5 Great and 5 Terrible Pay-Per-View Posters
For the WWE, their biggest events are pay-per-views. On average, they have one a month and about 13 a year. They spend a lot of time promoting and hyping up these pay-per-views, especially the big ones. For example, the location of next year's 'Mania was announced more than a year in advance. One of the ways to promote the pay-per-view is by the poster. These are released weeks in advance. Promotional posters vary in their appearance. Most of them feature superstars who will compete at the pay-per-view, but not necessarily. In this article, we'll look at five bad posters and five great ones. Sorry for not including pictures, but copyright issues can be a... well, you know. But you should Google the posters to see what I'm talking about.
Bad:
1. Badd Blood: In Your House 1997- My first though when looking at this poster: what the hell is this? The Undertaker is holding his own head in his hand. He isn't even looking at it, he's just looking straight ahead. On top of that, he looks mildly annoyed that he is holding his own head. I don't know about you, but if that was me I would be pretty upset. Another thing: why? Why is the Deadman holding his own head? Does he have the power to regenerate his own body parts? Also, why is he in the woods?
2. Slamboree 2000- Wrestlers, at least for the most part, are portrayed as tough guys. You would think that the WWE would want to promote this, especially on their promotional posters. Instead, they put a picture of Buff Bagwell making a duck face, which wasn't even around this time. I mean, come on. How is this in any way going to get fans excited for a wrestling event?
3. World War 3- I'm going to say it now: not having anyone on a promotional poster never works out. This is one of the prime examples. In this one, there's a giant mansion that looks like an earthquake just went through. It's completely crooked and there is a ton of debris in front of it. On the poster, it says "TOTAL DESTRUCTION!". How can there be total destruction if the house is still standing?
4. Backlash 2001- Triple H has been on quite a few promotional posters in his time. This poster is not one of the better ones. In this one, we see Triple H looking fierce. Behind him, we see a silhouette-like image of him raising a sledgehammer. So, is the silhouette thing attacking the real Triple H? And if so, why? You could make an argument on the whole backlash thing, meaning whatever he does backfires on him. Still, it's a pretty bad poster.
5. Hell in a Cell 2013- This poster makes absolutely no sense. R-Truth is wearing a suit while looking mildly uncomfortable. Hell in a Cell is supposed to be about carnage and viciousness. Instead, we get a bad version of the Devil's advocate. R-Truth didn't even compete in the event. He did however, show up in the pre-show panel wearing the exact same suit.
Great:
1. No Mercy 2007- Like Triple H, Randy Orton has been on his fair share of posters. This poster though, is his best one. One thing that Orton does well is pull off the crazy/voices in the head thing. That is captured perfectly on the poster. He's got a sinister look in his eyes and has a dove cupped in his hands. A dove is a symbol of peace, so the symbolism is nice.
2. WrestleMania XXVII- The match between John Cena and The Rock at WrestleMania XXVII was one of the biggest in the history of professional wrestling. These were two of the biggest mainstream stars in WWE's history, so having them meet was a big deal. The enormity of this match was captured in the poster, which featured both men staring each other down.
3. Breaking Point 2009- Triple H is one tough dude. I mean, the guy's choice weapon is a sledgehammer. So, to see a picture of him shattered like a fragmented window was pretty intense. What also makes the poster good is Triple H's facial expression. He manages to pull off a concerned/pained look quite well. It just goes to show that the fierce expression isn't always the best idea.
4. Elimination Chamber 2011- There's a reason they call the Elimination Chamber Satan's Prison. It's a dangerous structure with steel framed sheets of plexiglass and chains. A superstar might go a little crazy while locked inside. This poster captures that insanity perfectly.
5. TLC 2011- When CM Punk shot to the top of the card in 2011, he was golden on the mic. He talked about very various things, including ice cream bars, which he wanted to bring back. I don't think he knew that that statement would be turned into a PPV poster. The result was excellent.
What is your favorite PPV poster? Comment and let me know.
Bad:
1. Badd Blood: In Your House 1997- My first though when looking at this poster: what the hell is this? The Undertaker is holding his own head in his hand. He isn't even looking at it, he's just looking straight ahead. On top of that, he looks mildly annoyed that he is holding his own head. I don't know about you, but if that was me I would be pretty upset. Another thing: why? Why is the Deadman holding his own head? Does he have the power to regenerate his own body parts? Also, why is he in the woods?
2. Slamboree 2000- Wrestlers, at least for the most part, are portrayed as tough guys. You would think that the WWE would want to promote this, especially on their promotional posters. Instead, they put a picture of Buff Bagwell making a duck face, which wasn't even around this time. I mean, come on. How is this in any way going to get fans excited for a wrestling event?
3. World War 3- I'm going to say it now: not having anyone on a promotional poster never works out. This is one of the prime examples. In this one, there's a giant mansion that looks like an earthquake just went through. It's completely crooked and there is a ton of debris in front of it. On the poster, it says "TOTAL DESTRUCTION!". How can there be total destruction if the house is still standing?
4. Backlash 2001- Triple H has been on quite a few promotional posters in his time. This poster is not one of the better ones. In this one, we see Triple H looking fierce. Behind him, we see a silhouette-like image of him raising a sledgehammer. So, is the silhouette thing attacking the real Triple H? And if so, why? You could make an argument on the whole backlash thing, meaning whatever he does backfires on him. Still, it's a pretty bad poster.
5. Hell in a Cell 2013- This poster makes absolutely no sense. R-Truth is wearing a suit while looking mildly uncomfortable. Hell in a Cell is supposed to be about carnage and viciousness. Instead, we get a bad version of the Devil's advocate. R-Truth didn't even compete in the event. He did however, show up in the pre-show panel wearing the exact same suit.
Great:
1. No Mercy 2007- Like Triple H, Randy Orton has been on his fair share of posters. This poster though, is his best one. One thing that Orton does well is pull off the crazy/voices in the head thing. That is captured perfectly on the poster. He's got a sinister look in his eyes and has a dove cupped in his hands. A dove is a symbol of peace, so the symbolism is nice.
2. WrestleMania XXVII- The match between John Cena and The Rock at WrestleMania XXVII was one of the biggest in the history of professional wrestling. These were two of the biggest mainstream stars in WWE's history, so having them meet was a big deal. The enormity of this match was captured in the poster, which featured both men staring each other down.
3. Breaking Point 2009- Triple H is one tough dude. I mean, the guy's choice weapon is a sledgehammer. So, to see a picture of him shattered like a fragmented window was pretty intense. What also makes the poster good is Triple H's facial expression. He manages to pull off a concerned/pained look quite well. It just goes to show that the fierce expression isn't always the best idea.
4. Elimination Chamber 2011- There's a reason they call the Elimination Chamber Satan's Prison. It's a dangerous structure with steel framed sheets of plexiglass and chains. A superstar might go a little crazy while locked inside. This poster captures that insanity perfectly.
5. TLC 2011- When CM Punk shot to the top of the card in 2011, he was golden on the mic. He talked about very various things, including ice cream bars, which he wanted to bring back. I don't think he knew that that statement would be turned into a PPV poster. The result was excellent.
What is your favorite PPV poster? Comment and let me know.
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