WWE News: Survivor Series pay-per-view buys drop significantly, final numbers for Hell in a Cell and TLC, plus comparisons to how the same events did in past years

By Jason Powell

WWE pay-per-view events generated $13.0 million in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2012, down from $14.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 and $13.8 million earned for the same quarter in 2010.

-October's Hell in a Cell drew 199,000 buys compared to the 182,000 buys in 2011, 210,000 buys in 2010, and 283,000 buys for the same event in 2009.

-November's Survivor Series pay-per-view produced 208,000 buys compared to 281,000 buys in 2011, 244,000 buys in 2010, and 235,000 buys in 2009.

-December's TLC drew 175,000 buys compared to 179,000 buys last year, 195,000 buys in 2010, and 228,000 buys in 2009.

Powell's POV: WWE dropped the Vengeance pay-per-view from the schedule. That event drew 121,000 buys in October 2011. It was named Bragging Rights the two previous years and did 137,000 buys in 2010, and 181,000 buys in 2009. Obviously, this is the key reason there was a drop in pay-per-view revenue compared to past years.

Survivor Series was the big loser this time around. The numbers were up for last year's Survivor Series show due to Rock teaming with John Cena in the main event. This year's event featured C.M. Punk vs. Ryback vs. John Cena in a Triple Threat. The numbers for this year's show are still disappointing when you compare them to past years.

Vince McMahon and other members of senior management will address the financial report in a conference call this morning. He is expected to have more to say about the WWE Network as well. I will be covering the event live beginning at 10:00 a.m. CT. It will also be a major topic of conversation in today's Dot Net Weekly audio show, which is available exclusively to Dot Net Members.