This past week AJ Lee’s interference in a triple threat number one contenders match for her Diva’s title landed her in a fatal four way match for that very title between Naomi, Natalya and Brie Bella at the Night of Champions. A refreshing change from the onslaught of singles matches in WWE. Take the Night of Champions Pay Per View: outside of the Diva’s title the only possible non-singles matches are: CM Punk vs Curtis Axel & Paul Heyman (which for some reason appears to be a non-title match) and the Tag Team Title match (although that could benefit from a triple threat or fatal four way tag match).
So what is the big deal, well look no further than the list of superstars who could be sitting on their hands during the Night of Champions: Antonio Cesaro, Big E Langston, Big Show, Bray Wyatt, Damien Sandow, Dolph Ziggler, Fandango, The Great Khali, Jack Swagger, The Uso’s, Kofi Kingston, Mark Henry, The Miz, R-Truth, Ryback, Tyson Kidd, Wade Barrett, Zack Ryder.
In fairness someone will have to face Dean Ambrose for the United States Championship (likely in a singles match) and I can only assume the Prime Time Players will take on Rollins and Reigns for the tag titles. However, think about how much better the card could be. The WWE championship match could be a five man match between Champion Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Big Show, Dolph Ziggler, and Mark Henry. The World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio could have to deal with not just RVD, but Ryback or Wade Barrett as well in a triple threat. The US Champion Dean Ambrose could be forced to defend in a 6 person match against: Kofi Kingston, Big E Langston, Bray Wyatt, Fandango and The Miz. Of course this would require a magical time machine to actually happen, but just take it as an example.
WWE pays almost everyone on a contract (with some notable exceptions such as Brock Lesnar). So the guys who are sitting in the locker room are still being paid. The WWE and those superstars would stand to gain if said superstars were on TV and Pay Per View more. The WWE could pull in more ratings and merchandise sales could sell at a higher rate. Look at a league like the NFL, arguably the biggest success in regards to US sports today, it is a QB league. However, that does not mean a couple players are the face of the league. Instead the better half of the league’s quarterbacks are house hold names (even Tony Romo, who was a solid sleeper for my fantasy team last year). Part of the reason for this is because of the balance in the league due to revenue sharing, meaning almost any team has a chance to win it all every season. This allows fans to truly pick their favorites when the playing field is even, and anyone could win it all.
I might be reaching for the extreme end of the spectrum here, but surely the WWE has far too many singles matches on Raw, Main Event, NXT, Smackdown and Pay Per View?
