Five Events That Need To Return To The WWE PPV Calendar

It’s once again time to shake things up in WWE… at least when it comes to the company’s premium live event calendar.

WWE Day 1 was publicly announced as taking place on January 1, 2023, at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Since then, the event has reportedly been pulled from the event calendar, leading to speculation that WWE is bringing some changes to its schedule.

One suggestion that has been made is WWE should remove several of the “gimmick” PLEs from the calendar. There have been good events over the years, but Elimination Chamber, Extreme Rules, Hell In A Cell and TLC usually garner the most criticism (although Survivor Series has been in the conversation too).

WWE’s “Big 4” likely won’t go anywhere (outside of shifting the date it’s held, like this year’s SummerSlam in July), but there’s always a debate as to what other events should be on the calendar.

Here are five events that WWE should consider bringing back to the event calendar … or in some cases adding them for the first time.

King of the Ring

WWE King Of The Ring

King Of The Ring is active, but it has been held as a multi-week tournament rather than the one-night show that it started as.

Fans have called for WWE to put King Of The Ring back on the pay-per-view schedule for years. They were met with a compromise of sorts as the 2021 King (and Queen) of the Ring tournament winners were determined at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia.

WWE could go a step further and host more tournament matches on the titular event (although it might be adjusted to reflect both respective tournaments). Not only would this be a good fit in between WrestleMania and Money In The Bank, but WWE could potentially reward the King and Queen with a title shot, similar to Brock Lesnar’s prize for winning in 2002.

Keep the opening rounds on RAW and SmackDown but throw in a championship match or two, and add the men’s and women’s semifinals and finals matches to the PLE lineup. You’d have a solid card that not only allows some storyline progression, but it also makes long-time fans happy that a piece of nostalgia is back on the calendar.

WWE Clash Of Champions

WWE Clash Of Champions has technically been around since 2007, as it started out as Night Of Champions. The concept is the same despite the name change, as all active titles were defended on the show.

WWE has one more title than in 2020, the date of the last Clash, as they’ve since introduced the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship. Ten title matches make for a stacked card. The champion is set, but the challenger (and the stipulation) allows for some wiggle room and creativity. The 2020 event featured an Ambulance match, so you could still book some more “extreme” title matches.

A majority of the Night/Clash events were held in September, but not all, so there’s some room to find a good spot on the calendar for this one.

WWE No Mercy

WWE No Mercy didn’t really have a signature match type but it often had some memorable matches take place on the show. Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho’s ladder match is perhaps the most memorable, but No Mercy has also hosted Last Man Standing and Biker Chain matches, along with huge main events featuring Triple H, Steve Austin and Brock Lesnar.

No Mercy was also the name of one of the most well-received WWF/E video games of all time, so there’s another positive reference to lean on. No Mercy ran for ten consecutive years, followed by two more in 2016 and 2017. Nearly every event (with the exception of the 2017 edition, which took place in late September) took place in October, so it’d be a good substitute for Hell In A Cell on schedule.

Taking it a bit further, you could still potentially host the Hell In A Cell match at No Mercy, but it’d at least add a bit more surprise than knowing the match was coming at the titular event.

Bash At The Beach

WWE needs another big Bash.

Next to Halloween Havoc, Bash At The Beach is arguably one of the best names for a WCW event and it’s one of the most requested as well. AEW ran one Bash At The Beach event two years ago, but then changed to Beach Break. WWE might be reluctant to bring it back so soon, but they own the trademark for Bash At The Beach, so it’d be well within their rights to promote the event.

Depending on when SummerSlam falls, Bash At The Beach would be a great event to host in June or July. It’s a fun summer event that doesn’t directly tie to a specific match type, but it allows some creativity on the match card. In addition, WWE could also host it in a travel hot-spot as they continue the push to make its PLEs destination events.

Starrcade

It’s been held as a non-televised live event and a WWE Network exclusive in the past, but Starrcade could be a great addition to the WWE calendar.

Fans know Starrcade as an NWA and WCW event, but WWE revived the name for a 2017 live event in Greensboro, North Carolina. The event was held as a pay-per-view in December for ten consecutive years in WCW, so it would find a home on the current event calendar without any rescheduling.

Triple H is a Dusty Rhodes fan and Cody Rhodes is back in the fold, so there are certainly two names that would treat the brand with the respect it deserves. Similar to Bash At The Beach, Starrcade isn’t tied to one match. WWE could build it as the year-end blowout with huge matches and stipulations, instead of leaving fans feeling like things are a holiday afterthought. Starrcade could easily step in as the replacement for WWE TLC, which hasn’t even been on the schedule since 2020.