List of WWE pay - per - view events Each month , World Wrestling Entertainment holds one or two annual pay - per - view events . One event is usually three hours long and features six to twelve matches . Pay - per - view events are a big part of the revenue stream for WWE . History . It is a commonly held misconception that the first WWF pay - per - view was November 1985 ' s The Wrestling Classic , a tournament held at the Rosemont Horizon near Chicago , but the first WrestleMania event , in March of the same year , was available on pay - per - view in some markets . The first two WrestleMania ’ s were undeniable financial successes , and after WrestleMania III became perhaps the best known event in wrestling history , the WWF decided to expand their pay - per - view offerings . The first Survivor Series event was offered on November 29 1987 , scheduled directly against NWA ' s Starrcade , traditionally considered to be that promotion ' s biggest yearly event . The WWF informed cable companies that if they chose to carry Starrcade , they would not be allowed to carry future WWF events . The vast majority of companies showed Survivor Series ( only three opted to remain loyal to their contract with the NWA ) , and the resulting financial blow to Starrcade was in many ways the beginning of the end for Jim Crockett Promotions . The debut of the Royal Rumble in January 1988 was actually shown on the USA Network , where it drew the highest rating to that time in the network ' s history . The event became a pay - per - view the following year . The first SummerSlam was held in Madison Square Garden in August 1988 . These four events - the Royal Rumble in January , WrestleMania in March or April , SummerSlam in August , and Survivor Series in November - were the only annual pay - per - view offerings ( other than the King of the Ring ) from the WWF until 1995 , after rival World Championship Wrestling had expanded the number of their pay - per - view shows . Initially , the WWF used the In Your House brand , but beginning in 1996 began using other names to compliment the In Your House name ( such as Badd Blood and No Way Out ) , to avoid confusion . By the end of February 1999 , the In Your House name was nonexistent . This trend escalated to the point that by 1996 , both companies showed monthly events on pay - per - view . Until recently , World Wrestling Entertainment had a once - a - month pay - per - view schedule , which they had from the late ' 90s until 2003 totalling twelve a year . WWE currently produces 12 shows yearly and now charges $ 39 . 95 USD for each , except for WrestleMania , which is USD $ 49 . 95 . The pay - per - view events in the United States can be bought through iN DEMAND , Dish Network or DirecTV . The WWE ran twice yearly pay - per - views which were exclusive to the UK up to 2003 , but after the brand extension occurred they were scrapped in favour of tours , with a TV taping included , so now the WWE has the WrestleMania Revenge tour after WrestleMania at the beginning of the year and the Survivor Series tour at the end of the year , in the UK . Each includes a RAW , SmackDown ! , and an ECW taping . In Australia , WWE ' s pay - per - views are shown on Main Event . In the United Kingdom , only usually around 8 of them charged for and are shown on Sky Box Office . These are all charged at £14 . 95 GBP and has no extra charge for WrestleMania like in the USA . The other events are seen on the subscription channel Sky Sports 1 . WWE PPVs are almost always held in major cities , some cities such as New York City , Los Angeles , Chicago , Phoenix , St . Louis , Atlanta , Dallas , Houston , Boston , Philadelphia , Miami , New Orleans , and Detroit getting a PPV about once every year considering that they draw more than other cities . Active and upcoming events . The following is a list of the current , active titles for events scheduled by WWE . ██ Raw branded event ██ SmackDown branded event Brand extension . In June 2003 , WWE announced to further their brand extension and make their pay - per - views exclusive to a particular brand ( RAW , SmackDown ! , and later , ECW ) . The only exceptions to this were the established Royal Rumble , WrestleMania , SummerSlam and Survivor Series events which remained joint productions , and WrestleMania being the only event with wrestlers from different brands competing against each other . This allowed WWE to eventually add more pay - per - view events to their offerings , such as Cyber Sunday and The Great American Bash ( itself a revival of an old NWA and WCW event ) . From late 2005 , the restrictions were relaxed and interbrand matches in brand - exclusive events were becoming more frequent . In March 2007 , it was announced that the idea of brand - exclusive events was scrapped and would now feature matches from all three brands . The brand - exclusive events were :