With the WWE Fastlane results coming in as we speak, some people may be wondering why in the world Vince McMahon had the 2015 Elimination Chamber PPV eliminated from the schedule. In short, it’s what is best for business, although perhaps that’s not what WWE fans would like to hear.
In a related report by the Inquisitr , when the WWE reported 4th quarter results for 2014 along with full-year financial results, it was discovered the one million WWE Network subscriber numbers were a legitimate yet unstable claim to fame. Some reports claim the company may have difficulty maintaining these numbers based upon the new WWE Network subscription system, since 254,000 subscribers cancelled after the disappointing Royal Rumble 2015.
So what do these business numbers have to do with WWE Fastlane and the cancelled 2015 Elimination Chamber ? Originally, Vince McMahon was shooting for making the WWE Network profitable with 1.4 million subscribers, but when it became obvious this goal wasn’t realistic, the company launched a cost-cutting campaign, including the infamous WWE layoffs. At this point, it’s been claimed in the past the company only needs around 750,000 subscribers in order to survive, and as of earlier this month they currently have 723,174 active subscribers.
It should be assumed many of those 254,000 lost subscribers who championed the “cancel WWE Network movement” will come back for WrestleMania , but otherwise the company is collectively tightening its belt. Apparently, one way of doing this was canceling 2015 Elimination Chamber and replacing it with WWE Fastlane , which does not really have a specialty type match (although seeing Sting pop up should be a highlight).
The main reason for nixing the WWE PPV was due to the costs associated with the Elimination Chamber cage structure. According to a WWE Magazine article in 2009 by WWE’s production designer Jason Robinson, the cage cost $250,000 to construct, and presumably it costs a pretty penny to store, transport, and set up for the event.
Stephanie McMahon admitted as much last month when she appeared on The Wrestling Compadres podcast . According to Wrestle Zone , Stephanie said “hanging the Chamber structure has become quite a chore, as it weighs nearly 10 tons and most arenas nowadays have large scoreboards hanging above the middle of the arena, making it quite difficult to hang the structure.”
So that is the history of WWE Fastlane 2015; it’s what is best for business since it allows Vince McMahon to find another way to cut costs. But is canceling Elimination Chamber 2015 one cut too many?
