With the Royal Rumble come and gone, we’re officially on the
road to Wrestlemania. By now, WWE management should have a general idea of what
direction they’re headed in regards to the top matches on the card. We’re 62
days away from Wrestlemania 30 as of this writing, and based on recent reports,
it seems that things are in turmoil backstage. Everything is up in the air,
including the main event. Live crowds are pretty much demanding that WWE puts
Daniel Bryan in the main event, and it seems as if there were no previous plans
to do so. CM Punk unexpectedly left the WWE, which I will cover in detail in my
next entry. Fans are shitting on the Randy Orton and Batista feud over the WWE
World Heavyweight Championship in a way that nobody in power expected. With the
WWE network launching in 3 weeks, it seems that now is the time to make all of
it right. There’s a lot riding on the network being a long-term success, but
will the WWE universe invest their money monthly for a stale product?
There’s no doubt that the WWE video library sells itself.
Fans of the Hulk Hogan era in the 1980’s could go back and watch those shows.
Fans of the Attitude era could watch their favorites. Fans that never watched
WCW could re-watch the product that nearly put the WWE out of business. Fans of
ECW could watch the innovative material that ECW put out at the time. But, what
happens when the casual fan gets bored watching the old stuff? The 1992 Royal
Rumble is gold and I could watch it over and over, but how much will the
average wrestling fan be willing to watch before they get bored? My point is
that in order for the WWE network to have long-term success, the release of
quality new content is equally as important.
The WWE plans on giving away their “pay per views” on the
network to subscribers. This could spell the end of their run on pay per view.
As a wrestling fan myself, I forked over $45 for the Royal Rumble. Who’s going
to pay that much money for a show on pay per view when you could get that show
and more on the network for nearly one-fifth the price? There will always be that one major
show a month that the WWE is going to build to, but make no mistake about it,
the new emphasis will be on the weekly television ratings. Emphasis will be on
making Raw and Smackdown the best episodic television that they could put out.
Why is this? The WWE is looking for new television deals and
are looking to make nearly three times the amount in their new deal as they’re
worth now. But, will television companies fork over that kind of cash for a
sinking ship? The higher the ratings, the more money that there is to be made.
If you want television ratings, you make it cool to be a wrestling fan again.
No doubt that guys like John Cena, Randy Orton, and Batista
are great at what they do, they have their value and deserve to be put on a pedestal
for their accomplishments, but if you want compelling television, you give the
stars they’ve been chanting for. If I’m Vince McMahon, I do all that I could to
convince CM Punk to come back, even if it’s on a lighter schedule. I give
Daniel Bryan the ball as the face of the WWE. You make him the WWE Champion and
you make every World Championship match “must see” television. You give them
Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes. The “big bodies” that the
WWE tend to put on top of the card will still have value, but the business is
changing and so is its fan base. You change with the times.
Wrestlemania 30, coincidentally the first “pay per view”
event that will ever be made available on the WWE network, could change the
business if done correctly. The success of BOTH Wrestlemania 30 and the WWE
network depends on the company’s ability to provide the fans with the perfect
blend of superstars of the past AND showcasing the next generation. Until next
time….
Will you be purchasing the WWE network? What matches do you want to see at Wrestlemania 30? Let me know what you think below in the comments section, tweet
me at @majorlugo or email me at jlugo22@hotmail.com
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