Matt O’Brien maintains the Wrestleview.com Poll
In a recent Wrestleview poll asking which concept wrestling pay per views should be brought back, the results were as follows.
Bunkhouse Stampede 2% (76 votes)
King of the Ring 28% (1,012 votes)
Cyber Sunday 4% (161 votes)
Slamboree (Legends Night) 4% (139 votes)
Starrcade 7% (274 votes)
War Games 37% (1,364 votes)
Survivor Series 17% (631 votes)
Other 0% (0 votes)
Total votes: 3,657
Coming in at first place by far was War Games with 37% of the votes. The match still exists today in different variations. The most well known is TNA’s Lethal Lockdown. That particular match is more of a War Games-Bunkhouse Stampede hybrid. WWE recently put out a poll with War Games as a possible name for an upcoming ppv. Should WWE revive the show someday, it would be very interesting to see how they would change the match. Would they still do the two-ring setup? Would they use a cage or Hell in a Cell? More importantly, WWE’s use of this match would have to be setup properly. It can’t just be thrown together. Throwing random guys into the match tainted the event in its latter years.
Second place in the voting went to King of the Ring with 28% of the votes. The one-night tournament is a sentimental favorite for wrestling fans. The last few years, if done, KOTR was done on TV and didn’t feel as special as it used to. After putting on King of the Ring back in the early 90s, WWE put the event on pay per view in 1993. The event showcased Bret Hart and was one of the best shows of the year. The following year Owen Hart capitalized on the chance to showcase his abilities. The event also was the beginning for the launch of Austin 3:16, and a drastic character change for Triple H.
The biggest surprise on the poll was Survivor Series coming in third place. We have yet to experience a year without the event, but with WWE no longer holding the show fans do not want to see this event go. After all, it has been a tradition since 1987. It is only a few years younger than Wrestlemania.
A few readers had mentioned to me before they would like to see Starrcade brought back. Starrcade was the supercard of supercards before Wrestlemania existed. It was once a Thanksgiving tradition, then used to host events like the Iron man tournament, Battle Bowl, and a United States vs. Japan series. By the late 90s, the event held some of the biggest matches of the decade such as Hulk Hogan vs. Sting and Kevin Nash vs. Goldberg.
Ironically, on a poll asking readers to vote for a pay per view they would like to see, a ppv with matches controlled by fan voting received few votes. Cyber Sunday came in at fifth place. That could speak volumes about how little fans feel their involvement in that event mattered or how poorly the show was put together.
The Legends Reunion ppv received limited votes. One possible explanation, other than the fact readers just liked the other choices more, is that most legends who can still work or fans would pay to see are still wrestling.
Last place in voting was Bunkhouse Stampede. The event was done back in the 80s a few times but only once held on pay per view. Events in the Other category that may have garnered votes are Battle Bowl, Road Wild, or even WWE’s old two-hour In Your House Shows. A couple of comments mentioned Halloween Havoc as favorite. The event was really never a concept show, but it was always one of the biggest and best WCW shows of the year. 1994’s event featured a career match between Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, and 1996 featured the return of Roddy Piper. Perhaps the most controversial of the Havoc shows was 1998. The show was the most well-stacked WCW card that year. Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner had aone-on-one match that had been building since February. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash had a build-up going back to May. Sting vs. Bret Hart had been a dream match for over five years, and Hulk Hogan vs. Warrior was a huge rematch. The main event that night between Dallas Page and Goldberg was one of the best of the 1998.
Be sure to vote in the new poll on the front page currently asking: What is currently the best weekly wrestling show on TV?