The Case For The 3 on 3 Pre-Pay Per View Tag Match
by Michael Klink
@michael_klink
02/23/18
One of SmackDown Live's Classic 6 Man Tag setup for the past year.
Typically after a WWE Pay-Per-View (or “special event”, since ya know, they’re free with your $9.99 archived WWE footage subscription) stories restart and new feuds begin. In between the last “special event” and the next one, characters need to advance their storylines without over-saturating their 1 on 1 encounters with their new rival. You want them focused on each other, but you don’t want to “give it away for free” like the failed WCW did so frequently. Basically, what do you do to remind the audience that two characters are feuding without overexposing the feud with 1 on 1 bouts? In recent history, WWE has reverted to having faces and heels team up in stacked tag team matches, commonly building to crowded 3 on 3 contests that receive a lot of flak from wrestling critics. So how hard should we judge the bookers (or writers) over this? SHOULD we judge them? Let’s take a closer look.
Pro- Forwarding the Feud
The main benefit of the 6 man tag is that even though you don’t get a conclusion to a feud between two characters, you do get a taste of what’s to come in the eventual 1 on 1 payoff. If we’re to suspend disbelief and be led to believe that the two characters loathe each other (over a build of 7 days or so) we should at least get an appetizer, a weekly reminder that comes to blows between the two characters.
Con- A Tired Formula
It’s not just that we’ve seen the match type booked before some special events, it’s that we seem to see it precede EVERY special event. Part of the formula, if you bother to keep track of WWE wins and losses, is that like clockwork, most of the time the winner of the 3 on 3 falls in defeat when it counts during the special event. Obviously, nobody wants to see a specific character get buried with a shoddy win percentage, but it makes the special event outcome seem inevitable. If I were one of the competitors in that 3 on 3 match, I’d lay down Finger Poke of Doom style to start padding my special event record.
Pro- WWE Tickets Are Expensive
As a humble blog writer that daylights (is that the opposite of “moonlights”?) with a bland office job, money is not exactly growing on trees. Dropping money on WWE live event tickets is a special treat, a gathering of skipped meal per diems and pinched pennies. With that said, I can’t imagine shelling out $65 for nose bleed seats and NOT seeing the best that WWE has to offer. And when I say that, I don’t mean I want to see promos being cut, I paid for a wrestling ticket to watch actual wrestling. So, if I can’t ultimately attend the payoff match during a special event, and instead have to settle for a live event, I’d rather see my favorite superstar in action between the ropes rather than settle for a promo in order to avoid “oversaturation”. The 3 on 3 matches allows those paying fans to feel good about their purchase.
Con- A Lack of Creativity
It’s not just that the special events feel like foregone conclusions, it’s that the 3 on 3 match displays an utter lack of creativity on the writing department. This may be a misplaced time to write this article because this week’s Monday Night Raw, on 2/19/18, features almost unheard of uniqueness, in that it features a gauntlet match that has lasted into hour two of the programming and over a dozen commercial breaks. Usually a worthwhile free match gets a single commercial to give the characters time to build the drama, but the gauntlet match progressing through this episode of Raw is fresh, energetic, and inspiring. It’s something that makes a casual fan want to tune in in consecutive weeks.
Pro- Everybody Gets Paid
Sometimes people forget these wrestlers are professionals looking to feed their families. Why force them to go a week without competing just to appease whiny fans like myself? This critique has less to do with the main event players and more to do with characters that regularly appear in the mid-card or on 205 Live. There isn’t enough time to create totally engaging storylines for a roster of 65+ characters. Why not give the performers a shot to show off their physical prowess without letting their character get stale? Especially with 205 Live, you get to keep all of the storylines fresh. It’s akin to the trap the Women’s Division commonly fell into, where two women feuded over the title while the rest of them treaded water. Not everybody can be at the top of the mountain, so why not share the wealth on TV with a short showcase of their abilities?
Con- Inconsequential Storylines
True, with 3 on 3 tags, 6 characters get screen time to show off their physicality with no consequence, since a tag loss is much less damaging than a 1 on 1 defeat. But ultimately, is this the best way to make the secondary characters have value? For comparison’s sake, look at the highly rated and much beloved NXT productions. From week to week, you’ll often see the largest of NXT superstars absent from TV matches, leaving you yearning for their eventual return in the coming weeks. It helps the viewer garner longing for the missing character while also allowing the in-ring performers of the week to build themselves up with lengthier story building bouts. NXT gives their budding mid-carders a ton of time to develop themselves with lengthy bouts every other week. Instead of a force-fed blitzkrieg of everybody on the roster getting short, meaningless segments that hover around 5 minutes, NXT stars are given lengthier 15 wars with which to prove their mettle.
The bottom line is that it’s tough for WWE to have to book 7 hours of live wrestling television every week but there’s hope for the casual fan when Raw is booked like it has been this week, or when that casual fan dips into their free time money to splurge on NXT.
