Timing is everything in entertainment and professional wrestling, especially during a pay-per-view like Survivor Series where they have an allotted time to get in their programming.
This involves ensuring matches don’t go over their time limit and is often the reason a few minutes are cut here and there.
As reported by @the_wrestling_news2, PWINsider reported the WWE ran into a problem and had a “minor freak out” backstage during the main event.
It appears they were concerned about running out of time and having the main event cut off from viewers similar to what happened to WCW twenty or so years ago.
Avoiding the cutoff
The show was expected to end at 11:35 P.M. EST with the main event having to be squeezed in and it looks like they were able to get enough time either through cutting it short of working a deal to get more time.
An early cutoff would’ve been embarrassing and raised more questions about a company many already have plenty of concerns about give their recent rounds of releases of talent and backstage staff over the last year.
The problem her was squarely WWE’s doing and doesn’t appear to be a miscommunication like with WCW.
The men’s elimination match is the obvious culprit as they were given roughly 30 minutes for their entrances. It’s understandable they’d want everyone to have their moment, but that was extreme.
It’s something they often do on their regular programming to eat up time where Roman Reign’s entrance is a good portion of a segment, the commercial break, and then a couple more minutes afterwards.
To put the men’s elimination entrances in perspective, Reigns and Big E had a very good match that lasted 22 minutes in the show’s main event.
Wrong emphasis
While we love great entrances like the Undertaker is known for, but the matches are what the fans want to see. By cutting the matches short and focusing more on entrances that aren’t theatrical, it feels like the focus is on the wrong part of the experience.
It’s a fine line to walk and it appears the WWE nearly tripped over it, but we’re glad they got it all sorted out.
This makes us wonder if we’re going to continue to see the long, drawn out entrances or will the WWE start cutting them shorted to extend some match times.
Do you think the WWE will shorten their entrances after this or continue ass they’ve been? Let us know in the comments below.
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