App/Site Review: WWE Network

Confession time: I am a pro wrestling fan. Have been all my life. Hold your tomatoes, I know some of it is "not real." I don't care. I swear that's the excuse I hear from everyone who doesn't like it. "But don't you know it's fake?" Of course I know some of it is fake, dolt. But so are breast implants, McDonald's chicken nuggets (I don't care how many statements they release about it), Viagra-assisted erections, and reality tv. But they still have fans, so if I want to watch a couple of oiled, muscled, long-haired men throw each other around a box for 2-3 hours a few times a week, leave me alone. So there are storylines. Situations and things on tv do not always reflect the wrestlers' actual feelings. So what? I can deal with that. Regardless, pro wrestling and I are sort of like the relationship between lifelong friends. There are times where I don't follow the product at all, but then something always draws me back and then it's like I never left. For example, up until this past January I'd been on a 2+ year long sabbatical from watching wrestling because I was dissatisfied with the content. But thanks to my uncle making me order this year's Royal Rumble, which introduced me to one Roman Reigns and later the greatness that is The Shield, I'm back. LOL So I'm a fangirl as well. Don't you dare judge me. Professional wrestling, renaissance fairs, movie scores and video games. Those are just some of my interests. Why aren't the men lining up outside my door, right? LOL #unpopular

Another thing that drew me back was the upcoming launch of the WWE Network, which hit the public back on the 24th of February. I debated getting it for so long, mainly because I was unsure that it would really be a free trial, that I missed the initial round of trials being offered. The company re-offered it back in April so this time I took advantage. I tried out the free week trial, then I kept the paid subscription for a month so I could give a fuller review. This is definitely one of my longer reviews, so get yourself some snacks and something to drink, and get comfy. You'll be here awhile.

What is it?: WWE Network, an online subscription service that gives the user access to every PPV that WWE, ECW and WCW have held, live streaming of each current PPV, each year's Hall of Fame ceremony and original shows, all for $10 a month with a six-month subscription.

How much does it cost?: $9.99 a month after a free week trial

Platforms available: PC, Roku, PS3 & PS4, Xbox 360 & Xbox One, Android & iTunes

How does it work?: Sign-up & initial access both went fine; downloading the app didn't take long and it doesn't take up a lot of space on a console, depending on your phone memory it doesn't take up a lot (just remember to keep the cache cleared) and none on a laptop. Within 5 minutes you're all signed up and ready to go. For PS3 users, the Network will be under your TV/Video Services icon. Once you login, the home page looks like the photo on the left on PS devices and Droid home pages on the right.

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Select what you want to watch (if you're on a PS3 you navigate between menus using the d-pad) and go for it. You can also just go to the current lineup by pressing "Play" and then choosing if you'd like to watch the ongoing program from its current spot or from the beginning. Not complicated at all, find what you want to watch and go for broke!

You know the drill from here out, so let's get started!

Here's the good:



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First and most importantly, the library is super extensive. As I'm sure you've heard ad nauseum from Michael Cole the last few months, every WWE pay-per-view is available on the library, as is every PPV from both ECW and WCW. There is no shortage of throwback material to watch; you can easily watch the Network for a week straight and still not have watched everything that it has to offer.





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The original programming has a lot to offer as well, although I can admit that some of the programs aren't everyone's cup of tea. Raw and Smackdown both have either a pre- or post-show program, where there is about 10-15 minutes of commentary from various Superstars on the night's show. NXT is gaining some steam, as are the previously televised shows Main Event and Superstars. Legends House is a Real World/Surreal Life mix-up that is being heavily promoted and is so ridiculous it's hilarious. Beyond the Ring is another program that takes a behind-the-scenes look at some of your favorite Superstars. I think the show is underrated, underpromoted, and worth watching. So if you're not in the mood to watch any more PPVs, there's always exclusive original content available to watch instead.



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Because of the mix of older/current programming, the Network does have a daily lineup that you can watch as though it were a real channel, complete with shorter commercials and ads for WWE products and shows on the Network. The lineup is available for at least a week in advance. You can either follow the night's lineup--by either starting the program from the beginning or from its current spot if you join the lineup during the middle of a show--or you can choose what you want to watch on your own. I enjoy having that ability to control what I watch despite there being a daily lineup.



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Due to WWE's new deal with NBCUniversal, replays of Raw and Smackdown are now available on the Network 30 days after the air date. This wasn't available until recently and because this was previously a big complaint of mine and many other subscribers, I think this will actually end up doing some good and gaining a few more users. To some, I guess a month is a long time to wait for a replay but think about it--we wait months for the current seasons of our favorite shows to hit Netflix. Thirty days in comparison isn't so bad.





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Parental controls are available for users who have children sharing the account. The televised product is PG, but of course with older PPVs, the overall content is PG13+, so if you want to limit the available shows being displayed for your child to watch, you can do so.





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One of the biggest, if not the biggest, pros of this Network is that you get access to each PPV every month without having to pay more than the regular monthly subscription rate. With cable/satellite providers you're paying anywhere from $45 to $60 depending on the PPV and whether or not you're viewing in SD or HD. With this, you get a lot more than that every month for a fourth of what you'd pay for one single PPV.




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This is more of a personal thumbs-up, but when you call tech support, instead of the typical elevator musak that you get when put on hold or when you're between departments, you get Superstar theme songs. During my call, I heard quite a few of the theme songs and I thought that was pretty rad.  <- by="" how="" is="" p="" that="" the="" way="" word="">




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This is a more random thumbs-up, but if you were like me and didn't have the WWE App before downloading the Network, they combine once you download. I'm not sure if you can have the app without the Network because I didn't have the app first, but I think the two have combined to create a fuller experience. App originals like Second Screen during PPVs and the weekly broadcasts have quizzes and trivia as well as Twitter posts from various members of the Universe so if you'd prefer a more interactive experience then the app itself will provide that for you. It also gives the viewer the option to save a list of favorite wrestlers as a shortcut, view live events and even set calendar reminders if they'll be near your hometown, and I believe you can also get connected to Ticketmaster from the Event page if you'd like to order tickets right then.



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In addition to being able to search for programs you want to watch, you can also search by Superstar. So if you were in the mood for, say (and this is just a hypothetical example, of course), a Roman Reigns marathon, you could indulge yourself in that. If you want to search by faction, you could do that as well. In addition to the massive PPV library, there is also a way to search by Superstar and I like that.






And the bad:




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Depending on your service area, your 'Net might run a little slower and this prevents you from being able to watch the Network at all. This is my biggest complaint because it keeps me from enjoying the programs I pay for, and if I'm going to have this hard of a time trying to watch anything I have to question sometimes if I'll keep the service. Even though my speed is 3mbps, the area I'm in for some reason is notoriously bad at receiving service, so my ability to connect to the Network is iffy at best. Most of the time, I get an error message on my PS3 when trying to watch videos and trying to watch on my phone screen gets annoying after awhile. The Network needs so much of the Internet to run properly that if you're in a house like mine with multiple devices connected at once, your subscription will probably be useless unless you access it away from home. For me personally, I have a laptop, PS3 and my smartphone, but I haven't had reliable signal with either the laptop or PS3 so most times when I'm watching the Network it's from my phone. Even though I get a picture, it isn't always a good one. Here are a couple of screenies I took during last month's Extreme Rules PPV.














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Tech support is a joke. I called them the day of Extreme Rules last month when I was unable to pick up any feed from any videos shortly before the pay-per-view and within the first 15 minutes of the call, I'd already been switched twice and had to explain my issue 3 times. The tech agents you speak to may or may not know anything about the console they're advising you on; mine didn't. They only have a couple of rotating suggestions that they all seem to think will cure the problem; I was asked if I'd restarted my console, uninstalled/reinstalled the app several times and one even asked if I was a member of the Network. They also seemed completely clueless about the platforms that the Network broadcasted on, and I think if you're going to be part of any company's technical support team, especially the advanced tech support, you should know what sort of issues you'll be troubleshooting per platform. The "advanced" agent I spoke to didn't even know what the home screen of the PS3 looked like, so the directions he gave me were completely irrelevant. Not good at all. Thankfully, the issue I was having ended up correcting itself later, but in short, tech support was no help whatsoever.



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Even though you sign up for a free trial, be prepared for a temporary hold (that will probably be the same amount as the subscription price) to immediately be debited from your account after your sign-up has processed. I signed up at the end of April when my money was low and my cable had just been cut off (I'm suffering from some temporary financial difficulties lol) so I was looking for something to watch at night. I was also going through wrestling withdrawals. Don't judge me. Anyway, I didn't really have any money to spare but within the week of the trial, I was supposed to get my money so I figured I had enough time to decide without it costing me anything. Wrong. They snatched that $9.99 out of there quick as shit and didn't put it back for a couple of days. Now they don't mention that during all of the tv advertisements and it's not on the sign-up page either. It's in the FAQ so my advice is look there first, then sign up. When you only have $21 in your account, someone snatching half of it away (during what's supposed to be a FREE trial) almost makes you want to cry. lol And it was right before the weekend, so I had to wait until that Monday before it was put back on my card. It made little to no difference, however, because they just snatched it right back out 4 days later. So really, it wasn't a 7 day free trial for me, it was more like 3 or 4. Thankfully though, I could afford the charges this time around. lol


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When you're watching the Network from your phone, I have noticed that there are no controls. No rewinding or fast forwarding; if you select the option to watch the Network, that's about all you're going to do. This is more of an inconvenience, especially if you have slower Internet that gets tripped up by buffering; the issue is usually fixed if you pause the program and let it load and buffer on its own. Because the option to pause is not available with the Network, those of us with a slower connection oftentimes have long pauses, only for the program to skip to its current spot. That could be several seconds or even a couple of minutes ahead of where you just were. You also don't get the option to choose if you want to watch an ongoing program from its current spot or from the beginning as you do on consoles and laptops; you start from the current spot and that's the end of it. lol There are more viewing options on the larger devices and if you've skipped ahead due to buffering/sync issues, there's no way to rewind and see what you missed. That can be extremely irritating if you're trying to watch live programming such as PPVs.





Overall:
Overall, this app, while overpromoted, is definitely underrated. To understand just how much has been opened to the users for just $10 a month is insanity. WWE is taking a huge loss here by giving us so much. Firstly, many of these things could be sold via DVD, like a collection of the Behind the Ring and Legends House seasons. But we're getting them for $10. Cable and satellite providers no longer carry PPVs, so they took a $40 hit per customer per PPV to give us access to each one on the Network. I really didn't think about what a loss that was until I listened to the problems each provider was having with WWE airing their PPVs on the Network at such a discounted rate. Both the providers and WWE take a bit of a loss here and we get a lot in exchange for it. As long as I have reliable Wi-fi, I can watch WWE anytime I want, any PPV I want, as many times as I want. The ECW and WCW libraries are also available for perusing and that's a massive amount of content by itself. I wonder about how much things will change with the recent crash of WWE stock combined with whispers of rising subscription rates, but I suspect we'll find out before summer ends. If WWE adds a bit more thought into the original content rather than repeating the night's lineup twice and begins to correct some of the issues noted above, I think the company stands a fair chance of hitting those target numbers for the Network. For a lifelong wrestling fan like myself, this app is amazeballs. If my Internet was faster, I'd be able to enjoy it even more than I do now but I see the potential. If you enjoy gorging yourself on pro wrestling content or reliving the 'good ol' days,' this app is perfect for you. There are still a few kinks that need to be worked out, but since the app is in infancy, I'm willing to wait for a little while. Of course, this was just my personal experience. It has been more of a positive than negative experience, although the negatives are significant enough to me to make me reconsider my subscription sometimes.


Do I recommend this service?

Yes. I don't recommend it for everyone though. If you're an old-school wrestling fan, if you like seeing a more in-depth look at the world of WWE in general, or if you want to watch replays of your favorite Raw, Smackdown or PPV replays, the Network would be worth your money.

I don't recommend it for those with slower Internet service; your subscription is all but useless otherwise. I don't recommend it for those who are expecting current episodes of Raw or Smackdown as part of the subscription; they won't be there right away. I also don't recommend it for those who don't watch a lot of wrestling; if you're not a die-hard then the programming may be lost on you. If you're an 'ehh' fan, put the bucks towards Hulu Plus instead. LOL Make sure your $10 is going to be used is really all I'm saying.

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