WWE News: Why Vince McMahon Announced Brock Lesnar Vs. Undertaker At ‘Night Of Champions’ Revealed
When the Rock returned to the WWE for WrestleMania 27, he was scheduled to be the host of the evening. During the main event, Rock got involved and interfered, so that John Cena couldn’t walk out of WrestleMania with the WWE championship. The next night on WWE Raw, Cena and Rock were announced as the main event for WrestleMania 28. It was the first time in WWE history that a main event was slated one year before the actual event.
It was clearly a success, as the Rock and Cena are huge draws in the WWE spectrum. Vince McMahon reverted back to that ideology and announced the Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar at Hell in a Cell during the Night of Champions pay-per-view. Putting up an advertisement of that match so early does help the promotion immensely.
McMahon and his WWE officials had an entire month to build up the match. Undertaker and Lesnar are set for their third, and final, match between the two. Both men will wrestle inside Hell in a Cell. Despite the big names and the repercussions of the match, the WWE Universe isn’t buzzing like they should be. Should McMahon have refrained from promoting the match an entire month early?
According to Daily Wrestling News, the reason behind why the Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar match was announced early is revealed.
“Vince McMahon decided to announce the WWE Hell In a Cell main event with Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker during the Night of Champions pay-per-view with the idea that some people who were planning to cancel their WWE Network subscriptions would be excited for the match and renew their subscription. No word yet if this actually made any difference but it was the main reason.”
McMahon’s logic makes perfect sense; however, nobody should consider canceling their Network subscription, barring a financial fracas. If the WWE product was as good as it should be, more people would buy the WWE Network. McMahon shouldn’t have to rely on heavy promotion during another pay-per-view to set up another PPV’s big match.
If WWE Raw and WWE Smackdown received ratings in the 3’s, Brock Lesnar and Undertaker would’ve been announced on those programs. Instead, McMahon had no choice but to announce it on a high-profile show. At Hell in a Cell, there’s more riding on the future of WWE’s ratings than people imagine. It doesn’t stop at the Lesnar/Taker match.
Jim Ross, former WWE announcer, talked about John Cena possibly dropping the U.S. title at Hell in a Cell earlier this week.
“Big question is will John Cena anoint someone in the US Title Open Challenge? Great spot to do so with Cena leaving for several weeks after Sunday’s show. Cena will be on ESPN tonight with Jonathan Coachman at 9/8CT.
“This event Sunday has lost a fair amount of luster over the past several weeks build to it but that means that expectations are likely lower than expected which means it could be a sleeper show at the Staples Center.”
Ross’ last paragraph is the alarming part of his blog. A WWE show like Hell in a Cell has to do all it can to keep the excitement going. Rather, a giant “sigh” from the WWE Universe is collectively active due to it’s lackluster promotion and hype. As silly as it seems, there’s no hype for Hell in a Cell.
If Vince McMahon is planning something huge for the event, then maybe WWE Raw’s ratings will mirror that. Then again, it seems like the WWE is planning something big for every pay-per-view. McMahon hit a home-run with his deal involving SportsCenter. It will only help the WWE find itself out of the recession they’re currently in. WWE shouldn’t announce anything for Survivor Series until WWE Raw.
[Images via WWE.com and YouTube]
