Published: 1 hour ago by Dave Adamson | Last Updated: 1 hour ago by Dave Adamson
Dave has been a website writer for WrestleTalk since October 2022, having previously written for Den of Geek, among a number of wrestling, movie and television-related sites. Dave has been around the independent wrestling scene for more than a decade, including behind-the-scenes.
WWE
With 2027 fast approaching, an opportunity now exists to add even more Premium Live Events to the calendar.
Gone are the days when there was just low single digits, leading to the Big Four of Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series as regular events until King of the Ring was added in 1993. Now, fans can see a calendar stuffed with events, PLE and special, with this year amassing twenty-three across WWE, NXT and AAA.
Already confirmed for 2027 is Royal Rumble in February, followed by Stand & Deliver and WrestleMania 43 in April, although no actual dates have yet been confirmed.
No doubt many of the current tranche of shows will return for next year, but perhaps its time to bring some old school PLEs back.
Taboo Tuesday & Cyber Sunday
With the current landscape of internet access, it’s a surprise that WWE haven’t brought back Taboo Tuesday and Cyber Sunday, events that allowed fans to “vote” on match opponents and stipulations.
2004 saw Taboo Tuesday first take place in October of that year, with Randy Orton vs Ric Flair in a Steel Cage match, The event would return the following year before morphing into Cyber Sunday in 2006, with the last event taking place on October 26, 2008.
A fan vote will play a part in the John Cena Classic, with previous reports suggesting that the tournament will occur in December. If WWE are able to lock in the mechanics of the fan vote, perhaps Cyber Sunday could return, or NXT could adopt Taboo Tuesday.
King of the Ring
King and Queen of the Ring took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in May 2024, with Night of Champions in Riyadh crowning the respective winners in this year and last.
The inaugural King of the Ring event took place in 1993 and would be a regular fixture in June until 2002, being brought back in 2015.
For two years, King of the Ring was the fifth event on the WWE pay-per-view calendar until 1995 saw an explosion of In Your House events to bulk up the schedule. It’s still a highly regarded tournament, with many winners going on to be future champions or stand out stars in their own right. Now subsumed into Night of Champions, perhaps King of the Ring and Queen of the Ring could stand as separate Premium Live Events in their own right, until WWE bring back Evolution.
WWE Evolution
Not to be confused with the stable sharing the same name, WWE Evolution was the first all-women’s PLE that has, so far, had two outings.
Introduced in 2018, it was a move by WWE to capitalize on the popularity of women’s wrestling in a post-Divas era. The event would return in July 2025 in what could have been the start of a new tradition, yet didn’t make a return this year, despite reports indication those backstage were “thrilled“.
The WWE women’s roster, both main and NXT, continues to go from strength to strength and, while they are heavily featured on many PLEs, there’s the opportunity to showcase them in their own light via Evolution.
Insurrextion
WWE Insurrextion ran from 2000 until 2003, with all four events taking place in England. A United Kingdom-based PLE would be warmly received by fans who have seen WWE undertake many tours of the country over the years, particularly after Money in the Bank at The O2 Arena in London back in July 2023.
WWE continues to tour the United Kingdom, with episodes of Raw and SmackDown occasionally emanating from major cities across the country. While many of the shows on the tour will be untelevised WWE Live events, it was previously reported that such outings are being used to test international cities as potential PLE hosts. WWE have expanded into international territories with Clash and Backlash over past years, perhaps Insurrextion can be added to that slate.
So Many Events, So Little Time
Of course, the WWE calendar is pretty packed when it comes to PLEs and specials, particularly when factoring in the weekly Raw, SmackDown and NXT shows.
Some names, however, deserve a second look, even if they become NXT specials. The likes of Unforgiven, No Way Out and Armageddon could all fit NXT, alongside the current schedule that includes No Mercy, Halloween Havoc and The Great American Bash as resurrected names for the Tuesday night brand.
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