WWE 2018 PPV Calendar - MITB joins the big leagues as a dual-brand show
 

credit: PWInsider

5 RAW ppvs, 4 SD ppvs, 5 dual-branded shows (including MITB). No word yet if MITB will be treated like 'the big 4' and have a Takeover and RAW/SD in the same arena yet.


Here is the schedule:


* January 28th: Royal Rumble, Philadelphia (RAW/SD)

* February 25th: Elimination Chamber, Las Vegas (RAW)

* March 11th: Fast Lane, Columbus (SD)

* April 8th: WrestleMania 34, New Orleans (RAW/SD)

* May 6th: Backlash, Newark (RAW)

* May 27th: Payback, Baltimore (SD)

* June 17th: Money In the Bank, Chicago (RAW/SD)

* July 15th: Battleground, Philadelphia (RAW)

* August 19th: SummerSlam, NYC (RAW/SD)

* September 16th: Extreme Rules, San Antonio (RAW)

* September 30th: Hell In a Cell, Nashville (SD)

* October 21st: TLC, Boston (RAW)

* November 18th: Survivor Series, Los Angeles (RAW/SD)

* December 16th: Clash of Champions, San Jose (SD)

RIP Great Balls of Fire

:wavesad:

Seems weird that it's a full 4 months between SmackDown-exclusive shows. Feel like from Extreme Rules and on should be switched so that the specialty PPVs will alternate so Raw would get MITB this time, etc. No need to see Shane dive off a cell for the 3rd year in a row.

Most likely they stopped GBF because of the reference to a song made by a child rapist.

Good. MITB needs to be dual brand IMO.

MITB needs to not be annual

Mixed feelings on this. I’m a sucker for even-handedness so I don’t like SDL having one less brand specific show than Raw, and I think having 2 (or 3 with the Women’s Match) MITB matches diminishes the importance of the concept.

I also think it was kind of a cool quirk that the gimmick PPVs would switch brand every year.

Boston gets tlc again

I'd say the odds are good that there end up being two MITB ladder matches - a men's and a women's with both being interbrand and the winner being able to cash in on any champion.

It'll give them another excuse to have someone switch shows mid-year if they want to.

No PPV's for Indy. Fuck WWE!

2 PPVS for Philly tho

I wonder how many of these ppvs will be headlined by:

Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal
Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin
Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton

Roman Reigns vs. Roman Reigns. Roadblock: Attack of the Clone.

NXT will have more PPVs than Smackdown.

NXT doesnt do PPVs

#STD'd

Hmmmm. Sounds interesting but then they wouldn’t be able to say “Survivor Series; the only time in the year that Raw and SmackDown go head-to-head in in-ring competition”.

Goodness gracious

Nothing in Florida? That ain't right

Amen.

They might get WrestleMania the next year. Detroit is rumored, but it's often not in the rumored place.

My OCD kicks in when after SummerSlam the PPVs stop alternating and are allocated to the same brands as they were this year.

Not just me then.

No it definitely kicks in for me too. I mean HIAC was a Raw PPV last year, then SmackDown got it, and now SmackDown gets it again?

Sure they can, and they probably will. They kept throwing out that tag line this year despite the Rumble being in 2 months.

I actually like the idea of alternating the shows each year. I mean, given how the rosters change, it's likely it won't keep things that fresh, but it just means that it's two years before a Raw-branded Hell in a Cell or a SmackDown-branded MITB.

But back to MITB, how many people do you think it helped? I'd say that Edge is an obvious one. CM Punk's second MITB was a real launchpad for him too; but there is still that first one to his name. Daniel Bryan got a nice little boost out of it. Well, I enjoyed his heel run. Dolph had a great time as MITB holder, and his cash-in was a great moment, but overall it has amounted to nothing. Seth Rollins was also great when he had the briefcase, but was then booked terribly as champion.

Beyond that, I think everyone who got the briefcase was either a bust or a wash. The only guys that I would say it helped are Edge, CM Punk (the second one), Daniel Bryan and, you know what, I'll give you Rob Van Dam, if he didn't fuck it up. Everyone else probably would have benefit more from just being pushed differently, or not getting it at all. I think what it really says about the gimmick is that main event talent get over with it, but other talent doesn't. Now I've tricked myself, because at first I was against it, but now I think that maybe it's a good gauge to see who is actually worth it and who isn't.

NOTE: I am not talking about kayfabe achievements. Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio both won the World Title four times each, but no one cares about that.

Shane's got to jump off it, right?

Money in the Bank 2011 is one of, if not my favorite PPVs of all time. It's a rare PPV I can honestly say I've watched in its entirety multiple times.

The SmackDown Money in the Bank was just oodles of fun. Some really innovative spots, my favorite being Justin Gabriel hitting a 450 off of a ladder bridge that had been balanced in the corner. They mixed some storytelling in there amongst people who had had beefs with one another, and actually did a nice tease with Barrett convincing Gabriel and Slater to help him win only for them to be like "nah fuck you" at the last minute. Barrett felt like the clear winner only for Bryan to knock him off last minute for the win, which was a genuine shock at the time since they were doing nothing with Bryan around that time.

The Kelly/Brie match was a clear piss break, but I didn't mind the piss break to recharge after the emotional high of a 25 minute opener.

Henry/Show was only 6 minutes which is the perfect amount of time for them, and they actually displayed really good chemistry and rattled off a string of surprisingly really enjoyable matches that year.

Raw's MITB paled in comparison to SmackDown's but there was still some fun stuff. Everybody starting the match with a ladder actually in hand made for a fun visual. Del Rio pulling off Rey's mask was unfortunately botched, but still I loved Del Rio winning at the time. I thought they'd fucked up spectacularly by not putting him over at WM27 but when he won this match I thought they had a chance to right the ship with him. Boy how wrong I was.

Christian/Orton had several excellent matches this year and this one was no exception. And again I marked out huge at the outcome.

Punk/Cena was pretty much anything you could ever want in a wrestling match. Great wrestling, a compelling story, a crowd genuinely into it, and excellent drama. If I could make a 10 match DVD to try to sell someone on wrestling, this is one of the few matches of the past decade I'd include without hesitation.

God I loved that show. Every MITB since then has really paled in comparison and I'd have been just as happy to see the concept of the PPV get retired after 2011.

MITB '11 was a great show. Punk/Cena, Christian/Orton and then the SmackDown MITB Ladder Match. Three worthy matches, the Raw one didn't even need to deliver after that. But I imagine it did well enough (I honestly cannot remember anything about it). But that's enough to tick it into great PPV territory.

Hope they stick to the idea of just 1 MitB case each for men and women while the matches themselves are co-branded for competitors.

Last thing needs WWE is the roster to get bloated again with too many former WWE/Universal champions and rushed title pushes.

Mitb should be an interbrand match atleast...

Payback 2 days after my birthday in Baltimore but the Orioles are in Tampa which takes all the fun out of it .

Survivor Series is the one show a year where RAW and SmackDownLive talents go head-to-head

"WWE Johnny B. Goode" would be neat, too. Or maybe "WWE Enchantment Under the Sea".

Can see them not doing MiTB women's match and just doing one each for Raw and Smackdown male roster.

Except for the Royal Rumble. And WrestleMania. And Money in the Bank.

And the 25th Anniversary of Raw

And the new fb series they are considering, WWE MATCH-UP