Survivor Series 2024 was an acceptable premium live event with effective progression across all major storylines and The Bloodline headlining the show in a dramatic WarGames match. Both men's midcard titles were introduced, while the top female stars opened the event with their own WarGames match Günther defended his heavyweight world title against Damian Priest.
Related
The PLE highlighted a persistent problem with these major WWE events, namely that the match quality across the card was not consistently good enough. This has been typical throughout Triple H's tenure as creative director on the main roster, as most shows have one or two quality games at best.
Ironically, WWE has never been known for great wrestling, often relying primarily on characters and storylines to drive fan investment. However, in the modern wrestling world, a high level of in-ring quality is expected more than ever, and these PLEs don't deliver nearly enough.
WWE had consistently average PLEs in 2024
The quality of play needs to be better at the big shows
- Survivor Series 2024 highlighted WWE's inability to encourage consistent in-ring work on PLEs.
- The show had a great match between Sheamus, Ludwig Kaiser and Bron Breakker.
- This was a common trend in 2024 as other PLEs didn't even have a stellar match.
It would be unreasonable to assume that Every WWE match on PLE should reach the five-star mark. Because things like form, chemistry and luck can influence a performance that evening. However, there is obvious, perhaps even concerted, evidence that PLE matches rarely reach their cap, which is a problem.
Related
For example, at Survivor Series, the only match that really lived up to the hype was the Intercontinental Triple Threat between Bron Breakker, Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser. Some would argue that the men's WarGames match was also great, but the stipulation has had its inherent flaws throughout its existence in WWE.
One great match a night isn't a bad hit rate, but when analyzing the WWE roster, it would be fair to expect more from the company, especially with how many fans they're investing in right now. Some PLEs this year didn't even have a match worth mentioning, most notably Money in the Bank and SummerSlam, which were extremely disappointing that evening.
Triple H has placed great emphasis on wrestling in the past
Triple H's NXT TakeOver events received critical acclaim
- During his time leading NXT, Triple H helped make TakeOver events synonymous with great in-ring quality.
- The downside was that NXT television wasn't as popular during this time as the focus was on TakeOvers.
- WWE now has the opposite problem with great television but disappointing PLEs.
From his time as head of NXT to his current role as head of creative at WWE, Triple H seems to have gone from one extreme to the other. His TakeOver events from the late 2010s received effusive praise for in-ring quality compared to the main performance shows of the time, but the actual creative output was often mediocre and relied too heavily on the results of the evening's matches.
Related
The opposite happened in 2024 under Triple H, as the PLEs are so excited for the show but are rarely able to reach the heights they've been working towards. This scenario is far preferable to the final days of NXT under Triple H, as the mood surrounding WWE at the moment is exceptional despite some flaws, but there is room for improvement.
WWE has even utilized the TakeOver formula by offering more compact cards with shorter durations, just without the assumed match quality that the NXT events had. Triple H is trying to adopt what worked during his NXT days, but doesn't seem interested in ensuring quality matches are produced more often.
WWE's overall product deserves a better payout
Premium live events must live up to WWE's hard work
- WWE's creative work deserves to be better translated into matches on PLEs.
- WWE needs to find a way to ensure better in-ring quality, even if it requires profiling different artists.
- Triple H doesn't have to sacrifice great television to prioritize the most important events.
The main reason matches on WWE PLEs should be better is because the overall product deserves it. The company has had another standout year from a creative perspective, and television shows across the board haven't been as good as they've been in over two decades.
This year's PLE edition has some diamonds in the rough to offer, like CM Punk and Drew McIntyre's sensational Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood. Even during their feud, the Big Bang at the Cell was preceded by some lackluster encounters, which is a microcosm of the overall match quality in WWE PLEs.
Triple H shouldn't sacrifice what he's accomplished with the overall television product just to make PLE more of a destination, but there has to be a way around the issue of match quality. Maybe it's just a matter of putting together better opponents, because it's hard to expect anything big from a match between LA Knight and Shinsuke Nakamura in 2024.
WWE's next big thing is to deliver a quality Royal Rumble show, Something Triple H also struggled with during his creative tenure. As WrestleMania season approaches, the quality of matches will certainly increase as it is the time of year when performers want to shine the most.
