WWE have deemed the July 4th "Beast in the East" special, their first ever live event to be televised on the WWE Network, to be a major success, according to Dave Meltzer at the Wrestling Observer. John Laurinaitis was the producer and head agent for the tour that included a show in Singapore and the two events from Tokyo. He is the one that came up with the idea of streamers for the NXT Title match where Finn Balor beat Kevin Owens. The feeling was that it would give the show a unique flavour because it's a tradition from Japan, which is still done in Ring of Honor. Laurinaitis also booked the pre-match ceremony where women in kimonos presented Balor and Owens with flowers. Owens is such a great heel that he slammed the flowers down because he wanted to get the match started. WWE sent a regular production crew to Japan to shoot the event, but they were able to save costs by not doing the normal setup for shows. The entrances were not as elaborate as what they are at PPV events, but it still looked good. They also saved money by having Michael Cole and Byron Saxton call the action from WWE studios in Stamford, CT instead of flying them out to the show. Since the event did very well in terms of reaction from the fans, WWE is already planning on doing other Network-exclusive specials that would essentially be house shows that are filmed. It was noted last week that there's consideration for events to be broadcast from England and Australia later this year as well.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
