The WWE Network is Real!

So for weeks the WWE has been teasing a big, company changing announcement to take place in Vegas. We heard a lot of talk about the future of the business ad all of that kind of stuff, and they managed to pay off the excitement. Now we've heard about the possibility if a network for years and what we got wasn't exactly what we expected, but is more than likely the smarter move. The Network is not its own channel on TV. It's more of a Netflix app but for wrestling. A 24/7 streaming service. This actually makes a lot more sense in the grand scheme of things. Less hassle, less hoops to jump through, and more control on their end. However if the service is as good as their love stream I don't have a lot of hope because it crashed on me multiple times and I had to refresh. Maybe that was just my end, I have no idea. For now I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. So what is the Network? It's an app. Pure and simple. You will be able to use it on your gaming consoles, any smart device like a phone or tablet, and TVs that allow apps. However some devices like certain TVs and the X Box One won't be getting the app until around the summer.

So what is featured on the WWE Network? Simply put, everything. Original programming and reality shows, PPVs will be live streamed, you have access to the entire libraries of WWE, WCW, ECW, and NXT, and they announced other shows like Top 10 Countdown and Monday Night War. Overall its a loaded package. The best part? It's only 9.99 a month! That caught me with an actual wow! I only hope there is a yearly subscription option. So if you're a wrestling fan, it's about to become a lot harder to go outside. Why would anyone anymore? I'm going to need. Lot more pairs of sweatpants and underwear, not to mention stocking up on cereal. On the images they showed during the press conference they listed Total Divas as well which is curious since that is currently on the E! Network so I'm sure there was an interesting deal going on there.

So now let's talk about the actual press conference. Stephanie McMahon was doing a lot of the heavy lifting as the host of the event. Honestly, I was expecting either a complete shit show, or a lot of boring executive talk. I was pleasently surprised. It felt a lot more like an E3 press conference on a condensed scale. We got plenty of stage talking with a screen presentation, but we also got Triple H and Shawn Michaels as DX stealing the show. These two guys have always been hilarious and that was obvious here. Its hard to tell if their mix up with the teleprinter was staged but it came off hilarious and clever nonetheless and I'm not going to ruin it. If you didn't see the video, this part alone was worth watching. The show wasn't incredibly long, or rather didn't feel that way, I think it was only an hour and a half. All honesty I missed the first few minutes because I was late. I'll say two hours at most. There were only a few superstars involved with the show including Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold, and naturally John Cena. Otherwise me mostly saw Stephanie introducing everything. There were some interesting train wrecks however. The MLB guy on stage seemed like he was having a stroke (and that relationship wasn't clearly stated either) and there was an awkward segment with an exec that just felt horribly staged with another Teleprompter gag and then him be intimated by DX. It was just awkward.

So what is all of this going to mean for the WWE and their talent? After the announcement I saw a lot of wrestlers and insiders questioning about their pay. Wrestlers get pay bonuses based on PPV buys. Well if everyone is using the app PPV buys might see a drastic drop. How many people are going to pay fifty to sixty dollars when you can pay that for the entire year? Well if this is successful chances are you will get millions of people buying the Network subscription versus the hundreds of thousands that buy PPVS. You do the math. Now as far as the pay boosts for PPVs. Well that's more insider talk that we will probably never hear about but in a perfect world the WWE will be pulling in a lot more money because it is going directly to them trough their own Network versus paying out to other networks. So hopefully they will have more money to throw at their talent. Again, in a perfect world. Those guys and gals have earned it so I just hope they don't get screwed. And what of how TV will work? Will the show lose ratings when people are watching on the app? Will they track ratings on their own Network? What if this Legends House show doesn't work? Will they cancel immediately or let it ride out? The main thing about their own Network is that it's now all on them. They have a lot more responsibility but a lot more control so maybe if their first season of something isn't working then they can keep it around longer than most other networks would and see if it picks up. It's an interesting time not only for the WWE but for television. And now we get to the cherry on top. The release day. February 24th right after Monday Night Raw, the WWE Network goes live.

So what do you think? Are you excited for the WWE Network? Was it a good presentation? What were the pros or cons? Are you going to subscribe or at least check it out? Feel free to sound off in the comments. As always you can reach me on Twitter @advent_crash. Don't have a Facebook but I am on Youtube with my own Wrestling Machinima called HCW: Hardcore Championship Wrestling. Its kind of on hiatus right now but I promise more episodes are coming soon! 

**UPDATE** So looking back on the pricing, they were purposely a little vauge. They said it was 9.99 per month but also said that's if you go in for six months. So it sounds like its 60 for 6 months and 120 for a year. Most subscriptions have a 60 a year deal so this could be twice that, but honestly, there's so much content that it's still a hell of a deal.

Wrestling in the Past, Present, and Past?

The Attitude Era. The NWO era. Both one in the same and we and we can just call it the Monday Night Wars. It was when wrestling was golden. Every Monday night you could tune into Raw or Nitro and see amazing wrestling with some of the biggest stars to ever enter the sport. These men and women are now all part of a group that we would classify as legends. The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold, Sting, Kane, The Hardy Boys, Edge and Christian. These are all major players of the Monday Night Wars. However it all changed when WCW went out of business and was purchased by Vince McMahon. Wrestling changed very quickly. Fast forward to the present and the WWE is unrecognizable compared to it's past self. Lets just call it what it is, its PG. You won't see a Stone Cold come out and throw around middle fingers like we used to. It's toned down and that's not neccarily a bad thing because if there's one thing I'm sick of its the pining for the return of The Attitude Era.

Now don't get me wrong. I LOVED the Attitude Era. Some of my favorite matches to revisit are from that period of the 90s. A good amount of my wrestling DVD collection covers this time period, but that's just what it is at this point. It's a period in time and a period that's over. We are in a new era and whether you call it the Universe Era or the Modern Era, WWE is whole new beast from what it once was. One thing, however, has never changed. We seem to be doomed to forever suffer through the return and push of old superstars. A one night return or a few month stretch its consistent year by year. Sometimes it works for the best and feels fresh, like Goldust's current return, and other times it just feels forced, like The Rock for the last few years. I will admit it can be nice to see some old faces again, or for the first time when it comes to the younger generations, but its hardy ever worth it and just doesn't have the same spark. I love ECW, but I don't need to see an ECW reunion show every year. Tommy Dreamer has the right idea with House of Hardcore. Keep it fresh and don't exist solely to give these older guys a job.

Wrestling is full of nostalgia and that's not a bad thing. It becomes a problem when the younger worthy stars lose a push over an older star. WWE and TNA both have a lot of young great talent that gets pushed aside for the sake of focusing on the older talent that has already had their day. As much as I love Sting and The Rock I'd much rather watch Austin Aries or Wade Barrett get a bigger push. Things have gotten better in the last year. Aries was a successful heavyweight champion, Daniel Bryan had a great feud that was eventually squandered, CM Punk had his amazing title run, but he lost to the Rock, Bryan lost to Orton, Aries lost to Hardy, all people who have had extensive runs and multiple chances. Not that they don't deserve a good story either but it starts to feel tired. TNA is being forced into a position where they have to bring in more unknowns for monetary reasons and maybe that will be best for them. Its time someone took a risk as brought in some fresh talent. Bring back Christian York and Crimson, give Sam Shaw more TV time, hire Brian Cage over Jay Bradley (still bitter about that), and just maybe let Sabin hold the title longer than a week. The only thing worse than not looking at great talent is already having it in your roster and not utilizing it. Maybe Zack Ryder could be the most entertaining wrestler in the world and he just needs TV time! We may never know.

The WWE has been notorious for not listening to the people. I understand that they are a billion dollar company and try obviously know what they are doing, but I just feel like they may be a little old fashioned. Triple H taking the reigns may be the best thing for the company because he seems more likely to look at some deserving talent, and William Regal has sure picked some great superstars in his scouting, maybe just a younger mind is all that's needed. Too often the WWE is giving a newer star a great run and letting them shine, only to hit the stop button and start over. Not every star is going to blow up over night and you need to let things play out for a bit. Maybe one match in a feud is a dud but what if their next match is amazing and you don't let it happen because Pay Per View buys were down? So instead of letting someone like Bryan keep feuding with Orton instead he gets attacked by Shawn Michaels and he's no longer in the title picture. What?! Still don't understand that one. You just need to let things play out sometimes and see where it goes. When an entire crowd is cheering YES, in a way I haven't seen since *clears throat* the Attitude Era, maybe what you're doing is working! Instead we get another Cena and Orton feud. Oh yippee! Like we haven't seen this a million times.

The Attitude Era was magical. Older superstars always have a place in our hearts. A lot of them are still amazing too! Do I want to see Ryback face Goldburg? Sure, about right years ago. Do I war to see that at Wrestlemania 30? God no. I want something new. Give me something fresh! Even Ryback vs Lesnar would be better because at least Lesnar is still wrestling and proved he can still put on a five star match. Seriously, Summerslam was awesome guys! The bottom line (because Stone Cold says so!) is that if the WWE wants to honor the Attitude Era then give us a good documentary and keep pumping out those compilation DVDs. Personally love The Most Electrifying Man Rock DVD myself. Otherwise it's time to push some of these younger guys! Wrestling needs to be innovative and not keep dipping back into the same well. So what do you think? Where do you stand? Do you want to keep seeing the stars of old dragged back every year or would you rather see a flood of new talent? Be sure to sound off in the comments. Also you can follow me on Twitter @advent_crash.