Lack of Competition Harming WWE

Is the WWE taking fans for granted? Has a lack of serious competition led Vince McMahon to become complacent? A look at the recent matches on pay per view (PPV) could lead to many to that belief.

Wrestlemania XXIV took place on March 30. The show featured a world title match from both the Raw and Smackdown brands. In the Raw main event, Randy Orton defended his title against Triple H and Jon Cena. Smackdown's main event featured Edge defending against the Undertaker. Orton managed to retain his title while Edge lost to the Undertaker. Less than a month later, on April 27, WWE presented Backlash. In that pay per view, Orton again defended against Triple H and John Cena. JBL was also added to the mix. On this night, Triple H won the title from Orton. In the same event, the Undertaker retained his title against Edge.

The very next day on Raw, Orton used his rematch clause to wrestle Triple H. That match ended in a no contest, assuring another match at the next PPV. Later in that same week on Smackdown, General Manager Vickie Guerrero stripped Undertaker of his title. She announced a tournament to declare the number one contender which Edge won. Two weeks later on May 18, Judgment Day brought another round of Orton vs. Triple H and Edge vs. Undertaker matches. Triple H retained his title in a cage match. Undertake and Edge fought to a no contest.

All of this leads up to the next PPV on June 1, a mere two weeks away, in which Orton and Triple H will compete against each other again. Every indication points to another Edge vs. Undertaker match as well. This will make four PPVs in just over two months that have had virtually the same main events. PPV buy rates show a decrease in purchases which could be from the lack of new matches. Not many people will pay over $200 to see the same thing four times. More importantly, since WWE's biggest competition is years behind being a legitimate threat, there seems to be no drive to improve the product. A similar situation happened in the late 90s which lead to the rise of the Monday Night Wars. If WWE is not careful, they could once again find themselves in a struggle to stay alive.