There was a variety of good and bad news today as WWE reported buy rate figures for their fourth Quarter 2013 pay-per-views.

Hell In A Cell – which saw the culmination of the Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan WWE Championship feud and featured Shawn Michaels act as special referee inside the Cell as well, as the return of John Cena – was up by almost 30,000 buys compared to the 2012 show.  While Hell In A Cell drew a healthy 228,000 buys, the Battleground show just three weeks earlier drew a mere 114,000 buys – one of the worst draws in WWE history.  Battleground was headlined by another Orton vs Bryan match for the WWE Championship, which infamously ended without a result after Big Show interfered.

Worryingly for WWE, one of their “big four” PPVs – Survivor Series – was down by around 30,000 buys compared to the 2012 show.  Survivor Series was headlined by Big Show vs Randy Orton for the WWE Championship and a John Cena vs Alberto Del Rio rematch over the World Heavyweight Championship, but only drew 177,000 buys.  The 2011 Survivor Series saw The Rock return to the ring in almost a decade, and that show just two years ago drew almost 100,000 more buys than the 2013 Survivor Series.

The final PPV of 2013 – Tables Ladders & Chairs – saw a 6,000 buy increase from 175,000 to 181,000 buys compared for the same show 12 months ago.  TLC was headlined by a WWE Championship & World Heavyweight Championship unification match between Randy Orton and John Cena.