16 Reasons 2014 Was A Terrible Year For WWE

1. Low WWE Network Numbers

The WWE have been promoting the Network since February, as this must-have thing that has everything a fan of WWE would need. It was WWE€™s most daring endeavor, and after years of work, it finally launched on February 24th in the United States. Vince McMahon was extremely confident that the Network would be an overwhelming success for the WWE, and promised stakeholders that the Network would draw at least 1,000,000 subscribers by the end of the second quarter. These estimates in turn caused WWE€™s stock to rise, making Vince a billionaire once again. It was supposed to be one of Vince€™s crowning achievements outside of professional wrestling. Unfortunately, things didn€™t turn out that way. After three months or so, the total amount of subscribers to the WWE Network was only 750,000 or so, significantly lower than expected. It was rumored that these low numbers caused Vince to lose around $US 340 million in one day. That must€™ve really ticked him off. In response, the WWE went on a fervent advertising campaign to get as many people to subscribe as possible. They started by having that cheesy rock song on during commercials, and soon the Authority and the commentators began shamelessly plugging the WWE Network (which could be yours for only $9.99), at every opportunity. Honestly, if the WWE got a nickel for every time that they mentioned the Network or its price, Vince would€™ve remade all the millions he lost earlier this year. However, the truth is, the Network has been more or less a flop. There is too little original content; there have been delays in its launching in some parts of the world (especially in the UK), and the WWE have resorted to putting ads on the Network to make up lost money. Honestly, so much attention has been put on the WWE Network during this calendar year that the WWE focused too much on it over almost everything else. It is possible that the WWE€™s borderline obsession with the Network caused them to lose focus on other matters, allowing the other problems on this list to grow. For example, one of CM Punk€™s gripes was PPV pay outs, and how that would be factored in once the WWE Network made PPVs significantly cheaper. That issue remains unsolved, and it is one of the biggest concerns that many Superstars have. Will they get cuts in pay once the Network is completely streamlined around the world? Will the WWE have to cut more staff to make up for lost revenue, including more loyal employees like Mark Yeaton? It is clear that 2014 was a very bad year for WWE. Let€™s just hope that 2015 will be a much better year, one without so many serious problems plaguing the WWE.