud can have on a PPV. The feud contributed to the Royal Rumble increasing by 94% in PPV buys for 1999. WCW eventually brought in Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara but to little avail as WWF prepared to go into the new Millennium firmly in control.
On top of WCW’s increasing downfall in the Monday Night ratings were further declines in PPV buy-rates. WWF turned recent years’ lacklustre performances into their best PPV buy rate since 1993 as they ended the year almost 2 million buys ahead of their rivals. The WWF were now firmly on top with WCW seemingly falling apart. This downfall would eventually lead to the company’s demise. Cumulative buy rates for WCWs big four PPVs fell below the 1 million mark as WWF were on the verge of breaking 3 million for the year.
Starrcade manages only 128,000 PPV buys in 1999 which sees the flagship PPV for WCW down over half a million buys on its most successful year which occurred just two years previous. With the decade coming to a close it was clear for all to see what direction each of the company’s big four PPVs had taken
WWF BIG FOUR PPVs vs. WCW BIG FOUR PPVs
Accumulated “Big Four” PPV buys for each of the 10 years during the decade are seen in the graph above and in many ways the graph perfectly describes the rise and fall of WCW. The graph shows the high numbers WWF were receiving coming off the back of the 80s and how WCW were still receiving reasonable returns on their PPVS. The sharp descent can be seen in 1992, during which time the steroid allegations came to light and many fans and supporters became disinterested in the product. WWF continue to struggle with PPVs, allowing WCW to slowly increase their yearly return following Hogan’s signing with the company. Despite leading in the Monday night wars for parts of 1996 and 1998, WCW cannot overtake the WWF in PPVS for these years. WCW’s sole successful year over their competitors in PPVs in 1997 is swiftly over turned the following year as the Attitude Era comes into play.
And so, the party ended as WCW would slowly deteriorate before Vince eventually decide to come in with the cheque book and buy his biggest rivals. I often wonder if Eric regretted the decision to announce Foley’s title win on Raw. WCW would later be seen to have a laundry list of backstage problems that would eventually see the company bought by the WWF. There are many reasons why WCW ultimately went under but their reluctance to develop their PPVs remains a key factor. PPVs form the backbone of a wrestling company in terms of fans and revenue. Eric missed out on this by gearing everything towards Nitro and beating Vince on a weekly basis. WWF always had the big four to draw in the numbers. WCW didn’t. Even when they were destroying the WWF on a weekly basis, they were only ever slightly ahead in the PPVs.
The way I see it, PPVs put wrestling on the map. Where as weekly TV would be the main form of promotion going forward, the long term viability of a company would be based on their ability to up their game at PPVs and show the fans the next level of performance. WCW could not achieve this. PPVs played a major part in both companies throughout the 1990s. They showed us how each company were able to take downward trends and turn them into something new. PPVs showed us that WCW benefited from Hogan’s arrival but ultimately were not strong enough to over take the WWF. PPVs showed us that WWF were still able to produce the best in the world as stars like The Rock, HHH, Steve Austin and Mick Foley spearheaded WWF into the new millennium.
The Monday Night Wars gave the fans a choice but it was only the very best PPVs that helped fans make the decision.
Thanks for reading
Peace
Note: I sourced my statistics from an external wrestling website. In accordance with LOP Rules I have not revealed the website address but will happily pass on the site details privately to anyone who would like further information.
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