10 Times WWE Stopped Promoting Its Own Products
6. WWE Network, Originally
Upon the Network's arrival in 2014, it would have been difficult for any fan to imagine WWE keeping mum about its newest toy. For weeks, the sports entertainment company pumped ads for it between segments only to come back and have the commentators remind everyone of the $9.99-a-month price tag. A black-and-white flag with $9.99 written on it was added to WWE Headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, to drill the point home.
Yet, for three years, WWE stepped away from the Network.
The first time anyone knew of the company's desire to launch its own channel was during a lawsuit with USA Network. In those hearings, Linda McMahon revealed they wanted to buy out The Sci-Fi Channel and reformat it with WWE content, which judges suggested to McMahon would never happen.
Then, in 2011, it seemed the McMahons finally got their network.
At this time, the main goal was to garner interest and conduct surveys to see what fans wanted from a wrestling-based platform. After weeks of promoting the Network though, fans were led to believe it was launching soon. WWE even announced a wrestling channel was dropping in 2012. So, it came as a surprise that, after all the hype, the company stopped mentioning the Network until it was finally released as a streaming platform in 2014.