It has been a little over a month since the WWE Network officially kicked off. The most groundbreaking idea in professional wrestling is live and in full effect. Is it everything that we all hoped and dreamed? Well that depends on who you. Of course we at Ring Time Pro Wrestling have our opinions. So I am going to give you all what I think was good and where I feel some improvements can be made.
Now this piece is not an endorsement or a condemnation of the network but merely an observation of how things have went so far. All in all I like what the network has done so far. The company has not delivered all the content that the WWE has promised but at this point I am not sure if the service could handle it all. With the amount of footage they have made available on demand I am sure that most fans have more than enough to keep them busy.
Starting off I knew the network would have some minor technical issues. Working with computers every day I know that any massive IT project will have its issues. Hey the federal government couldn’t get a healthcare site off the ground without problems. Fortunately for the WWE the 6 month commitment will allow them time to work out the kinks. The original issue with Xbox has been resolved but no way should that have taken a week where we couldn’t log in. One of the major challenges that the network still sees is the lagging or freezing up from time to time.
The network issues will have to get worked out soon. With Wrestlemania a little over a week out I would hope that the WWE is ready. The servers will get another major surge of sign-ups and people trying to stream at one time. Even if it doesn’t go perfect there can’t be too many drops or the people will kill the even live on social media.
Well enough of the bad let me get to what is actually the good with the product. At first I was a little disappointed in the way they were rolling out the videos but it actually works better this way. For one I would have ignored some of the content that I am enjoying now and it would have been a little overwhelming trying to move through 130,000 hours of video to get to what you want. Also I think when the drop new stuff it will give the fans a chance to get excited for the upcoming stuff.
Right now if you are watching the network I have a few suggestions for content that will keep you interested and give you some good history lessons.
Early ECW Shows
Before Heyman took ECW to the extreme it was called Eastern Championship Wrestling. They were one of the last true territories in the United States. Get to know ECW from the early 1990s when Superfly Jimmy Snuka, Shane Douglas and Terry Funk ran the roost. Get to see the introduction of guys like Taz, Tommy Dreamer and Sabu.
Legends of Wrestling
The Legends of Wrestling is a hold over program from the old WWE 24/7 channel. It is a panel discussion of various topics in the wrestling business. Some of the better ones are History of Texas Wrestling, Factions and Worst Characters. They have not loaded up all the episodes of this great program but it’s definitely a must watch for anybody who loves the history of professional wrestling. Hopefully the WWE will shoot some more these discussions with various panels.
RAW Flashback
Monday Night RAW has been around for over 20 years and sometimes we forget about the earlier shows. Being able to see talent again like Razor Ramon, Bret Hart and Bam Bam Bigelow in the early stages of RAW is always a breath of fresh air. Also something that gets lost in history is the color commentary of Vince McMahon. I think Vince added a little something special to the show along with his broadcast partners Randy Savage and Jerry Lawler. Raw was very interesting in its early days.
The WWE is on the right path with this network and can’t wait to see what they do next.
Written By
Keith B. Holt
Follow on Twitter @Kholtjr
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