Raw - is it more important than PPVS? Will contain spoilers

This week's Raw was really good, every segment felt like it had a purpose, we saw the confirmation of a double turn from Payback, Brock Lesnar attack Punk and Heyman seemingly turn on him, Mark Henry's retirement and twist, Christian's return etc.

My question is, in particular the Brock Lesnar segment...why not have that at Payback? How much better would Payback have been received if Lesnar had come out then?

This continues a trend in WWE of having bigger moments on Raw than on the PPV, we've seen Money in the Bank cash ins like Dolph, we've seen returns of Lesnar, turn of Ryback, and returns for PPVs being announced on Raw. Does this show that perhaps WWE sees Raw as more important than the pay per views? Could it be that advertising money from TV actually is better for WWE than PPV buys, so they focus on that?

I think it's odd that the Raw after a PPV is usually better than the PPV with more shocks and big moments.

I think it could be that by making Raw as good as its ever been they're hoping that willl then increase the buy rates for the PPVs

I don't doubt that icreased revenue from Raw would be welcomed, but if they could even increase buy rates for ppv by as little as 5-10% at $40+ a pop then that would be mega bucks

no. It's because people can watch RAW and see these big moments which are unannounced which they wouldn't on PPV (because of the cost). If they're planning a big surprise, it makes sense to have it done on RAW because people the global audience is much bigger than a PPV audience. Just imagine if you bought a PPV because there was a rumour Lesnar is returning, you spend $40-50 or £14.99 here and get a garbage PPV and no brock - would you be happy with that?

Lesnar coming out at payback wouldn't have made any sense because you wouldn't have had the back story of punk standing down Heyman etc.

Does anyone have any links to the show online?

If so could you PM me, wanna watch this show, sounds good

just use torrents, pal. the usual sites have it

Crimey wrote:My question is, in particular the Brock Lesnar segment...why not have that at Payback? How much better would Payback have been received if Lesnar had come out then?

Because people will tune in if they hear Brock Lesnar is on tv, but won't pay for a PPV halfway through.

It wouldnt have made as much sense at Payback. The story was slightly beginning but it became clearer on Raw when there was segment time for promos and conversations.

With the Dolph cash in they clearly like something big to kick off the post mania season on Raw. Wrestlemania doesnt need a cash in moment.

I also think you are forgetting we saw the beginnings of a good few stories at Payback. Punk's turn and his disinterest in Heyman, the double turn and even the RVD announcement. I dont think you could have had Christian, Mark Henry and Lesnar on Payback, it would not have made sense without time to really talk or the little build that was needed.

Olly - Usually people just upload the whole show to Youtube mate 

I thought Raw was brilliant last night. Not a bad thing to say about the show, maybe the ongoing crap storyline with HHH and Vince. But apart from that, i thought it was superb.

I love how WWE have done this double turn of Dolph and Del Rio. Be interesting to see if Dolph continues with AJ and Big E. Already looking forward to seeing how this feud continues.

Christan return was decent and his match against Barrett was my match of the night. Ill imagine both men will now be in the money in the bank ladder match.

Daniel Bryan vs Randy Orton was a good match, but it still shows no signs of a turn from either man sadly. I still got a feeling there going to have a match at MITB.

The John Cena and Mark Henry segment, i doubt you will ever get a better shocking twist to a segment. Both men played it really well. No one will believe Mark Henry when he actually retires  none the less im looking forward to there match at MITB.

Finally Brock Lesnar returning was once again epic. I knew that when Punk and Heyman "broke up" earlier in the night that Lesnar and Punk would have a match, most likely will be at Summer Slam. Highly doubt it will be at MITB. But was such a shock to see Lesnar return.

Im interested to see where this Steph/Vince/HHH feud is heading. It seems like there's going to be a battle of control or power which leads to a match. I wouldn't mind this.

I think now Cesaro has Zeb by his side, he must be one of the favourites to win Money in the Bank. I can also see Big E being a contender. In addition, they'll probably add Sheamus and Rhodes Scholars to the match. 

On Lesnar/Punk, I don't see how they are going to keep this match on hold till Summerslam. What's Punk going to do till then? I felt they should have kept Lesnar off TV just for a little bit instead of wasting there first match at Money in the Bank.

Yeah, I think theres very easily a way to build up the match with Lesnar being a factor to cost Punk at MITB. Wont be the first time Heyman carried a Lesnar feud on TV

You mean like every Lesnar feud since his return other than Cena Chris

I actually like it, Brock doesn't need to be there to build the feuds and I actually think it gets Brock more over. He looks like he thinks he is bigger than WWE, he's one of the few guys who feels really big every time he comes out. It's different to say the Rock absences, as Rock was supposed to be a face and the People's Champion and he didn't have somebody like Heyman who can put Lesnar more over than Brock appearing every week.

I was worried that Lesnar was about to speak last night, which always makes him look ridiculous, so was glad he just attacked Punk. It spoke volumes about the differences between them, Punk would have dropped a pipe bomb, Lesnar just hit him with an F5.

I can understand having big shocks on the TV show reaches a wider audience, but that's the whole point of having them on PPV as people will buy the PPVs thinking there is a big shock. I think WWE gives too much away on free TV these days. For example, I could have not watched Payback and last night's Raw would have been just as good. As it was I had stayed up for Payback and was given a decent enough show, but not a special one but WWE did have somebody like Lesnar to pull out.

PPV buyrates won't go up if people can get more from free TV anyway, which I think is the case at the moment. There have been more memorable moments on Raw over the past 3 years than there has been on pay per view.

WWE have got to the point where the standard of wrestling is really high, the standard of story-telling just needs to catch up on PPV, most of the PPVs have all had some good matches on over the past couple of years, it's just a shame that they don't get the shocks and twists of storylines.

Crimey wrote:I can understand having big shocks on the TV show reaches a wider audience, but that's the whole point of having them on PPV as people will buy the PPVs thinking there is a big shock.

You completely ignored what i said, if you order a PPV thinking there's a big shock and it doesn't happen you're gonna be annoyed and probably won't order another one again - what do they gain from that? People WON'T buy a PPV because they 'think' there's a big shock, people are not going to waste their money on a 'thought' which can be snuffed out and pulled before the show even starts. They will buy a PPV if they KNOW Lesnar is going to turn up aka it's advertised, but then you lose the shock value of it all.

Having the big angles happen on TV, these days, is the best way to do business because it's available instantly. As people said, if brock returned on the PPV - people won't suddenly buy it when they find out, they'll find a stream online or download it elsewhere - there's no gain for the WWE there. Having it on RAW means they'll get a ratings boost, which is what the show is all about.

gcBlues wrote:

Crimey wrote:I can understand having big shocks on the TV show reaches a wider audience, but that's the whole point of having them on PPV as people will buy the PPVs thinking there is a big shock.

You completely ignored what i said, if you order a PPV thinking there's a big shock and it doesn't happen you're gonna be annoyed and probably won't order another one again - what do they gain from that? People WON'T buy a PPV because they 'think' there's a big shock, people are not going to waste their money on a 'thought' which can be snuffed out and pulled before the show even starts. They will buy a PPV if they KNOW Lesnar is going to turn up aka it's advertised, but then you lose the shock value of it all.

Having the big angles happen on TV, these days, is the best way to do business because it's available instantly. As people said, if brock returned on the PPV - people won't suddenly buy it when they find out, they'll find a stream online or download it elsewhere - there's no gain for the WWE there. Having it on RAW means they'll get a ratings boost, which is what the show is all about.

Of course that's one of the biggest reasons for people buying the pay per view, because the biggest things are supposed to happen on pay per view. In the past the big heel turns, the big shocks and returns would all happen on pay per view, but these days they usually happen on Raw. People buy the PPV because they think it's going to be a good pay per view, they think the matches are going to be interesting, and they think that there might be a big moment, a shock, a surprise, a return etc.

It's long term strategy rather than an instant return, by having everything happen on Raw, there is no reason to buy pay per views at all. If Lesnar had returned at Payback and did what he did on Raw, more people might have bought the pay per view in hope of a similar shock. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't mean people go home disappointed, the whole show isn't based on the shock. If Brock returns on Raw, and people hear about it afterwards, WWE don't get a ratings boost, just as if it happened on PPV and they heard about it afterwards doesn't get them buys. You have to pull people in by offering something on the PPV that they don't get on Raw, but as it is, Raw is more worthwhile watching than PPVs.

I'm asking whether that should be the case? Ratings aren't the be all and end all, they're the purpose of Raw, but WWE is a money-making business, whether it makes money through advertisement on TV or PPV buys or selling out arenas. I'm suggesting that by prioritising Raw for the big angles, PPVs have become redundant, most of the matches on Payback we'd seen before on free TV anyway. This might be because WWE simply makes more money from Raw, but I think the more you give away on free TV, the less important pay per views will become. As I said, I could have not watched Payback, therefore not bought it, and really it wouldn't have made a difference, I'd have missed a couple of decent matches but nothing major. That's wrong, WWE should be making the PPVs unmissable.