Just how much professional wrestling can the individual fan watch? The WWE Network has been a brilliant service for those who watch to entrench themselves in nostalgia, and the sheer wealth of content available on the Network is impressive. However, just how negative an impact has the service had on WWE's ratings overall? For the vast majority of older fans, they prefer the way things used to be in the company. That means that the Network would be their first port of call to scratch that wrestling itch. This makes Monday Night Raw, Smackdown and other WWE programming largely unnecessary. If fans aren't keen on what the promotion present now, they're not likely to watch it ahead of an inexhaustible supply of classic events. For the first time buyer, the first month of the WWE Network is completely free. A lot of regular WWE programming is also available free of charge, but the problem stems largely from the fact that it's struggling to grip the core audience. For example, why would fans sit and watch Raw for 3 hours when they can simply tune into older Pay-Per-Views that make them feel good on the Network? Plugging the gaps with older events becomes easy, making Raw inessential.
