Reason Why WWE Books Fewer Matches on Premium Live Events

WWE’s Premium Live Events have been trimming the fat—and Bruce Prichard just confirmed why that shift is happening.

On a recent episode of Something to Wrestle, Bruce Prichard explained the reasoning behind WWE’s move to feature fewer matches on PLEs like WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Royal Rumble—especially in the Triple H-led era that prioritizes quality over quantity.

“When you look at presentation and you put so many things on a ten-match card, at the end of the night, what do you remember?” Prichard asked. “You’re most likely going to remember the main event and the last match you saw. There may have been a big angle in the third match, or a hell of a match, that you’ve forgotten because you’ve seen so much—good, bad, and indifferent.”

Prichard said it’s a modern approach that matches the way audiences watch wrestling today. And it’s not just about pacing — it’s about adapting to streaming culture and new pay models.

“The PLE—the streaming aspect of the business—has changed that dynamic completely, because talent isn’t paid on pay-per-view buys. There are no pay-per-view buys,” he noted. “There’s no real time allotment. You can give them an hour, you can give them five hours—whatever. They don’t really want more than three.”

As Conrad Thompson pointed out, older WrestleManias often ran into problems where matches were cut entirely due to time overages. That’s no longer the case—with fewer matches, there’s more time for stories to breathe. Prichard also stated that television time is just as valuable now as PLE appearances.

“Less is more,” Prichard added. “But sometimes, yeah—you battle that demon of, ‘Oh my God, we need to get more people on this. We’ve got to get more people on—it’s WrestleMania.’ You’re doing television every single week—five hours of TV every week. That’s a lot of television,” he said. “Television is just as valuable as the PLEs now, with rights fees and everything else.”

Love it or hate it, WWE is officially prioritizing tighter cards with longer matches—and it doesn’t look like they’re turning back anytime soon.

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