Cup of coffee in the big time: With all the talent, why aren’t WWE PPVs better?

The WWE roster has never been as deep as it is right now, especially when we’re talking sheer in-ring talent.

Why, then, are main roster pay-per-views completely divorced from any sort of reliability of entertainment?

NJPW, NXT, PWG, ROH ... etc. Other promotions that spring to mind all have “big shows” that consistently deliver.

No other promotion is tasked with WWE’s need to produce six hours of live television every week, of course. It’s good for your sanity as a wrestling fan to not expect consistency with such an aggressive schedule. Even in the peak times for WWE TV, there have been segments or entire episodes that were complete garbage (in all honesty, the Attitude Era was mostly crap with moments of brilliance in between).

But the payoff for getting through the bad should be a pay-per-view filled with payoffs, drama and — especially with the current talent level — thrilling matches.

This has been a bad year for WWE pay-per-views. Royal Rumble is the only show that stands out as a particularly enjoyable start-to-finish experience.

While somehow the promotion is trending the wrong direction in terms of quality of PPV, they’re increasing the length of the shows. This somehow perfectly encapsulates modern WWE and the promotion’s focus on quantity over quality for the main roster.

NXT has such strong focus on stories heading into TakeOver events they can keep things tight, even as their shows get a bit longer. WWE meanders far too much across the month and has too much it is trying to get into any given show.

It may, in fact, be a case of the main roster’s depth making things harder as more wrestlers are worthy of spots on cards, which makes it impossible to have that NXT-esque tightness and match quality.

It makes for a fun situation to analyze, but not a great experience to watch.

Ultimately it’s up to the promotion to figure it out and do better.

Here’s hoping that starts at SummerSlam.

• Speaking of good PPVs, Impact is coming off a very good outing. Make sure to check out our live blog as well as a preview of the action.
• There’s a new NXT champion, check out our recap and reactions for last night’s great edition of NXT TV. And read a bit more on the championship situation.
• Matt Riddle is ready to make a commitment.
• Titus O’Neil has expanded on his feelings toward Hulk Hogan and the WWE Hall of Famer’s recent apology.
• Miz & Mrs. is doing some good work in the ratings.
• Ellsworth is expressing some real feelings, whether his firing was real or not.

It’s Thursday, we’re almost out of here.