WWE Network... It's Here

[SteveJRogers]

I liked it. It's really not like a lot of these kinds of shows where they throw random people together and see what happens. They all know each other in varying degrees so the camaraderie and tension that flares up feels more genuine to a degree. Really surprised at the first episode, though I still cringe at what may come soon.

Wonder if Miz shows up with "tips".

[flyonthewall2983]

My god was tonight's Warrior special amazing. So shockingly genuine, brutally honest, and tremendously edited. The CM Punk doc was a great film, but this one is even better. It is shorter in length, but because there are so many more years of history, so much more never-before-seen footage, more interesting talking heads, and a much more dramatic story and ending--it is more interesting biographical piece.

 

The McMahon family talking heads were fascinating.

-Vince crying made me cry.

-Hunter asking Hulk not to interact with Warrior until after the Hall of Fame so as not to ruin the good vibes

-Watching Linda's interaction with Warrior, I can't help but think of how devastated she must be.

 

It really was, to the point of making me re-think my mixed feelings.

 

Seeing all the belts in Triple H's office was cool too, especially the NWA belt Flair gave him.

[Zero]

Does Triple H have a live feed of the performance center set up in his office?

[Bix]

Does Triple H have a live feed of the performance center set up in his office?

Yes. There's a live feed going at all times.

[Blazer]

 

My god was tonight's Warrior special amazing. So shockingly genuine, brutally honest, and tremendously edited. The CM Punk doc was a great film, but this one is even better. It is shorter in length, but because there are so many more years of history, so much more never-before-seen footage, more interesting talking heads, and a much more dramatic story and ending--it is more interesting biographical piece.

 

The McMahon family talking heads were fascinating.

-Vince crying made me cry.

-Hunter asking Hulk not to interact with Warrior until after the Hall of Fame so as not to ruin the good vibes

-Watching Linda's interaction with Warrior, I can't help but think of how devastated she must be.

 

It really was, to the point of making me re-think my mixed feelings.

 

Seeing all the belts in Triple H's office was cool too, especially the NWA belt Flair gave him.

 

 

Yep, that was the best part. Warrior was interested in it too. Did you catch it when he said, "show me some of your stuff." HHH wanted to talk business, Warrior wanted to talk collectibles. It was pretty touching and perhaps cute.

[Blazer]

The one belt I didn't see on the wall was Hogan's 85 belt (the black version similar to the red NWA tv belt).

[flyonthewall2983]

It's kind of warming to know that they mean something still to the guys, like The Rock's "Fruity Pebbles" promo with all his belts displayed.

[thebrainfollower]

Here's a question - Does Michael Hayes have such political pull in WWE that WCCW is seen as the be all and end all of territories? It's the only old school territory on the network.

 

I get that it might take some months to get the mid South territory stuff together but the fact is the upcoming stuff this year is only SNME and the Clashes. Seems kinda funny.

[shoe]

Here's a question - Does Michael Hayes have such political pull in WWE that WCCW is seen as the be all and end all of territories? It's the only old school territory on the network.

 

I get that it might take some months to get the mid South territory stuff together but the fact is the upcoming stuff this year is only SNME and the Clashes. Seems kinda funny.

If Michael Hayes had all the political clout he would be in the WWE HOF. WCCW was I believe the 1st territory they acquired. They have done the work on the shows for WWE 24-7 so they are more ready to be on the network.Again this is all conjecture on my part.Plus the Freedbirds were pretty big in Mid-South as well so I'm sure he'd be pushing for those to air as well.

[goc]

Yea I think it's fair to say it has more to do with what is digitized and ready to go already. I do find it kind of surprising they've never really rolled out any weekly AWA TV, but if they only have the squashes without the local promos that might make sense. They've had the AWA library for a long time now.

[C.S.]

From the Torch:

WWE NEWS: WWE debuting Hall of Fame show on the Network

Apr 21, 2014 - 2:19:30 PM

By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

WWE is debuting a new show, "Best of Hall of Fame," on the WWE Network this week.

The four-episode series will run Tuesday through Friday at 10:00 p.m. EST featuring "some of the most memorable inductions in WWE Hall of Fame history," according to a press release. Josh Mathews will host.

The series is an example of WWE packaging their video library footage into new shows. The goal is to create original programming for the Network that WWE can hype on TV to entice subscriptions.

Best of Hall Fame Schedule

- Tuesday, April 22: Hulk Hogan by Sylvester Stallone (WM21), Trish Stratus by Stephanie McMahon (WM29), and Bobby Heenan by Jack Lanza (WM20).

- Wednesday, April 23: Pete Rose by Kane (WM20) and Ric Flair by Triple H (WM24).

- Thursday, April 24: "Mean" Gene Okerlund by Hulk Hogan (WM22) and Shawn Michaels by Triple H (WM27).

- Friday, April 25: Jerry Lawler by William Shatner (WM23) and Bruno Sammartino by Arnold Schwarzenegger (WM29).

 

http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_News_3/article_77901.shtml

 

I'd prefer full HOF shows, but this is certainly better than nothing.

[Petey]

I'm surprised they haven't put up a lot of the World Championship Wrestling episodes from 85-87 or 88 since a lot those ran on Classics on Demand.

[Migs]

I'm surprised they haven't put up a lot of the World Championship Wrestling episodes from 85-87 or 88 since a lot those ran on Classics on Demand.

 

That and Primetime from 86-89.

[pantherwagner]

Classics on Demand showed a lot of different stuff. The market for a lot of these shows may not be as large as we'd have imagined. They seem to be pushing a lot more for original content as well as recycled content (such as the new Hall of Fame show).

 

So I was watching the start of this MSG show from 1986 with the tag team battle royal and Mean Gene is a commentator with Gorilla and Hayes. Other than the Wrestlemania gimmicks battle royal a few years ago I had never seen him doing colour (unless it's something that I am forgetting about). Did he join the booth at many shows? Any opinions on how good he was/wasn't? He seems to be a natural at it.

[KrisZ]

Gene announced in the AWA quite a bit especially in Winnipeg and that was usually just him and no one else. He did quite a bit of announcing in his early days in WWF.

[Ricky Jackson]

Yeah, Gene and Gorilla were a regular team for MSG shows in 84-85. I always thought he was pretty good.

[thebrainfollower]

He was pretty awful as a commentator IMO. He and Gorilla brought out the worst qualities in each. This one appearance, not sure I get it. Maybe he was just in NYC that day and figured he could pick up a payday.

[flyonthewall2983]

He said in one of his shoots that he never liked announcing.

[sek69]

I didn't get a chance to see it, but apparently there's something running on the network now (Warrior doc?) where in the background of one scene there's a PPV poster with a post-it note over CM Punk's face. If true, that's an awesome moment in WWE petty behavior history.

[shoe]

I didn't get a chance to see it, but apparently there's something running on the network now (Warrior doc?) where in the background of one scene there's a PPV poster with a post-it note over CM Punk's face. If true, that's an awesome moment in WWE petty behavior history.

 

Bix put a screenshot of it up somewhere on the board a few days ago.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I didn't get a chance to see it, but apparently there's something running on the network now (Warrior doc?) where in the background of one scene there's a PPV poster with a post-it note over CM Punk's face. If true, that's an awesome moment in WWE petty behavior history.

I thought it was funny, as it wasn't something featured, it was in the background of a scene in I think HHH's office. Like HHH took a phone number down and stuck it there and it was still there when they filmed the doc.

[DMJ]

RIght now, they're airing a SmackDown episode from February 2001 that came right before the launch of the XFL and it brought me back to a question that I'm sure has been asked and answered a million times -

 

WTF with Austin's heel turn at WM17? Was there ever an adequate explanation as to why the Two-Man Power Trip would form when, 2 months earlier, Austin and Triple H were in a very personal, bitter feud?

 

On a side note, this is actually a really fun episode. It's obvious they were trying to spike this rating to get as much XFL "xposure" as possible (and it did work...until people saw the XFL and tuned out in droves as weeks passed). There was a Hardys/Dudleys hardcore match, Jericho vs. Tazz for the IC title, Miss Kitty doing a striptease, a 3-way divas bout that isn't half bad, and, here's the biggest shocker, all of the company's main event talent were in attendance and involved in at least backstage segments (HHH, Austin, The Rock, and Angle) which is more that can be said for SD episodes today.

 

But I do ask again - WTF with the Austin heel turn? Was it ever adequately explained?

[goc]

They really didn't do a very good job at explaining it, but the idea was that Austin had become so paranoid and obsessed about being WWE Champion that he was willing to side with Vince McMahon, Triple H, ANYONE that was willing to help him get and keep the title.

 

Why HHH would want to help him do that just so he can play second fiddle IC Champ and tag partner, I have no idea.

[Loss]

It's just so funny because it's not like Austin hadn't beaten Rock before on his own terms and needed to make that jump. It's not like he was on a losing streak. I guess we were supposed to think losing to HHH made him that desperate, but it made no sense.

[Petey]

They really didn't do a very good job at explaining it, but the idea was that Austin had become so paranoid and obsessed about being WWE Champion that he was willing to side with Vince McMahon, Triple H, ANYONE that was willing to help him get and keep the title.

 

Why HHH would want to help him do that just so he can play second fiddle IC Champ and tag partner, I have no idea.

 

Maybe Vince convinced HHH to help Austin out (assuming Vince and HHH were still on good terms on-air). The whole thing sounded way better in theory than it was actually executed.

 

It's just so funny because it's not like Austin hadn't beaten Rock before on his own terms and needed to make that jump. It's not like he was on a losing streak. I guess we were supposed to think losing to HHH made him that desperate, but it made no sense.

 

But when Austin had beaten Rock, that was before Austin had major neck surgery and before Rock had really hit his prime. By the time they had their match at Mania 17, Rock was now at his zenith while Austin was older and unsure if he'd break down.