WWE TV Megathread

[C.S.]

I must've watched a different show.

I thought it felt like a bland house show where nothing of any significance occurred and Jesse was pretty rough (understandable considering his age).

The nostalgia was cool though, and seeing Chelsea finally get her flowers after previously being released by the senile fecal rapist was the highlight of the night for me. 

[sek69]

6 hours ago, JRH said:

Was also surprised to find that Jesse Ventura never wrestled Dusty Rhodes (then again, I dont think there was ever a time they could have crossed paths).

I was surprised as well,  that was one of those things I just assumed happened at some point 

Also it looks like they are hyping Penta showing up on the first Netflix show with the "0" vignette on Raw tonight

[The Thread Killer]

So I logged into my Netflix account today, and discovered that not only will Raw be available on Netflix every Monday as of this coming Monday, but Smackdown and NXT will be as well, on their respective nights. And the catalog of back episodes will be getting uploaded as well.

On top of that, they have already uploaded all of the major WWE PPV/PLE’s, and those events will also be showing live as part of the Netflix deal as well.

To American fans, this might not seem like news or any kind of big deal at all…but for Canadian fans this is going to be huge, for the simple reason that we don’t get the Peacock streaming service here.

Since WWE stopped operating the WWE Network in the United States and moved over to Peacock, Canadian (and a lot of other international) fans have been getting the shaft.

There has been an international version of the WWE Network available, but through my cable provider, it is $15.00 a month. And they don’t have a lot of the back catalogue available. The only real reason to order that version of the Network previous to this was to see the PLE’s…or else you have to buy them via traditional PPV. (Or you know, through other…less than legal means.)

The alternative is that you could sign up for Sportsnet+, which is the App from the television network that showed Raw, Smackdown and NXT in Canada, but that is even more expensive, and from what I understand it is glitchy as hell. It’s $20 a month for the Sportsnet+ App, and then extra money on top of that to access their version of the WWE Network and archive.

Now (for Canadian fans at least) it’s going to be all under one roof, easy to access, and it’s on a service that I was already paying for because I use Netflix all the time anyways.

I stopped paying for WWE content years ago because I just didn’t want my dollars going into Vince McMahon‘s pockets. Once he was officially out of the picture (the second time) and TKO became the parent company, I didn’t have as many qualms about it (how could I, since I pay for UFC stuff all the time) but it was a pain in the butt watching WWE TV on Sportsnet and figuring out a way to see the PLE’s.

I wasn’t sure how the Netflix deal was going to work out for Canadian fans, but based on what I have seen so far, it’s going to be extremely convenient, actually save me money, and it’s going to be a big win.

[Timbo Slice]

The elephant in the room is the non-WWE footage. It seems like they’re trying to move things to the WWE Vault channel, but it’ll be piecemeal?

[The Thread Killer]

20 minutes ago, Timbo Slice said:

The elephant in the room is the non-WWE footage. It seems like they’re trying to move things to the WWE Vault channel, but it’ll be piecemeal?

Yeah, I am kind of hoping some of that stuff makes it onto Netflix as well. Like the old ECW stuff, a lot of the documentaries they have done, and other vintage footage.

[El-P]

No one will watch it. No one watched that stuff when it was on the WWE Network. You think anyone will watch that stuff on Netflix, which is overloaded with stuff nobody watches anymore and whose entire business model is about oversaturation of new content all the time ? 

WWE and Netflix really deserves each other though (take that as you will). Hey, now I can watch the Rumble or at least the first one, before I get really bored, without having to find some russian pirate feed on VK or something. Yeah, would have been fun a few years back to talk shit about it around here. 

[strobogo]

Hey man Netflix loves putting 30 seasons of something no one watches because CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT is the only thing that matters

[Johnny Sorrow]

6 hours ago, strobogo said:

Hey man Netflix loves putting 30 seasons of something no one watches because CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT is the only thing that matters

Netflix actually more often puts up 30 1 or 2 season shows that they don't give time to find an audience.

[El-P]

Reminds me : fuck Netflix forever for cancelling GLOW before I got a final season. Fuck Netflix in general, it's thrash, but for this, fuck them a whole lot. 

[TheDuke]

I don't know about internationally, but in Canada Smackdown wasnt on its' old home Sportsnet since that deal ended at the end of 2024, but wasn't live on Netflix yet either. Instead it's available for us on their Youtube channel: 

I'm dismayed that they have made it 3 hours now. I was happy that they had reduced Raw to 2 hours. At 3 hours I usually end up waiting and watching it later and fast forward through most of it.

[JRH]

I just hope Netflix doesnt stop the WWE from posting RAW highlights onto their youtube channel. It's how I keep up with WWE since cutting the cord (not going to sign up for Netflix yet as I do have Peacock for the PLEs). 

[sek69]

So Tiffy finally cashing in after months of teases made me think about how a criticism I keep seeing about the HHH Era is how it seems storylines are getting drawn out too long now. It sounds like a crazy thing to complain about after decades of Vince tearing up scripts every day and starting over, but it does seem at times we've gone too far the other way.

[The Thread Killer]

50 minutes ago, sek69 said:

So Tiffy finally cashing in after months of teases made me think about how a criticism I keep seeing about the HHH Era is how it seems storylines are getting drawn out too long now. It sounds like a crazy thing to complain about after decades of Vince tearing up scripts every day and starting over, but it does seem at times we've gone too far the other way.

I see what you’re saying, but I much prefer angles being drawn out over time. One of the many things I always hated about WWE was that they treated their fans like idiots, like we weren’t supposed to remember that guys who were sworn enemies one week would be fine with each other after a PPV blowoff match, and everybody just moved on.

One of the things I have really enjoyed is both the continuity and the long term storytelling. Look at Drew McIntyre. His character holds grudges over stuff that happened years ago, and as an added wrinkle, he’s actually justified, even though he’s a heel. Just because Roman and the Original Bloodline are babyfaces now, McIntyre is a grudge holding sumbitch and still hates them with good reason.

I agree that they could definitely pull the triggers on some stories a bit quicker, but if I had to choose, I much prefer the way things are now.

[sek69]

Oh I absolutely prefer the way things are now, but it just seems like HHH took the lessons of everyone hating Vince's booking to heart to the point it feels like he's gunshy.

[KawadaSmile]

All I know is that Tiffy is the god damn champion. You'd think she was Stone Cold with that pop.

[El-P]

And guess who's back for the first Netflix show ? Straight from cutting a wrestling promo at a Trump rally to the first ever "brand new era" show. The smell of the audience who would cheer for him after this shit.

The sponsorships on the mat are a riot too, if the leak is real. Honestly at this point they just should straight out put Elon Musk's shit plastered all over the show too (imagine a WWE show in Germany with Musk's sponsorship after he directly supported the AFD, which are basically neo-nazis).

Maybe they can run Cena's retirement in China. He can even cut a promo in the language...

Man. 2025 is gonna be so cursed on every level.

[JRH]

Cricket (one of the sponsors on the mat) still being a WWE Sponsor is really weird at this point since if you sign up for unlimited high speed you get HBO MAX (not trying to sound like a commercial, it's just fact), so it's basically advertising both a rival to Netflix AND the service that streams AEW. 

[Sweet Brown Koko]

https://www.brewbound.com/news/wwe-takes-minority-ownership-stake-in-hulk-hogans-real-american-beer