– WWE Corporate officially announced that the WWE Network has reached 1.82 million subscribers. You can read the full press release below or at the above link. According to WWE, the Network has had a 39 percent increase in its subscriber base since March 30, 2015, which was the day after WrestleMania 31.
WWE Network Reaches Record 1.82 Million Subscribers
WWE today announced that its digital subscription service, WWE Network, reached a record 1.82 million total subscribers following last night’s WrestleMania, the most viewedWrestleMania in history. This is a 39% increase from March 30, 2015, the day after WrestleMania last year.
“History was made last night with both a record-setting crowd at AT&T Stadium and more households than ever before watching WrestleMania on WWE Network,” said WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon. “WWE Network continues to drive transformative growth for our company.”
“Results today further demonstrate the power of our brand, illustrate our potential to drive long-term growth and provide evidence that we are effectively executing our multi-platform content strategy,” said George Barrios, WWE Chief Strategy & Financial Officer.
Yes well they were giving away a free month with Wrestlemania in it.
True. I think I read that 450,000 or so of those were in their trial month.
I saw the numbers.
Domestically, the total paid was down about 10 thousand from this point last year. That said, total paid increased by about 140 thousand thanks to an increase in international markets. Domestic also had about 450 thousand free trials, but even then I don't think that's a huge deal long-term (especially if you're hoping it's like a gym membership and people just forget to cancel).
In addition, the Network still hasn't released in China, which would almost guarantee another 100 thousand paid subscribers (rough estimate on my part).
Tl;dr: Network grew, lot of free trials but not a huge impact.
You know thinking about China, do they have their own fake fighting sport? Like wrestling but all kung fu and shit? If not they totally should. I'd watch the shit out of a fake Kumite.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Furthering that, the WWE Women's title is it's own title with it's own brand new lineage. Charlotte is the very first champion and today is her first day as champ. Whatever days she built up as Divas champ are gone.
It's a total overhaul. Thank God.
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Furthering that, the WWE Women's title is it's own title with it's own brand new lineage. Charlotte is the very first champion and today is her first day as champ. Whatever days she built up as Divas champ are gone.
It's a total overhaul. Thank God.
Nikki Bella: longest-reigning Divas champ for all eternity.
Furthering that, the WWE Women's title is it's own title with it's own brand new lineage. Charlotte is the very first champion and today is her first day as champ. Whatever days she built up as Divas champ are gone.
It's a total overhaul. Thank God.
Nikki Bella: longest-reigning Divas champ for all eternity.
What's sad about new lineage is you lose the absolute awesome Trish Stratus legacy, but its worth it to get rid of the Bella taint.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
I have finished Wrestlemania.
First of all, it was way too long and I got real tired of it by the end of it, and kept doing more and more sidestuff. This is so far away from my attention for WM30 and WM31, and it really encapsulates all the problems with it.
The first hour was nice, there were a ton of nicely choreographed spots without it feeling super overbooked. It was perhaps a bit too rough in some spots, I have trouble with people shortening careers like that. Ryder winning was fine though I fear crashcourse booking. AJ/Jericho was fine but had no special feel. New Day losing wasn't great, in hindsight it wasn't going to be any different because LoN has been losing way too much and with no titles not on the line. The entrance and closing segment made up a lot though.
But then it started to slip and slip.
Brock/Dean feels like it accomplished nothing. Brock being almost impossible to beat is not news, Dean didn't look especially good, there wasn't anything truly memorable about it. The Womens match had the perhaps the best wrestling of the night, which is amazing, with some really creative spots, and that somersault save. The ending wasn't great mostly because it does nothing to progress the story.
UT/Shane was a better match than I thought, but again accomplished nothing. No resolution, no consequences, people stay where they are. And that spot was again a bit much.
At this point I was really done with it all.
And then the Battle Royale took longer than it should, and Corbin winning has me kind of annoyed. He is just... nothing special. His spot as a midcard on NXT is fine, but he just seems limited. If he gets called up tonight I'm not sure what I think'll happen, the same spiral down of Neville, Bo and Tyler, or maybe a single big push to feed him to a face and then into midcard heeling.
And the main event was just empty. Crowd gave no fuck, everyone is tired, everyone knows what's going to happen.
There were no fairytale endings here, noone got made a hero, the status quo was maintained, old men stood tall. And for the show that's supposed to create stars and resolve builds, and takes more and more time, that's a real sin.
Furthering that, the WWE Women's title is it's own title with it's own brand new lineage. Charlotte is the very first champion and today is her first day as champ. Whatever days she built up as Divas champ are gone.
It's a total overhaul. Thank God.
Nikki Bella: longest-reigning Divas champ for all eternity.
What's sad about new lineage is you lose the absolute awesome Trish Stratus legacy, but its worth it to get rid of the Bella taint.
I just realized today that although I've seen a handful of Sami Zayn matches, and he was a hell of a performer in all of them, I've yet to actually see a match that he won
You should check out vs Neville for the NXT title. Hell of a match
I don't think they do care. Every ending last night was the exact opposite of what it should have been. Ryder's maybe was at least a feel good moment, some kind of reward since I doubt they're actually going to push him with it, but then AJ lost to part timer Jericho in like their 5th match, Charlotte retained, the New Day lost seemingly just to have an excuse for Austin/Michaels/Mankind, and none of those appearances felt particularly special because they're on tv all the time now, Austin does a post-raw Podcast like once a month and Foley just did one with him two days ago. The Tag Belts weren't defended, the Boosos went over the Dudleys, neither of whom I care about but again the crowd are down on the Boosos and WWE just don't give a f'. Shane lost, which basically means the whole setup was "Think we suck? Well we're gonna dangle change in front of you to get you to tune in, then snap it away". No interference, no nothing, just the most obvious thing. And of course Roman won. Undertaker has given up on special entrances but god damn HHH's was amazing. Of course anti-authority, loner Roman came out to a choreographed entrance because kayfabe, and he won, something people were predicting 12 months ago.
Everything that shouldn't have happened did.
I did like Ryder's backstage segment, much like HHH that is how you get over. Show some god damn passion, heels and faces can do that, moan about HHH all you want but he cares and it shows, but because the build is so terrible, there's nowhere to go for him if he retains.
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Highlights from that AMA with potential RAW spoilers aka I go on reddit so that you don't have to
On what last minute changes there were to Mania
"None. All finishes had at least been strongly considered for a week from my knowledge. I'll say this, had I filled out a scorecard on Thursday I would have had 100%."
On Takeover and Samoa Joe
"Ecstatic. Takeover continually proves to be a success for the company and its fantastic. Not sure about Joe's future but know that they totally want him for a main roster run."
Corbin is up on the main roster for good
On why the Wyatts are booked so badly
"Because Vince thinks he made another Undertaker so he uses them to make others look strong.
Truth is he made Papa Shango 2. This makes me sad."
His own personal opinion of Mania:
"Kind of. I think some of the matches didnt deliver as well as they could have. Dean apparently was fighting for harder stuff to be introduced during the match and they just never pushed it through. I think it really took away from the brutality of it. I personally thought Ambrose vs Reigns months back looked way more brutal for Ambrose.
I digress though, I really enjoyed most of mania. I know people had their issues with it but I think it did alot of things really well (and some things obviously not so well.)"
Tonight's RAW will have 2 returns and a couple of surprises, one return is going to lead to a title change, main event will be a Fatal Four Way.
Rollins's "timeline" for return is May.
Further Mania thoughts
"When I said run with the ball I meant that in reference to people who I liked winning or in the spots that they were in. They are doing things with Corbin and giving him a big opening win to start things off. Charlotte is still champion and I think that totally works, she will be a fantastic heel champion and I think they will save the Sasha spot for Summerslam in a one on one. The Sami vs Owens spot sold big and got the crowd hot. I speak of those things, there are alot of people right now who can carry the ball going forward and I thought Mania did an OK job of highlighting them.
However was I disappointed in some of the mania spots? Of course."
On the future of Total Divas:
"Its staying on. Truth is its a very profitable brand and whereas yes, the name is tacky as hell -it brings in an audience that WWE barely scraped the surface getting to before."
What last night would have looked like without the injuries:
"I was waiting for this question! No one was asking it.
Cena vs Taker Rollins vs Ambrose vs Reigns Wyatt vs Lesnar"
On superfans (I just really like and agree with this one) :
"Well I never confirmed if I was backstage or not.
However I will spit my take on superfans. I really dislike them. I dont think they are productive members of the wrestling community and they reek of privilege. Brock Lesnar Guy seems like the type of guy who would meet a female wrestling fan and say something to the effect of Oh youre a wrestling fan? Name five Intercontinental champions.
Yeah its me assuming I wouldnt like someone, but have you seen that shirt?"
On part-timers in the future:
"I love this question. I think part timers are very needed now - someone like Brock booked correctly looks like a monster and does not suffer from over exposure. Cena / Orton are going to hit this level within a few years where they wont appear on TV for nine months and then challenge someone for two months. I think the midcard will be fine though, NXT is going to do wonders for that."
Roman's boos:
"This is a biggie as WWE I think knows its there. Vince does not care. Roman is the guy."
On the ridiculous overrun:
"They bought till midnight on the PPV networks so they knew they could run late. The extra time saved their asses to be honest, otherwise you're probably cutting the battle royal to raw."
The Authority are going "bye bye for a while very soon." Where have I heard that before.
Emma is apparently mean (or was to him) and that is the worst wrestler he's ever met.
Sandow has no apparent future and is likely the next guy to get released soon.
You know thinking about China, do they have their own fake fighting sport? Like wrestling but all kung fu and shit? If not they totally should. I'd watch the shit out of a fake Kumite.
It's not China, but in Japan, MMA basically evolved out of shoot-style wrestling. The UWF was an off-shoot from New Japan Pro Wrestling, which then was further split up into groups like RINGS, Pancrase and BattlArts that all did a mixture of real and worked shoot-style wrestling bouts. Ken Shamrock did both real and worked fights for Pancrase, for instance, before going to the UFC. Most of the feds eventually moved into just being straight up MMA promotions, but even today there's stuff like Hard Hit (a sister promotion to, of all things, DDT). Not quite a fake Kumite, but fake MMA.
Event starts around 15 minutes in. If you're unsure if this is worked or real, go 1:05 in and see Dan The Wolfman throw some of the worst strikes imaginable.
The wrestling community has been speculating about Undertaker’s future for the past 15 years or so. But every year, he shows up at WrestleMania to put on a match that (usually) defies expectations. For a while, though, it was believed that he’d retire in his home state of Texas at WrestleMania 32. Retirement talk died down a bit when it was revealed that he’d be wrestling Shane McMahon, because the idea of ending his career against Shane McMahon just seems odd. There also seems to be a belief that he was holding out for a final match with John Cena — that would have happened in Dallas if Cena weren’t hurt depending on whose reports you read.
PWInsider, though, is reporting that the people in the know at WWE aren’t quite sure about Undertaker’s future. He had a ton of family and friends at the show, which isn’t so much an indicator of his intention to retire as much as it’s a reflection of the fact he is from Texas and has friends and family close.
One thing from the match that has caused speculation is the fact ‘Taker took off his gloves after the match. This may be symbolic of a farewell and a sign that this was the end for the Dead Man. Maybe we’ll get an official retirement Monday night on Raw.
Furthering that, the WWE Women's title is it's own title with it's own brand new lineage. Charlotte is the very first champion and today is her first day as champ. Whatever days she built up as Divas champ are gone.
It's a total overhaul. Thank God.
Nikki Bella: longest-reigning Divas champ for all eternity.
What's sad about new lineage is you lose the absolute awesome Trish Stratus legacy
I don't think thats the case. The original Women's title was still a thing and whenever Trish/Lita are on TV, I guarantee they still list their accomplishments in the division, even if the title isn't active anymore.
I don't think they're actively trying to erase anyone's title reigns. They'll still mention the original Women's/Diva's title if its relevant. But starting fresh is a good idea for the division considering the open rancor most wrestling fans had for both the Diva's belt and the term "Diva" itself.
ChillyWilly on
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Yes this is wonderful
I saw the numbers.
Domestically, the total paid was down about 10 thousand from this point last year. That said, total paid increased by about 140 thousand thanks to an increase in international markets. Domestic also had about 450 thousand free trials, but even then I don't think that's a huge deal long-term (especially if you're hoping it's like a gym membership and people just forget to cancel).
In addition, the Network still hasn't released in China, which would almost guarantee another 100 thousand paid subscribers (rough estimate on my part).
Tl;dr: Network grew, lot of free trials but not a huge impact.
3DS: 2981-5304-3227
pleasepaypreacher.net
Furthering that, the WWE Women's title is it's own title with it's own brand new lineage. Charlotte is the very first champion and today is her first day as champ. Whatever days she built up as Divas champ are gone.
It's a total overhaul. Thank God.
I guess that was Brie's last match.
But man, I don't know if I see much in Timothy Thatcher.
Dude was pretty boring at all three shows. His matches tended to kill the crowd.
My Let's Play Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC2go70QLfwGq-hW4nvUqmog
Nikki Bella: longest-reigning Divas champ for all eternity.
What's sad about new lineage is you lose the absolute awesome Trish Stratus legacy, but its worth it to get rid of the Bella taint.
pleasepaypreacher.net
First of all, it was way too long and I got real tired of it by the end of it, and kept doing more and more sidestuff. This is so far away from my attention for WM30 and WM31, and it really encapsulates all the problems with it.
The first hour was nice, there were a ton of nicely choreographed spots without it feeling super overbooked. It was perhaps a bit too rough in some spots, I have trouble with people shortening careers like that. Ryder winning was fine though I fear crashcourse booking. AJ/Jericho was fine but had no special feel. New Day losing wasn't great, in hindsight it wasn't going to be any different because LoN has been losing way too much and with no titles not on the line. The entrance and closing segment made up a lot though.
But then it started to slip and slip.
Brock/Dean feels like it accomplished nothing. Brock being almost impossible to beat is not news, Dean didn't look especially good, there wasn't anything truly memorable about it. The Womens match had the perhaps the best wrestling of the night, which is amazing, with some really creative spots, and that somersault save. The ending wasn't great mostly because it does nothing to progress the story.
UT/Shane was a better match than I thought, but again accomplished nothing. No resolution, no consequences, people stay where they are. And that spot was again a bit much.
At this point I was really done with it all.
And then the Battle Royale took longer than it should, and Corbin winning has me kind of annoyed. He is just... nothing special. His spot as a midcard on NXT is fine, but he just seems limited. If he gets called up tonight I'm not sure what I think'll happen, the same spiral down of Neville, Bo and Tyler, or maybe a single big push to feed him to a face and then into midcard heeling.
And the main event was just empty. Crowd gave no fuck, everyone is tired, everyone knows what's going to happen.
There were no fairytale endings here, noone got made a hero, the status quo was maintained, old men stood tall. And for the show that's supposed to create stars and resolve builds, and takes more and more time, that's a real sin.
Like we were all exhausted but if they didn't mute the hell out of everyone you would have heard 90k people booing their hearts out
Which is just weird and ass backwards for a company that allegedly doesn't care how the fans react anymore so long as they do react.
Pick a side and stick with it McMahon.
Nikki Bella is Cool and Good
Hmmm I thought it was kayfabe, but maybe you're right.
My Let's Play Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC2go70QLfwGq-hW4nvUqmog
You should check out vs Neville for the NXT title. Hell of a match
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He's definitely an acquired taste.
3DS: 2981-5304-3227
Everything that shouldn't have happened did.
I did like Ryder's backstage segment, much like HHH that is how you get over. Show some god damn passion, heels and faces can do that, moan about HHH all you want but he cares and it shows, but because the build is so terrible, there's nowhere to go for him if he retains.
"None. All finishes had at least been strongly considered for a week from my knowledge. I'll say this, had I filled out a scorecard on Thursday I would have had 100%."
On Takeover and Samoa Joe
"Ecstatic. Takeover continually proves to be a success for the company and its fantastic. Not sure about Joe's future but know that they totally want him for a main roster run."
Corbin is up on the main roster for good
On why the Wyatts are booked so badly
"Because Vince thinks he made another Undertaker so he uses them to make others look strong.
Truth is he made Papa Shango 2. This makes me sad."
His own personal opinion of Mania:
"Kind of. I think some of the matches didnt deliver as well as they could have. Dean apparently was fighting for harder stuff to be introduced during the match and they just never pushed it through. I think it really took away from the brutality of it. I personally thought Ambrose vs Reigns months back looked way more brutal for Ambrose.
I digress though, I really enjoyed most of mania. I know people had their issues with it but I think it did alot of things really well (and some things obviously not so well.)"
Tonight's RAW will have 2 returns and a couple of surprises, one return is going to lead to a title change, main event will be a Fatal Four Way.
Rollins's "timeline" for return is May.
Further Mania thoughts
"When I said run with the ball I meant that in reference to people who I liked winning or in the spots that they were in. They are doing things with Corbin and giving him a big opening win to start things off. Charlotte is still champion and I think that totally works, she will be a fantastic heel champion and I think they will save the Sasha spot for Summerslam in a one on one. The Sami vs Owens spot sold big and got the crowd hot. I speak of those things, there are alot of people right now who can carry the ball going forward and I thought Mania did an OK job of highlighting them.
However was I disappointed in some of the mania spots? Of course."
On the future of Total Divas:
"Its staying on. Truth is its a very profitable brand and whereas yes, the name is tacky as hell -it brings in an audience that WWE barely scraped the surface getting to before."
What last night would have looked like without the injuries:
"I was waiting for this question! No one was asking it.
Cena vs Taker Rollins vs Ambrose vs Reigns Wyatt vs Lesnar"
On superfans (I just really like and agree with this one) :
"Well I never confirmed if I was backstage or not.
However I will spit my take on superfans. I really dislike them. I dont think they are productive members of the wrestling community and they reek of privilege. Brock Lesnar Guy seems like the type of guy who would meet a female wrestling fan and say something to the effect of Oh youre a wrestling fan? Name five Intercontinental champions.
Yeah its me assuming I wouldnt like someone, but have you seen that shirt?"
On part-timers in the future:
"I love this question. I think part timers are very needed now - someone like Brock booked correctly looks like a monster and does not suffer from over exposure. Cena / Orton are going to hit this level within a few years where they wont appear on TV for nine months and then challenge someone for two months. I think the midcard will be fine though, NXT is going to do wonders for that."
Roman's boos:
"This is a biggie as WWE I think knows its there. Vince does not care. Roman is the guy."
On the ridiculous overrun:
"They bought till midnight on the PPV networks so they knew they could run late. The extra time saved their asses to be honest, otherwise you're probably cutting the battle royal to raw."
The Authority are going "bye bye for a while very soon." Where have I heard that before.
Emma is apparently mean (or was to him) and that is the worst wrestler he's ever met.
Sandow has no apparent future and is likely the next guy to get released soon.
My Let's Play Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC2go70QLfwGq-hW4nvUqmog
Glad Total Divas is staying on
It's not China, but in Japan, MMA basically evolved out of shoot-style wrestling. The UWF was an off-shoot from New Japan Pro Wrestling, which then was further split up into groups like RINGS, Pancrase and BattlArts that all did a mixture of real and worked shoot-style wrestling bouts. Ken Shamrock did both real and worked fights for Pancrase, for instance, before going to the UFC. Most of the feds eventually moved into just being straight up MMA promotions, but even today there's stuff like Hard Hit (a sister promotion to, of all things, DDT). Not quite a fake Kumite, but fake MMA.
Event starts around 15 minutes in. If you're unsure if this is worked or real, go 1:05 in and see Dan The Wolfman throw some of the worst strikes imaginable.
I didn't really read anything there that screamed huge doom and gloom for the immediate future.
"Because Vince thinks he made another Undertaker so he uses them to make others look strong."
WTF DOES THAT EVEN MEAN. He never used Taker like that!
I still think Roman vs Cena and Brock will be good.
Aaron Kirby and Marquis Carter going over their thoughts on Wrestlemania Star before playing some WWE16
I don't think thats the case. The original Women's title was still a thing and whenever Trish/Lita are on TV, I guarantee they still list their accomplishments in the division, even if the title isn't active anymore.
I don't think they're actively trying to erase anyone's title reigns. They'll still mention the original Women's/Diva's title if its relevant. But starting fresh is a good idea for the division considering the open rancor most wrestling fans had for both the Diva's belt and the term "Diva" itself.
The titles will be on the line tonight. This comes after The League of Nations defeated The New Day in a six-man match at WrestleMania.
WWE has also announced The Dudley Boyz vs. The Usos in a Tables Match for tonight. The Usos defeated The Dudleyz at WrestleMania last night.
Didn't want to see these at Mania? Tough, you're getting them again (technically like the 6th time).