3. Backstage Pass Shows Need An Extra Kick
Two weeks before the WWE Network launched, our own Grahame Herbert
laid out some interesting ways that the company could use post-shows to encourage network subscriptions. It was a great read involving some legitimately unique ideas, only WWE didn't really do anything special for the first post-show. Instead, we got the usual roundtable discussion involving current stars and legends, along with a couple of backstage interviews. Most of it was wholly pointless - Hulk Hogan shilling a Network you have clearly already purchased - while others were a tad bit interesting - a frustrated Brock Lesnar choosing not to participate in an interview. At first it seemed completely pointless to even show, but the clear frustration in Lesnar's body language did add a very small extra layer to the brewing storyline between him and Undertaker. The real issue however, is that these shows feel no more special than all the Youtube backstage shows barely anyone watched, yet complemented most major events anyway. An interesting idea to rectify this is to air the traditional live show bonus match on the Network post-show. For those that have no idea what bonus matches are; typically after a Monday Night Raw there will be a bonus match for the fans in attendance. It never bears any significance to current storylines, but rather something to send fans home happy on. The matches are often fairly decent too considering that the competitors aren't restricted to a certain match length or telling a story. It's essentially just wrestling, which can honestly be a highly tantalizing selling point.