Why You Should Expect More WWE Pay-Per-Views on Saturdays

By Connor Casey

WWE pay-per-views used to be consistently held on Sunday nights. But in recent years that rule has changed, with events running in arenas and stadiums on Saturday nights instead. Examples from just this past year include the 2022 Royal Rumble, the first night of WrestleMania 38, Money in the Bank, SummerSlam, Clash at the Castle, Extreme Rules, Crown Jewel, Survivor Series: WarGames, this year's Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber. According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, the move has been well-received within WWE.

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It also sounds like WWE isn't afraid to run these big shows up against competition from other sports. For example, this year's Backlash was announced for the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot on Saturday, May 6 in San Juan, Puerto Rico this week. That show will run on the same night as boxer Canelo Alvarez's next fight and UFC 288, which is expected to have UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo. But according to the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, WWE is still expecting a massive audience.

"WWE will be gigantic there (Puerto Rico). Every time they go there they draw well," Meltzer said (h/t WrestlingNews.co). "Pay-per-view is going to sell out instantly and a hot crowd and its Cinco de Mayo and it's in Puerto Rico. This also sounds like a Nick Khan thing because Cinco de Mayo, a big event, and the feeling even though boxing is most likely going to run with Canelo that night, UFC is going to run, and their mentality is the crossover is not as big as it used to be so we can run. Plus, we're not pay-per-view. It's free on Peacock so even if people want to watch the UFC that night they can watch us later. Everything's changed because of the fact that it's Peacock. They would've never done these European shows earlier in the day because of the idea if it's a pay-per-view it's got to be in that timeslot or it's not going to sell because people are used to that time slot and buys go way down if we move out of that time slot."

WWE WrestleMania 39 Card (As of Now)

  • Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes
  • United States Championship: Austin Theory vs. John Cena
  • SmackDown Women's Championship: Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley
  • Raw Women's Championship: Bianca Belair vs. Asuka
  • Brock Lesnar vs. Omos
  • Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. TBD
  • Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul
  • Becky Lynch, Lita & Trish Stratus vs. Damage CTRL

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