As a fan professional wrestling for over 20 years, I can recall a time when pay-per-views were special. Every single one of them. Every single month. There was a time in the WWEs history when every single match on the card mattered whether it was the show opener or the main event and they did their job of making you feel you just had to pay $39.99, $49.99, or $59.99 to see just what was going to happen by building them up match for match with every Monday Night RAW or SmackDown that lead into whatever event was coming up at that time and it was something that also helped the “Monday Night War” last as long as it did.
Time changes the way companies do business as technology gets more and more sophisticated and allows an ease of access to the consumer which in turn makes the consumer happy. In that regard, the WWE Network has done an amazing job and it has almost made one forget that there basically is no competition for the WWE at this point. However, for every pro that a technological advancement can bring, there are the cons that come with them as well and that is what this article is all about. Simply asked, has the WWE Network made the WWE and its writers lazy?
WrestleMania. It’s huge, it’s magical, it’s THE event for the WWE. It’s the event where legacies are forged and careers are made and it’s supposed to be special. Except, in recent years, it hasn’t been. WrestleMania isn’t the only one either. None of the pay-per-views are as special as they once were. Sure, the goal is to get new subscribers to the network and that’s all well and good but let’s face it, the worst kept secret is that there are a lot of people who “share” WWE Network subscriptions and that is a loss of revenue for the company. With that having been said, the company doesn’t have to put forth a grand effort to put the event together but instead, they try selling the WWE Network. Just watch RAW. Simply selling the network is logical if you’re putting together a card that would make a non subscriber want to sign up for it. I may be accused of being old school but the card will sell the subscription for you. It’s like the movie Field of Dreams says, “If you build it, they will come”.
Another thing that isn’t helping are the continuous free months that they constantly offer. Why? Well, who wouldn’t want to have access to that content at no cost for one month? It’s what they do after that month that matters, though, and more often than not, those who are taking full advantage of that free month aren’t coming back. A list of reasons could range from simple curiosity to having watched all of the content on it that they cared to see in that one month. The network is a fine concept. In fact, it’s something that I would love to see professional sports do but the question will be asked to me of what the WWE could do differently and it’s simple, sell the card and not the network. If there is a lot of hype surrounding the card then there’s really no need to promote the network as the pay-per-view will do it for them.
