The WWE Network: Session 5 – The Advantages

Though I’ve been on the fence about how successful the WWE Network can be, I cannot deny the fact that there are many advantages for it.  Here are some of the advantages.

Being able to adjust their Shows – The best thing for the WWE of having their own network is that they have more control over when to air RAW, Smackdown, Superstar, and NXT.  Seasonal sports like football take away many viewers from RAW on Monday nights.  With Fox signing on the UFC to their network, many are saying that they will take the Friday night spot, which would take away any viewers if WWE does a Friday night show.  So, with their own network, the WWE has the freedom to not go head-to-head with any of these sports, allowing them to retain many of their viewers.

Showing longer wrestling matches – As it is right now, there is so much TV time that is used in recapping past events and promoting up-and-coming pay per views.  That time usage can be minimized with the WWE Network, because they can do recap and promo through out the day entire day on their channel.  With less time allotted for those time spots on Raw and Smackdown, more time can be given toward in-ring action.  This will also free up time for mid-carders and the women’s division to hone their skills in front of a camera.  Since many mid-carders and women never done the independent circuit, they lack lots of experience in the ring and in front of the camera.  Now that more time will be available, this will help them learn the WWE style of story-telling, which in the long-run, make them better performers.

More on-camera promos – On-camera promos date back as far as the conception of professional wrestling, but doing on-camera promos is easier said than done.  It’s in these promos that we get to see the personality of a wrestler.  I’m assuming that because air time is limited, the WWE also had to limit how much time is allotted to promos, so that there is time to promote any up-coming pay per view.  Now when they have their own network, they can create a pre-Raw show or pre-Smackdown show centered around promo work to enhance whatever the storylines are.  This will allow the fans to have a stronger connection with the wrestler and in turn, be more invested in the wrestling storyline.

Commercials for WWE films – As it is right now, the WWE are not that good in making films and neither is their promotion for these films.  The only time I will see a trailer or a commercial for a WWE film is when I watch a WWE program.  With the lack of promotion for their movies, the WWE Studios will take more losses than gains.  Since the WWE doesn’t invest in getting many commercial spots from various networks for their films, the WWE Network now allows them to air their trailer as often as they want.  Though this isn’t a big deal for the typical wrestling fan, this is a big deal for the WWE.

Creation of more jobs – From a wrestling point of view, this doesn’t mean much.  But for people in the entertainment industry or aspiring to be in the entertainment industry, this is a great thing.  Though the WWE has a huge library of wrestling footage which can start the new network, eventually, they will have to create new and original programming in order to catch more viewers attention.  In creating more shows, this will demand studio space, writers, camera-men, technicians, office workers, productions workers, and whatever else it takes to create shows.  In this day of our economy, the job opportunities are really scarce, but with the WWE Network, there will be a need for jobs to be filled.  Plus, for those WWE fans who would love to work for the WWE but not are not wrestlers, if they have the skills sets needed for the channel, this allows them to work for the greatest wrestling promotion of all time with out stepping in the ring.

These are just a few advantages for the WWE Network.  Only time will tell as to how successful it can be.  

Time To Move On

Rick Flair – born February 25, 1949 – age 62

Started Wrestling Career in 1972

First NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1981

Hulk Hogan – born August 11, 1952 – age 58

Started Wrestling Career in 1977

First WWF Heavyweight Championship in 1984

Sting – born March 20, 1959 – age 52

Started Wrestling Career in 1985

First NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1990

First Sting vs Flair feud – 1988

First Flair vs. Hogan feud – 1996 (from the NWO storyline)

First Hogan vs. Sting feud – 1996 (from the NWO storyline)

Looking at the statistics above, each wrestler won their first championship within 5-9 years of being in the business.  When a person wins the Heavyweight Championship title, the company trusts that he can be their spokesperson and grab the attention of the public in hyping up their events.  After each of the above wrestlers had their first title run, the popularity they generated made them one of the main talents for their company.  By 1996, when all 3 talents were signed to the WCW, their popularity was undeniably huge in the wrestling world.  By 2001 when WCW was sold to the WWE, they were 3 of the biggest names in wrestling history.  Roughly, within 15-20 years of their career, these 3 wrestlers have reached levels in the wrestling business that only few have ever reached.  Why?  Were they at the right place at the right time?  Were they just too unique and exceptional at what they do?  Were they the results of great promotion work from the company they were with?  The answer is Yes to all the above.  There is no one reason why they became popular.  The time came when someone chose to put them in the center of the company and they stayed with that decision and invested in their popularity.

How long can Impact Wrestling rely on these 3 wrestlers to promote their company?  It’s great that these 3 wrestlers have an active wrestling career until now, but to constantly give them main event angles then means less and less time for any up-and-coming talent.  The sad thing is that many of these Impact Wrestling up-and-coming talents have been in the business for over 10 years, but haven’t come close to the level of Hogan, Flair, and Sting  Here are some statistics:

Aside from AJ Styles who one the World Heavyweight Championship 3 times and Abyss who won it 1 time and Samoa Joe who won it 1 time, no other wrestler on this list had ever held the World Heavyweight title.  

Why haven’t any of these wrestlers been able to reach the heights of Hogan, Flair, and Sting?  Some say that Hogan, Flair, and Sting do not want to give up their main event status.  Others say that Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo don’t know how to promote wrestlers to the next level.  And others also say that Dixie Carter let’s everyone else run the company, which she owns.  Who is right?  I think they are all right to a degree.  Until Hogan, Flair, and Sting can just use their popularity to promote the company instead of their in-ring ability to help the company move forward, they will not grow.  Until Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo can move the other wrestlers into significant storylines, they will not grow.  Until Dixie Carter takes a stand and realize that they all work for her and if they can’t create something unique or original to gain fans and viewership and make money for the company, then they just have to part ways. 

Let me describe this way.  To have your own unique house, it’s easier to build a house from scratch according to your own specifications rather than buying an existing house and renovate it and be stuck with its parameters.  Impact Wrestling has been riding on the existing popularity of their talents like Hogan, Flair, and Sting. They’ve been riding on remnant WCW fan base who never liked WWE.  What they should do is create the next Hogan, the next Flair, and the next Sting.  They need to build a different look with a variety of characters to match-up against each other.  Until this happens, Impact Wrestling will never grow.

Overall, Impact Wrestling is not that bad.  It’s only bad when compared to WWE.  The in-ring wrestling is pretty good sometimes.  They do have good talent on their roster.  They have the ingredients to create a unique promotion that isn’t compared to the Old WCW and the current WWE.  But, as Hogan, Flair, and Sting continue to dominate a good part of their storylines, they will never escape the comparison.  They will never promote other wrestlers to be the next best thing. 

Personally, I hope that one day someone will decide that Hogan, Flair, and Sting’s time in the spotlight as in-ring competitors is finally over.  They do have name value, but I think it’s time for them to be PR representatives than active wrestlers.  I have great respect and admiration for those 3 competitors, but this isn’t the 80s/90s.  The WCW is done.  The Crow is an old movie and the next Batman movie won’t feature the Joker.  We have entered the next decade of this new century.  It’s time for Impact Wrestling to do the same thing.

Matt Hardy = WTH?!?!

The latest addition to the Matt Hardy Saga is that he was arrested AGAIN last Monday, September 12, 2011 for driving under the influence.  Matt Hardy tweeted that he was framed because he blew a 0.0 on the Breathalyzer.  According to the police report that leaked on-line, he nearly two cars three times.  When pulled over, he did blow a 0.0 on the Breathalyzer, but failed all the other sobriety field tests which led to his arrest.  His speech was slurred and his balance was off.  Further details can be found on-line.

My reaction to this story was, AGAIN?!?!?  Why does he still have a driver’s license?  If he has a record of driving under the influence, why isn’t his driver’s license suspended?  Since he didn’t have any alcohol on his breath, then the logical conclusion would be he was on drugs.  Now whether those drugs are prescription or non-prescription drugs has yet to be determined.  Blood was drawn at the Wake County Jail so we will have to wait for the blood report for the public to know.  The only person who knows what he took is Matt Hardy himself.  I don’t think that he even told his girlfriend Reby Sky, as to if he was taking drugs or not.  What amazes me is that a people know if there head is clear enough to drive or not, and to drive knowing that you are impaired is a blatant disregard to public safety. 

Personally, I think he’s going through a mid-life crisis as well as suffering from the effects of all the extreme stunts he’s done throughout his life.  He started wrestling when he was around 20 years old.  He started as a jobber in the WWE in 1994, to only build his reputation up and become a top performer for the WWE.  Fast-forward to 16 years later with traveling 4-6 days a week doing shows, beating his body up in the ring, and toward the end, getting less and less of a push, you can see how such a stressful life can lead a person to break down and not care about who they effect in their life.  I really don’t know the real reason why he’s like this.  Every thing I’m writing about is based on pure observation and speculation. 

It’s just sad to see someone like this hit rock bottom, and I can see why many wrestlers who have traveled the path he is in, turn to religion, which in turn, saves their life.  When you don’t have religion, you tend to seek your own gratification.  When you have religion, you look beyond your own gratification and seek to please a higher being.  The gist of this concept is looking beyond yourself.  This is what Matt Hardy seems to not be doing.  He’s still focusing on himself.  If he cares about others (girlfriend, brother, family, friends) more than himself, he will learn that can’t be irresponsible.  His irresponsibility hurts them, which is very sad thing for a person to do.

How do you fix this?  I don’t know.  Change of environment?  Counseling?  Rehab?  Maybe, but the old saying goes, you can take a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.  Hopefully, everything will workout for him.  Though I’m a fan of his work, I’m more concerned for his humanity.  To wrestle or not wrestle again is his choice, but to no care about himself, his family, and his friends is sad.  Hope you learn what you need to learn, Matt Hardy.  Life is too short to just piss it away.

The WWE Network: Session 4 – The Obstacles

Many of us grew up watching TV.  We knew which day and time our favorite sit-com or drama was going to air, and we would adjust our schedule to watch it.  When cable television began to spread across the nation, we were offered a variety of shows, but regardless of the variety of shows cable offered, we still stuck to our favorite sit-com or drama.  When our favorite was over, we spent countless times channel surfing trying to find something worth watching.  Sometimes, we end-up finding nothing worth watching, and so the criticism of TV goes, “we have hundreds of channels, but nothing to watch.”  Will the WWE Network be one of those channels?

One obstacle I see with the WWE Network is that it seems to be 100% WWE programming.  Unless there is a change in WWE protocol, we shouldn’t expect to see Impact Wrestling or Ring Of Honor on the WWE Network.  The name alone says it all – WWE Network.  If it shows a movie, it will be a WWE Movie.  If it shows news, it will be WWE News.  If it shows wrestling, it will be WWE wrestling.  Why is this an obstacle?  Because wrestling fans are WRESTLING fans and not necessarily just WWE wrestling fans.  There is no obligation for the WWE to be a haven for wrestling programs, but there is an advantage of having other wrestling shows on the WWE Network.  There is a possibility of gaining those fans, if not to the WWE program, then at least to the WWE Network.  On the flipside, for those who are not fans of the WWE, then no matter how many programs you have, you will never convert them to the channel.

Another obstacle I see is Vince McMahon might be spreading himself too thin between the WWE Network, WWE Films, WWE Programming AND Linda McMahon’s possible 2012 Senate run.  WWE success has relied on Vince McMahon being an active player in whatever he is doing.  Actually, all successful leaders do that, but micromanaging people can prove detrimental to anyone’s success.  WWE Wrestling Programming is where all of Vince’s success started.  Until now, he is still in the middle of everything that’s done on the show.  WWE Films venture into the film industry can be a very profitable business, but they still haven’t yet found a winning formula in making movies.  So, close monitoring is still needed in order for it to be profitable.  With Linda McMahon’s possible 2012 Senate run, Vince will never let his wife do this entirely alone.  Now, we have the WWE Network.  Creating programs that will fit a 24-hour time slot is a daunting task.  Though the concept of the WWE Network has been discussed and planned in great detail prior to it’s official announcement to it’s stockholders, the execution will still require a lot of work.  Can Vince McMahon handle all this?  Possibly yes, but it’s not going to be easy, and something might suffer along the way.

Another obstacle to mention is the fact that single sports channel’s do not necessarily have strong ratings.  The Tennis channel only gets strong ratings when there is a major tennis tournament like Wimbledon.  The Golf channel only gets strong ratings during the PGA championships.  When there isn’t a current tournament or championship, the ratings aren’t necessarily stong.  If Raw and Smackdown move from their current networks to the WWE Network, there is a strong chance of a huge drop in ratings.  With low ratings, there is a potential loss in sponsorship.  Less sponsors mean less money.  That is the gamble that the WWE will be taking when starting the WWE Network.  Of course, this doesn’t mean that the WWE Network is doomed to fail, but this is obstacle that must be handled.

Though I’m on the fence when it comes to the WWE Network, I am really interested to see on how they approach this channel.  There is so much that is not yet revealed concerning this channel.  Pluse, 2012 is 12-months long, so we have yet to hear of an official air date and which cable companies will carry the channel.  All we can do is sit and wait and see what the WWE has in store for all of us.

Wrestling Website Spotlight – Showtime All-Star Wrestling

This week’s Wrestling Website Spotlight is Showtime All-Star Wrestling which can be found at www.sawonline.tv  Showtime All-Star Wrestling is a wrestling promotion that is based in Nashville, Tenessee.  They upload their shows weekly. Their video quality is decent and is tolerable to watch.  Currently, the SAW International Heavyweight Champion is Kid Kash who many will remember from ECW and WWE.  Kid Kash is also currently signed with Impact Wrestling for their X-Division.  So, if you want to expand you independent wrestling knowledge and see an alternative to WWE and TNA, check out www.sawonline.tv  Just click where it says SAWTV.  Note, you have to have a broadband connection for a smooth stream.

The WWE Network: Session 3 – Too Much Wrestling

For tennis enthusiast, there is the Tennis Channel. For golf aficionados, there is the Golf Channel. For speed junkies, there is the SPEED Channel. Now, for all the wrestling fanatics, there will soon be The WWE Network. If you have read my first session on the WWE Network, I am on the fence regarding this channel, because I feel that we will eventually hit a point when we will have too much wrestling. The essence of a wrestling match is 2 people in a ring battling to pin the other down for a 3 count. Regardless of who is in the ring and how great their ring psychology is, the essence of wrestling is still the same. How much of that can we really watch? If that’s all they have in the morning, noon, and night, then eventually, I have no motivation to stay tune on the channel.  

One argument for a pure wrestling channel like the WWE Network is that there are existing channels that do feature a single sport like the Tennis Channel. One difference between these single sport channels and the soon-to-air WWE Network is that those other channels are separate from the entity that runs that sporting event that they feature. This dynamic allows for a variety of shows that relate to that channel’s theme. The Tennis Channel airs the various tournaments ran by the ATP and ITF. The Golf Channel airs various tournaments ran by the PGA, LPGA, and other golf organizations. The SPEED Channel airs various races ran by NASCAR, Formula 1 and other car-racing related programming. But what about the WWE Network? Apparently, the WWE Network will air only WWE Programming. WWE Programming is primarily centered on RAW and Smackdown. As a result, this channel can possibly be a 24 hour/7 day a week promotion for RAW and Smackdown. I already get annoyed that out of a 2-hour wrestling show, I’m only getting about 40 minutes of pure wrestling. So much time allotted to recapping last show, recapping a previous pay per view, and promoting an upcoming pay per view that I only get a handful of promo-to-wrestling matches. Now amplify that with everyday of the week, what variety do we really have? 

Another argument for the WWE Network is that we will be able to watch classic matches of the past. When we think about TV production, good wrestling TV shows really started around the mid-1980s. Prior to that, TV production value wasn’t necessarily that great. Those wrestling promotions that were able to video tape their matches had to do it on a low budget. As fun as it is to watch an old-school wrestling match, how tolerable is it to watch bad video production? Plus, many wrestling fans today are ignorant of past legends so what would motivate this current generation of wrestling fans to spend time watching the WWE Network? 

 As much as I am a wrestling fan, I don’t know if I can watch wrestling 24 hours/7 days. Nor do I think I can watch endless commercials of RAW and Smackdown and whatever upcoming pay per view that’s coming up. Unless there is a variety of shows that are interested and unique, then the only reason I will tune into the WWE Network is to watch RAW, Smackdown, and Superstars, and that’s it.

Wrestling Always Matters Podcast 9/13/11

Welcome to Wrestling Always Matters, your wrestling news podcast recapping and commenting on the wrestling news thats floating on the web.

In this podcast, we will hear news regarding... 

• Survivor Series... 
• Greg The Hammer Valentine's no show... 
• Jeff Hardy's conviction... 
• last week Smackdown's attendance... 
• this week Smackdown's shows in Canada... 
• Randy Orton... 
• the next generation of Stampede Wrestling... 
• Roddy Rowdy Piper's emergency surgery... 
• Rosa Mendez and the FCW Divas... Gunner... 
• and the Territory League!

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Thanks for listening. Feel free to leave a comment!