The King of Pay Per View

The biggest pay-per-view event in pro wrestling was headlined by one of the biggest names in boxing, Floyd Mayweather Jr.

And the biggest event in boxing was headlined by what most were calling a mismatch, Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao, with one fighter, Pacquiao having to jump several weight classes for a bout heavily criticized beforehand. It turned out to be a mismatch.

But when the dust settled on an unusual year, the biggest news of 2008 was the emergence of Lesnar as the year’s pay-per-view king. Lesnar’s over three fights made him the most-watched PPV fighter in 2008. His total was the second highest total in UFC history, trailing only Tito Ortiz, who did three events in 2006.

HBO boxing, which finished its year on pay-per-view on Saturday with the De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao fight, is estimated at 3.57 million buys and $183.2 million in gross revenue on nine events. The Dec. 6 showdown was the single biggest pay-per-view event of the year, doing 1,250,000 buys and $70 million in total revenue, making it the third biggest non-heavyweight fight in history.

“We heard some crazy numbers the last few days about what the show might do,” said UFC president Dana White. “That’s a great number and it’s Oscar De La Hoya. I’ve always said boxing has De La Hoya and there’s nobody else like him.

All three of the biggest events of the year came under heavy criticism. Mayweather was criticized for being involved with pro wrestling. UFC was criticized first for pushing Lesnar, even though his NCAA championship in amateur wrestling, size and athletic credentials made him clearly an incredible prospect at the sport. Later, they were criticized for giving him a championship match while only having a 2-1 record, which was valid criticism on paper, but like with the criticism of De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao, the guy who was supposed to be mismatched ended up winning.