WWE Network -- The Good, Bad, and The Ugly

The WWE Network - the latest live streaming craze that has taken most wrestling fans by storm. In this article, I look at the good, bad, and ugly stemming from this service after its launch to help provide a resource for my fellow wrestling fans to weigh in on whether or not if this paid-subscription service is worht 

About The WWE Network: 

The WWE Network is a subscription-based video streaming service owned by WWE. The concept was originally announced in 2011. On January 8, 2014, WWE announced the network would launch on February 24, 2014 in the United States, with launches in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Nordic countries set for late 2014/early 2015.

Scheduled Original Programming: 

• All WWE pay-per-view events (12 per year) broadcast live.
• WrestleMania Rewind - The first show named to be part of the network. It will be a retrospective look at WrestleMania's memorable moments.
• The Monday Night War - A television series about the Monday Night Wars.
• WWE Legends' House - A reality television series featuring several WWE legends.
• WWE Countdown - An interactive program.
• Pre and post shows for Raw and SmackDown.
• While Raw and SmackDown will continue to air on cable television, encore presentations will air on the WWE Network.
• A new live daily studio show.
• Weekly airings of WWE NXT.
• Weekly airings of WWE Superstars.
• More than 100,000 hours of archive content from WWE Libraries, including virtually every WWE, WCW and ECW pay-per-view event ever produced, will be available for on-demand streaming. There are at least four past WCW PPV events which WWE has not listed as available, specifically the four overseas events which WCW co-produced with New Japan Pro Wrestling (WCW/New Japan Supershow (1991–93) and Collision in Korea (1995)) and the German-exclusive pay-per-view, Millennium Final (2000).

Although the United States parental guidelines rating system rates most weekly WWE television programs TV-PG, the WWE Network broadcasts a wider range of content. A parental controls block is available and content rated TV-14 and TV-MA are preceded by an advisory warning. The network airs footage featuring Chris Benoit, but an advisory warning is displayed before each airing; it marks the first major airing of Benoit footage since his infamous murder-suicide in 2007. Harsh profanity and sexual phrases are completely censored on ECW pay-per-views, despite having originally aired without bleeps. Over the Edge 1999, infamous for Owen Hart's death at the event, is also available for the first time since its original air date, however some portions of the event have been edited out of respect to the Hart wrestling family. There is also an "in memory of Owen Hart" message at the start of the event. Matches called with Jesse Ventura on commentary, which have previously been dubbed over due to a 1991 lawsuit, air with the original commentary. Footage featuring nudity is largely censored on the network, including that of Stacy Carter going topless at the 1999 Armageddon event and William Regal's unintentional showing of his penis at the 2006 No Mercy event, as well as various non-thong shots of the buttocks, most of which were unintentional wardrobe malfunctions.

The Good: 

The Content: 

Other than original programming - including the upcoming Legends' House reality TV show, live broadcasts of both NXT and WWE Main Event, and live preshow and post show coverage for Monday Night RAW, Friday Night Smackdown, and for every WWE PPV event, there is an extensive archive of WWE archive footage from WWE, WCW, and ECW

The following WWE, WCW, and ECW events are available at launch in their entirety:

WWE

WrestleMania
The Wrestling Classic (1985)
WrestleMania 2
The Big Event (1986)
WrestleMania III
Survivor Series (1987)
Royal Rumble (1988)
WrestleMania IV
SummerSlam (1988)
Survivor Series (1988)
Royal Rumble (1989)
WrestleMania V
SummerSlam (1989)
Survivor Series (1989)
Royal Rumble (1990)
WrestleMania VI
SummerSlam (1990)
Survivor Series (1990)
Royal Rumble (1991)
WrestleMania VII
SummerSlam (1991)
Survivor Series (1991)
This Tuesday in Texas (1991)
Royal Rumble (1992)
WrestleMania VIII
SummerSlam (1992)
Survivor Series (1992)
Royal Rumble (1993)
WrestleMania IX
King of the Ring (1993)
SummerSlam (1993)
Survivor Series (1993)
Royal Rumble (1994)
WrestleMania X
King of the Ring (1994)
SummerSlam (1994)
Survivor Series (1994)
Royal Rumble (1995)
WrestleMania XI
In Your House #1 (1995)
King of the Ring (1995)
In Your House #2 (1995)
SummerSlam (1995)
In Your House #3 (1995)
In Your House # 4 (1995)
Survivor Series (1995)
In Your House # 5 (1995)
Royal Rumble (1996)
In Your House # 6 (1996)
WrestleMania XII
In Your House # 7 - Good Friends, Better Enemies (1996)
In Your House # 8 - Beware of Dog (1996)
King of the Ring (1996)
In Your House # 9 - International Incident (1996)
SummerSlam (1996)
In Your House # 10 - Mind Games (1996)
In Your House # 11 - Buried Alive (1996)
Survivor Series (1996)
In Your House # 12 - It's Time (1996)
Royal Rumble (1997)
In Your House #13 - Final Four (1997)
WrestleMania 13
In Your House # 14 - Revenge of the Taker (1997)
In Your House # 15 - A Cold Day in Hell (1997)
King of the Ring (1997)
In Your House # 16 - Canadian Stampede (1997)
SummerSlam (1997)
Ground Zero: In Your House (1997)
One Night Only (UK) (1997)
Badd Blood: In Your House (1997)
Survivor Series (1997)
Degeneration X: In Your House (1997)
Royal Rumble (1998)
No Way Out: In Your House (1998)
WrestleMania XIV
Unforgiven: In Your House (1998)
Over the Edge: In Your House (1998)
King of the Ring (1998)
Fully Loaded: In Your House (1998)
SummerSlam (1998)
Breakdown: In Your House (1998)
Judgment Day: In Your House (1998)
Survivor Series (1998)
Capital Carnage (UK only) (1998)
Rock Bottom: In Your House (1998)
Royal Rumble (1999)
St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House (1999)
WrestleMania XV
Backlash: In Your House (1999)
No Mercy (UK only) (1999)
Over the Edge (1999)
King of the Ring (1999)
Fully Loaded (1999)
SummerSlam (1999)
Unforgiven (1999)
Rebellion (UK only) (1999)
No Mercy (1999)
Survivor Series (1999)
Armageddon (1999)
Royal Rumble (2000)
No Way Out (2000)
WrestleMania 2000 (16)
Backlash (2000)
Insurrextion (UK only) (2000)
Judgment Day (2000)
King of the Ring (2000)
Fully Loaded (2000)
SummerSlam (2000)
Unforgiven (2000)
No Mercy (2000)
Survivor Series (2000)
Rebellion (UK only) (2000)
Armageddon (2000)
Royal Rumble (2001)
No Way Out (2001)
WrestleMania X-Seven
Backlash (2001)
Insurrextion (UK only) (2001)
Judgment Day (2001)
King of the Ring (2001)
Invasion (2001)
SummerSlam (2001)
Unforgiven (2001)
No Mercy (2001)
Rebellion (UK only) (2001)
Survivor Series (2001)
Vengeance (2001)
Royal Rumble (2002)
No Way Out (2002)
WrestleMania X8
Backlash (2002)
Insurrextion (UK only) (2002)
Judgment Day (2002)
King of the Ring (2002)
Vengeance (2002)
SummerSlam (2002)
Unforgiven (2002)
No Mercy (2002)
Rebellion (UK only) (2002)
Survivor Series (2002)
Armageddon (2002)
Royal Rumble (2003)
No Way Out (2003)
WrestleMania XIX
Backlash (2003)
Judgment Day (2003)
Insurrextion (UK only) (2003)
Bad Blood (2003)
Vengeance (2003)
SummerSlam (2003)
Unforgiven (2003)
No Mercy (2003)
Survivor Series (2003)
Armageddon (2003)
Royal Rumble (2004)
No Way Out (2004)
WrestleMania XX
Backlash (2004)
Judgment Day (2004)
Bad Blood (2004)
The Great American Bash (2004)
Vengeance (2004)
SummerSlam (2004)
Unforgiven (2004)
No Mercy (2004)
Taboo Tuesday (2004)
Survivor Series (2004)
Armageddon (2004)
New Year's Revolution (2005)
Royal Rumble (2005)
No Way Out (2005)
WrestleMania 21
Backlash (2005)
Judgment Day (2005)
Vengeance (2005)
The Great American Bash (2005)
SummerSlam (2005)
Unforgiven (2005)
No Mercy (2005)
Taboo Tuesday (2005)
Survivor Series (2005)
Armageddon (2005)
New Year's Revolution (2006)
Royal Rumble (2006)
No Way Out (2006)
WrestleMania 22
Backlash (2006)
Judgment Day (2006)
Vengeance (2006)
The Great American Bash (2006)
SummerSlam (2006)
Unforgiven (2006)
No Mercy (2006)
Cyber Sunday (2006)
Survivor Series (2006)
Armageddon (2006)
New Year's Revolution (2007)
Royal Rumble (2007)
No Way Out (2007)
WrestleMania 23
Backlash (2007)
Judgment Day (2007)
One Night Stand (2007)
Vengeance: Night of Champions (2007)
The Great American Bash (2007)
SummerSlam (2007)
Unforgiven (2007)
No Mercy (2007)
Cyber Sunday (2007)
Survivor Series (2007)
Armageddon (2007)
Royal Rumble (2008)
No Way Out (2008)
WrestleMania XXIV
Backlash (2008)
Judgment Day (2008)
One Night Stand (2008)
Night of Champions (2008)
The Great American Bash (2008)
SummerSlam (2008)
Unforgiven (2008)
No Mercy (2008)
Cyber Sunday (2008)
Survivor Series (2008)
Armageddon (2008)
Royal Rumble (2009)
Now Way Out (2009)
WrestleMania XXV
Backlash (2009)
Judgment Day (2009)
Extreme Rules (2009)
The Bash (2009)
Night of Champions (2009)
SummerSlam (2009)
Breaking Point (2009)
Hell in a Cell (2009)
Bragging Rights (2009)
Survivor Series (2009)
WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2009)
Royal Rumble (2010)
Elimination Chamber (2010)
WrestleMania XXVI
Extreme Rules (2010)
Over the Limit (2010)
Fatal 4-Way (2010)
Money in the Bank (2010)
SummerSlam (2010)
Night of Champions (2010)
Hell in a Cell (2010)
Bragging Rights (2010)
Survivor Series (2010)
WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2010)
Royal Rumble (2011)
Elimination Chamber (2011)
WrestleMania XXVII
Extreme Rules (2011)
Over the Limit (2011)
Capitol Punishment (2011)
Money in the Bank (2011)
SummerSlam (2011)
Night of Champions (2011)
Hell in a Cell (2011)
Vengeance (2011)
Survivor Series (2011)
WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2011)
Royal Rumble (2012)
Elimination Chamber (2012)
WrestleMania XXVIII
Extreme Rules (2012)
Over The Limit (2012)
No Way Out (2012)
Money in the Bank (2012)
SummerSlam (2012)
Night of Champions (2012)
Hell in a Cell (2012)
Survivor Series (2012)
WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2012)
Royal Rumble (2013)
Elimination Chamber (2013)
WrestleMania 29
Extreme Rules (2013)
WWE Payback (2013)
Money in the Bank (2013)
SummerSlam (2013)
Night of Champions (2013)
WWE Battleground (2013)
Hell in a Cell (2013)
Survivor Series (2013)
WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2013)
Royal Rumble (2014)

WCW

Starrcade '83
Starrcade '84
Starrcade '85
Starrcade '86
Starrcade '87
Bunkhouse Stampede (1988)
The Great American Bash (1988)
Starrcade '88
Chi-Town Rumble (1989)
WrestleWar '89
The Great American Bash '89
Halloween Havoc '89
Starrcade '89
WrestleWar '90
Capital Combat '90
The Great American Bash (1990)
Halloween Havoc (1990)
Starrcade '90
WrestleWar '91
SuperBrawl (1991)
The Great American Bash (1991)
Halloween Havoc (1991)
Starrcade '91
SuperBrawl II
WrestleWar '92
Beach Blast (1992)
The Great American Bash (1992)
Halloween Havoc (1992)
Starrcade (1992)
SuperBrawl III
Slamboree (1993)
Beach Blast (1993)
Fall Brawl (1993)
Halloween Havoc (1993)
BattleBowl (1993)
Starrcade (1993)
SuperBrawl IV
Spring Stampede (1994)
Slamboree (1994)
Bash at the Beach (1994)
Fall Brawl (1994)
Halloween Havoc (1994)
Starrcade (1994)
SuperBrawl V
Uncensored (1995)
Slamboree (1995)
The Great American Bash (1995)
Bash at the Beach (1995)
Fall Brawl (1995)
Halloween Havoc (1995)
World War 3 (1995)
Starrcade (1995)
SuperBrawl VI
Uncensored (1996)
Slamboree (1996)
The Great American Bash (1996)
Bash at the Beach (1996)
Hog Wild (1996)
Fall Brawl (1996)
Halloween Havoc (1996)
World War 3 (1996)
Starrcade (1996)
Souled Out (1997)
SuperBrawl VII
Uncensored (1997)
Spring Stampede (1997)
Slamboree (1997)
The Great American Bash (1997)
Bash at the Beach (1997)
Road Wild (1997)
Fall Brawl (1997)
Halloween Havoc (1997)
World War 3 (1997)
Starrcade (1997)
Souled Out (1998)
SuperBrawl VIII
Uncensored (1998)
Spring Stampede (1998)
Slamboree (1998)
The Great American Bash (1998)
Bash at the Beach (1998)
Road Wild (1998)
Fall Brawl (1998)
Halloween Havoc (1998)
World War 3 (1998)
Starrcade (1998)
Souled Out (1999)
SuperBrawl IX
Uncensored (1999)
Spring Stampede (1999)
Slamboree (1999)
The Great American Bash (1999)
Bash at the Beach (1999)
Road Wild (1999)
Fall Brawl (1999)
Halloween Havoc (1999)
Mayhem (1999)
Starrcade (1999)
Souled Out (2000)
SuperBrawl 2000
Uncensored (2000)
Spring Stampede (2000)
Slamboree (2000)
The Great American Bash (2000)
Bash at the Beach (2000)
New Blood Rising (2000)
Fall Brawl (2000)
Halloween Havoc (2000)
Mayhem (2000)
Starrcade (2000)
Sin (2001)
SuperBrawl Revenge (2001)
Greed (2001)

ECW

Barely Legal
Hardcore Heaven '97
November to Remember '97
Living Dangerously '98
Wrestlepalooza '98
Heatwave '98
November to Remember '98
Guilty as Charged '99
Living Dangerously '99
Hardcore Heaven '99
Heatwave '99
Anarchy Rulz '99
November to Remember '99
Guilty as Charged 2000
Living Dangerously 2000
Hardcore Heaven 2000
Heatwave 2000
Anarchy Rulz 2000
November to Remember 2000
Massacre on 34th St. 2000
Guilty as Charged 2001
ECW One Night Stand (2005)
ECW One Night Stand (2006)
December to Dismember (2006)

The Price:

$9.99 a month for EVERY WWE Pay-Per-View. Most people were expecting that it would be in the range of $14.99 to $24.99 a month. This price easily eliminates the need to purchase $39.99 to $74.99 WWE PPV a month.

1-Account for ALL Devices

You subscribe for the Network and you can access the Network on ALL of your devices, supporting multiple users sharing/accessing the Network from the same account. This means that one family member can use the Network on your PlayStation 3 while another watches in the bedroom on his/her tablet or iPhone - all on the same single account.

The Bad: 

From Botchamania:
Someone e-mailed Meltzer a list of edits on the Network…so let’s dump them on here!

• WWE’s 1997 UK PPV (One Night Only) is the edited home video version that WWE released towards the end of ’97 and cut down to 2 hours. It omits 3 matches, including the Bret Hart vs. Undertaker match that WWE mentions in the description underneath the video player. This is very strange because in 2012, the full 3-hour show was aired on the Classics On Demand channel. WWE Network live chat was no help at all when I informed them about One Night Only.

• New Jack’s matches on ECW PPVs have been edited out (with the lone exception of his bout with Mustafa at Living Dangerously 1999). His return to ECW at Heat Wave 1999 (running in and attacking the Dudleys) has also been removed. His run-ins into other wrestlers’ matches on other ECW PPVs are still intact.

• The Network’s airings of The Big Event 1986, King of the Ring 1993-1997, SummerSlam 1995-1997, and several In Your Houses are all taken from the Coliseum Video releases rather than the live versions.

• WCW Bash at the Beach 1996 is WCW’s home video release that omits footage of a fan run-in after Hulk Hogan’s heel turn. Whenever WWE has put that match on a WWE Home Video release, the fan run-in has been included, so they are in possession of the live PPV version.

• WCW Halloween Havoc 1990 is the Turner Home Entertainment home video release that was reduced from 3 hours to 2.

• Most of the WCW theme music that Jimmy Hart wrote is included on the WCW PPVs(Wolfpac, 3 Count, Disco Inferno). However, some of Hart’s other WCW music has been edited out and replaced (DDP’s “Self High Five” theme, Shane Douglas’s 2000-01 theme). This makes very little sense because WWE did not do this to any of Hart’s WCW music when WCW footage aired on Classics On Demand.

• On SummerSlam 1991, the song “Together” (written by Jim Johnston and Jimmy Hart) during the Randy Savage and Elizabeth video before their wedding has been replaced by different music. Basically, WWE dubbed over one of their own, in-house songs.

• Several shows still have “WWF” references edited out even though that was supposed to be a non-issue after 2012.

• My own note, sent in by Jesse Ojala: Everything is region-blocked now (meaning only USA can access it unless you’re using a proxy network like Unblock US) apart from WCW Uncensored 1995. It’s absolutely awful (aside from the Sting vs. Big Bubba match) but you wouldn’t be on this site if you liked a bit of crap now and again.

Online Only, Internet Connection Required

This is NOT a channel via your cable or satellite provider. You must ALWAYS have an internet connection to access and utilize this service.

Live Schedule

Unlike TiVo or DVR, you cannot rewind back to the beginning of a live scheduled event on the WWE Network if you just happen to walk into the middle of it while watching something else. You have to wait until the complete event is over, then hope and pray that it has a replay airing soon on the Network.

Good luck on finding the pre/post-show events for RAW, Smackdown! and Pay-Per-Views. Those are not available in any shape or form to watch on the WWE Network if you missed them live.

No Chapter Options, VHS-Style Fast-Forward & Rewinding

You would think that since most of the Pay-Per-View uploads on the WWE Network are essentially most of WWE's DVDs and/or Blu-Rays, that you can skip around like those hard copy events. Nope. You have to manually fast-forward if you just want to skip to the end of an event to see the main event or that particular match of your choice.

The Price: 

While the price is $9.99 per month, but you are forced into a 6-month commitment. For some people, they would be more comfortable in merely purchasing the Network for a month or two to see if it was worth their time and stop, but forcing customers to a 6-month commitment is a bit harsh.

Censoring Galore

WWE advertised the archived material to be in their original uncut, unedited formats, and that statement is completely false. Most of the content is ripped directly from Home Video formats for earlier events, while others are merely uploads from the heavily edited DVD releases.

Login Issues Plaguing Xbox Live

This issue as been remedied after the second week, but throughout the course of the initial launch week, Xbox Live users were blocked from accessing the Network via the WWE app, despite inputting the correct login information.

As of today (3/18/14), ECW and WCW PPVs are now viewable on Xbox 360 via the WWE app. Prior to this fix, fans were unable to view that content in the Network's archives.

Not trying to start a console war here, but if you plan on watching streaming video from your consoles, your best bet is to go with PlayStation 3 anyway. That's saying a lot from a guy who pretty much watches nothing but TwitchTV via his Xbox 360 more than actually playing video games throughout the week.

Missing Pay-Per-Views

Many users have reported that sporadic events from the Archives were missing or disappearing randomly.

The Ugly: 

Poor Tugboat Taylor... err, The Shockmaster

• Searching through archives is limited to only by Superstar/Diva's name or name of the event. You CANNOT search by a specific date of an event, such as "Monday Night RAW 2-24-14." Instead, you must search by "RAW" then scroll through ALL of the archives until you find the one you want. Call it lazy for people who are very nit-picky about the lack of options here, but remember it was the same people who complained about bare bones functions missing from both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at launch.

• As of this posting, the Monday Night RAW archives are limited to the years of 1993, 1999, then 2012 to early 2014. Friday Night Smackdown! is limited to 1999, then 2012 to early 2014 as well. No Monday Night Nitros nor WCW Thunders are in the archives. There are a few episodes of ECW Heatwave though. I thought it was very odd that very limited episodes of NXT are available, but I will guess that has to do with WWE's partnership with Hulu Plus for the episodes airing there.

• Many people have informed me that as of Monday (March 3, 2014) WWE was still charging people for the full 6 months, despite cancelling the subscription after the 1-week free trial. I didn't suffer from that unfortunate turn of events, but one of my Twitter followers was unfortunate enough to have one month cancelled by WWE's customer service line, but they refused to refund her the remaining 5 months. Sign-up for the 1-week trial at your own risk folks.

• Many people, including WWE themselves, have said that the buffering/loading issues with streaming videos via The Network is dependent on subscribers' individual ISPs (Internet Service Providers). This statement is completely bullshit. How are people with high-speed ISPs are having the same buffering and/or loading issues as people with lower quality ISPs? It's because WWE's servers are being pushed to the limit with the amount of heavy traffic that they didn't consider that would be problem. So much for the people who thought this Network launch was going to go without any problems. 

• NXT ArRIVAL - While the show itself was a stellar affair by giving a widespread audience a glimpse of the future Superstars and Divas of WWE, but watching it over the Network was a complete pain in the ass. The stream blanked out for the duration of 10-15 minutes, causing me (and countless other subscribers watching live) to miss an entire match. Fortunately, the issues were ironed out and customers were able to watch the duration of the event. 

The Verdict:

It makes me scratch my head that WWE would make a lot of bad choices with this service right out of the bat, despite the acclaimed praise coming from WWE loyalists that this is better than Netflix. 

I wish I had the opportunity to write an extensive rundown on Netflix from my usage of it while subscribing to it while studying film theory in college, but I took the week long trial to make a few notes on a few problematic areas that I can only hope WWE remedies before this becomes WWE's focal point of seeing everything underneath their tent.

As of this posting (3/17/14) WWE has promised that there will be NO problematic issues during the WrestleMania XXX live PPV broadcast. For WWE's sake, I hope this is the truth. WM30 is going to be make it or break it time for them.

As far as the overall package goes for the WWE Network, it's a great deal if you don't already have an extensive WWE, WCW, ECW broadcast and PPV library from their VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray releases from over the last three decades, along with a few torrent downloads of full episodes of RAW and Smackdown. The WWE Network is a powerful asset for younger WWE enthusiasts to see where the sport came from and how it evolved over the last three decades. Now fans have the chance to see for themselves that the Attitude Era wasn't as great as everyone made it out to be, while other fans can see ECW and WCW in their original, untainted states.

The WWE Network is also a great asset for re-discovering Superstars, Divas, and Legends that you may have never heard of or may have long forgotten, such as "9th Wonder of the World" Chyna, Madusa/Alundra Blayze, KAIENTAI (TAKA & Funaki), Justin Credible, Sabu, Terry Funk, Ivory (why hasn't she been considered for a Hall of Fame induction baffles me...), The Road Warriors, Naked Mideon (cringes), and even no matter what your opinion of the guy nowadays... Chris Benoit.

For fans like myself, who have collected an extensive amount of WWE, WCW, and ECW content over the years, this isn't really worth the money. Sure, the cheaper price on the PPVs is a steal, but I haven't purchased a live WWE PPV event since No Way Out 2008. There's always someone around with a live stream in HD. Besides, if you're one of those people who is already subscribing to the other miscellaneous sports packages, Netflix, Hulu Plus, and possibly a Xbox Live and/or PlayStation Plus account(s) then you might not be too thrilled about adding yet another subscription service to your monthly set of bills.

Another thing I have to wonder from the way how people were raving about this service when it launched, is exactly how many people are aware that TNA/Impact Wrestling have a streaming service similar to this with their On Demand and TNA Wrestling PLUS paid-subscription YouTube Channel ($4.99/mo or $24.99/yr.)? The WWE Network is essentially the same entity with a few extra bells and whistles, with the differences being few and in-between, such as PLUS has TNA's complete library (PPVs, live broadcasts, and even DVD releases) available for viewing while the Network features both archived and live streaming content.

Another personal gripe I have with the Network is that the archives are pretty limited. Great, this thing has an arsenal of PPVs in the archives, but what if I want to watch the build up to all of these events? Nope, only particular years are scattered around this thing so far. When I started up the free trial during the launch week, the first thing I wanted to check out was to see if the old WCW Nitro or WCW Thunder broadcasts that I grew up on were on here. Nope, no dice. Or what if I miss Monday Night RAW and/or Friday Night Smackdown! (like if I would care if I did...) and wanted to watch the replays on the WWE Network. Nope, no option for that either. I get that WWE can't air those events live on the Network, but it's pretty damn strange that you can't even find the archived replays for the bulk of the broadcasts this year already. Pretty much, I'm still reduced to searching YouTube or DailyMotion for archived episodes if I do miss my weekly wrestling fix, so the WWE Network doesn't really provide a simple solution for people who can't sit at home and watch all 5 days (6 if you count Saturday Morning Slam...) worth of WWE programming, thanks to their busy day-to-day schedules.

Despite the rocky start, WWE seems to have this thing under control - for now, but they have a long way to go before this is a must-buy for the hardcore wrestling fans. We still have to see how the Network fares after the international release after the colossal clusterfuck of a mess they had with the week-1 launch registration process WWE and customers had to deal with stateside in the United States. That and combined with international trafficking on the service will be things to have an eye out for in the coming months as the Network continues to find it's legs.

I want to see the WWE Network succeed, not only for WWE's sake, but for the sake of fans of professional wrestling. If we want this sport to survive, professional wrestling needs just as an extensive archive of easily available content as the NFL, NHL, MLB, or NBA networks/channels provide. Maybe after WWE gets it right, all other promotions (Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, DragonGate, New Japan, etc.) will follow suit.