WWE is the company that innovated wrestling PPVs. Yes, other promotions ran small PPV events before WWE, but ever since the first WrestleMania, WWE has been the pay-per-view king.

Even with WWE making the transition from PPV to streaming, the world’s largest wrestling company has remained consistent with putting on PPVs year-round.

Related: 10 Years Where WWE Put On Consistently Good PPVs

However, for some years, the global wrestling juggernaut has struggled to produce quality on PPV events.

This list will include years from 1989 to the present due to the fact that from 1985 to 1988, WWE did not officially have the “Big-four” PPVs fans recognize today.

10 1989

Randy Savage and Zeus

It may be an unfair criticism to call WWE’s first year with more than three PPV’s inconsistent or lame. However, there is no denying 1989 was a fairly abysmal year for the Fed.

The first-ever Royal Rumble PPV was nowhere near what it would eventually become. WrestleMania 5 could be viewed as a one-match show, and the early SummerSlam and Survivor Series PPVs were nothing special.

In a year technically including No Holds Barred: The Match/The Movie as a special event, it’s safe to say WWE’s first year would be one to improve upon in the future.

9 2006

December to Dismember

Although 2006 had some solid PPV events, more often than not, the showings put out by Raw, SmackDown, and the new ECW brands were subpar.

Related: 5 Best December WWE PPVs (& 5 Worst)

WrestleMania and One Night Stand were solid shows, but the rest of WWE’s PPV calendar seemed to drag on. Constant rematches on PPVs seemed to lose the audience’s interest.

In a year where WWE had come off an unexpectedly great year on the PPV calendar in 2005, they disappointed in 2006 and arguably again in 2007.

8 2017

Jinder Mahal wins WWE Title

Another year where the case seems to be the same as 2006 — 2017 was the beginning of a year-long PPV cold streak for WWE.

WWE has seemed to have trouble from 2017 to 2020 executing their PPVs in between the “Big Four” shows, dragging out storylines for months to get to the PPVs in months like May and September. Add on to that questionable booking decisions, like Jinder Mahal becoming WWE Champion.

Even with some great PPV matches, 2017 would not be a year in which WWE could produce consistently quality PPV events.

7 2018

Brothers of Destruction V. DX

2018 was the second year in a row for WWE to feature a lackluster PPV calendar, and it can be in part be blamed on the beginning of a relationship with Saudi Arabia to hold WWE PPVs, which is still held to this day.

It’s safe to say, so far, the audience has not taken well to WWE’s yearly Saudi Arabia shows, with Greatest Royal Rumble and Crown Jewel in 2018 critically flopping. Bringing Shawn Michaels out of retirement for a match teaming with Triple H against The Brothers of Destruction, specifically, was frowned upon.

Two incredible shows in Royal Rumble and Evolution could not make up for the rest of 2018’s lacking effort on PPV events.

6 2010

John Cena puts Wade Barrett in STF

2010 was the year that WWE went all-in with the gimmick-based PPV concept. The introduction of Money in the Bank, Elimination Chamber, and even the one-time-only Fatal 4 Way joined other gimmick-based PPVs like Extreme Rules, Hell in a Cell, Night of Champions, TLC, and Bragging Rights.

This was the main criticism when it came to critical analysis of WWE’s PPV outings in 2010. WrestleMania 26 as a whole was largely considered a miss, with the lone critically acclaimed show coming in the form of Royal Rumble, the first show of the year.

Related: 5 Moments That Made Nexus Look Strong (& 5 That Ruined Them)

The rest of the year was more of the same for WWE fans and this led to many of them tuning out of the show. Bad creative, such as the burial of the Nexus, could be to blame.

5 1999

Undertaker v Big Bossman

A controversial entry, but it comes not because these shows didn’t get over with the crowd, but because looking back at the in-ring work as a whole, 22 years later, the red hot WWF did not put together their best shows.

In 1999, the WWF couldn’t have been a hotter brand. The Monday Night Wars were essentially over, and everything they threw out at the audience, they invested in. However, when it comes to the excellent in-ring work that wrestling fans are accustomed to today, this year was a miss.

With WrestleMania and Royal Rumble being let downs, the real stinkers came in the PPV events in the months between, a common theme throughout WWE.

WWE’s PPV calendar really shines when even the “B-shows” are successes, and 1999 was not one of those years.

4 2019

SuperShowdown 2019 Taker V. Goldberg

20 years later, WWE put together their third straight year of a consistently mid/below average PPV schedule. Like in 2017 and 2018, WWE yet again struggled with consistent storytelling, and better yet, fresh matchups.

A full year into their Saudi Arabia deal, WWE’s overseas shows flopped once more, particularly the disastrous main event between Goldberg and The Undertaker at SuperShowdown.

Other catastrophes like The Fiend vs. Seth Rollins Hell in a Cell match at the titular show ending in a no contest and constant retreads of The Shield vs. Baron Corbin and his goons, as well as Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin, made 2019 a year WWE fans would like to forget.

3 2020

2020 affected by COVID-19

This may be an unfair criticism on the surface due to the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, but when you look at the PPVs companies like AEW put together, it was possible to put together consistently good PPV events.

Related: 10 Best Cinematic Matches Of 2020 In WWE

WWE got off to a good start with the Royal Rumble, but from that point on, whether it was SuperShowdown and Elimination Chamber in front of live crowds, or the rest of the year in front of no fans in the Thunderdome, WWE massively struggled.

The in-ring work was not the problem — it was the lack of characters to invest in and the mind-boggling creative decisions at times. Even with a live audience, this would have ended up being the fourth year in a row where WWE would fall deeper into a PPV drought.

2 1993

Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania IX

The first truly bad PPV year for the WWF, 1993 was one where not only the main event scene was not connecting, but it seemed every aspect of the PPV cards just weren’t getting over.

Both critically and from the fan's point of view, 1993 was a year with perhaps the worst WrestleMania of all time, a truly forgettable SummerSlam and Survivor Series, a Royal Rumble that was a one-match show, and a King of the Ring with a ridiculous finish. Yokozuna vs. Hulk Hogan and Yokozuna vs. Lex Luger was a PPV main event constant, and that should tell the viewer everything they need to know.

The next year, the WWF would bounce back. However, in a couple of years' time, the Fed would reach its all-time low.

1 1995

Diesel and Mabel SummerSlam 1995

An absolutely disastrous year for WWF, a year in which the company posted record-low PPV buys and profits, and for good reason.

The PPV calendar adopted the event almost every month when WWF introduced the In Your House concept, and in the first year, the Fed struggled to find its footing.

Adding on Diesel’s all-time low WWF championship reign, Mabel becoming King of the Ring, and main eventing SummerSlam, it seemed that WWF would be hard-pressed to recover from this dreadful year.

Related: Every WWE PPV From 1995, Ranked From Worst To Best

At least they had one good match on almost every card with Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart being constant bright spots in a dark year.