The
WWE Network has been a long time coming. Two years ago WWE was
running ads for it including original programming on their flagship
show Monday Night Raw. In fact, all of their shows were soon flooded
with ads talking about how the network was about a year away from
being available on your local cable and satellite providers. Well,
the time came and went and surprise, surprise - no WWE Network.
Apparently
it was a tough sell. I mean it was promised to be 24/7 programming of
nonstop wrestling. In case you haven't noticed, the wrestling
business doesn't have the following it used to. Back in the mid to
late 90s explosion I'm sure it could have been easier to convince
the big wigs that this was a good idea.
So
earlier this year WWE held a live press conference (I believe on YouTube) and the buzz was that it was concerning the network. Well,
the buzz was correct. WWE announced that the WWE Network was just a
few months away but the news that followed surprised many including
me.
Now,
the next two selling points that were announced at the press
conference were huge.
The
first one was that every PPV would come free with the monthly
subscription. Yes that's right, every monthly PPV would be aired at
no additional charge. Normally, it's a 50 to 60 bucks expense but now
it would be aired on the network live.
The
second big selling point was the price tag. 10 bucks!What! Are you
kidding? That is literally insane to me. Now in the process of
this being announced several cable/satellite providers got rather
angry that the WWE Network was going to be taking business away from
them. I mean come on - why would you pay 50/60 bucks for one PPV a
month when you can get the network plus the live PPV?
I
have had the network since day one. In fact, I was lucky enough to be
off of work so I was patiently waiting as the network went live.
Now
I'm not gonna hide the truth here. The WWE Network had a rocky start.
I use my PS3 to watch it so apparently I didn’t have near the
problems that a lot of people did. The network portion worked fine
for me from day one, it was the back logged, on demand stuff that was
very glitchy. Other people got a fatal error message or the screen
would just lock up.
To
this day I still have a glitch, every so often the stream will reset
itself by about 4 seconds. It doesn’t bother me too much and it's
something I can live with as that's the only glitch I've encountered.
I know the argument to not get the network will be "but I don’t
watch wrestling anymore!" Look very closely at these words - IT
DOESN'T MATTER!! If you have ever watched wrestling or been a fan,
you need to get the network NOW.
The
bottom line is Vince McMahon owns a lot of territories with very
lengthy libraries. It's a great history lesson for people who weren’t
exposed. It's also an awesome reminder to those of us who watched it
live. Let's face it, we are almost 15 years from when WCW closed. I
know - it makes me feel old as well. There is a wide audience who don't
remember things that many of us take for granted. Of course there is
the stuff that we wish we hadn’t seen but that's neither here nor
there.
The
network also has original programming as well as pre- and post- shows
for RAW & Smackdown. Those exclusives along with decent shows like Legends House &
Countdown are where the true benefit of the WWE Network lie. And then there's NXT. This is WWE's "training ground" where they are much more
focused on actual wrestling than story lines. In fact, along with
their Thursday show every week, they do quarterly “PPV style
shows,” which are equally fantastic.
My
one hope is that one day, RAW & SmackDown will be on the network
live instead of just the old episodes. However, there is too much
money for them to air on USA and SYFY. In fact, a new multi-year
contract was recently signed for the shows to stay where they are.
So
in closing, put all your opinions about Vince and company to the
side. The network just might bring your love back to the squared
circle.
-R.T.
Visit
my blog at: http://richardrants.wordpress.com
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me on Twitter @richardrants
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