WWE Network: Potential Improvements That Would Thrill Fans

WWE Network launched this week, and at this point, almost all of the technical glitches have been fixed.  With that in mind, the next step is to figure out what can be added or changed in the big picture.

New shows?

Features that aren't available yet?

More on-demand content?

Let's take a look at some of the changes that could and, realistically, should be in store in the future.

More Live NXT Specials

There's already a ton of WWE programming to digest, both on and off the network, even if you just limit it to first-run shows.  Still, NXT Arrival was pretty awesome and felt completely different from everything else WWE puts out.

While the regular weekly NXT show is a lot of fun most of the time, it hasn't had a lot of showcase matches lately.  There have been some, like Cesaro vs. William Regal, but the amount of longer matches is not what it was several months ago.  

With that in mind, from a fan perspective, more NXT specials would deliver bigger and better matches from the NXT talent.  It would be a great way to get fans who don't normally watch NXT to check in, too.

It would also be good for the developmental talent (and that includes the developmental creative team): If you're booking the TV shows to build to big shows, it's more like what they'd expect on the main roster with Raw, SmackDown, and PPVs.  The writers would be doing things more like the main creative team does and the in-ring talent would be in a rhythm closer to the main roster talent.

A Resume Button

This one is pretty simple: Unlike most of the major internet subscription video-on-demand services, like Netflix, WWE Network's on-demand library does not remember where you left off in a video when you stop it.  

It's 2014—this is ridiculous and needs to be fixed right away.  It's fairly easy to fast-forward, and some (but not all) videos have chapter marks, but it's just not the same as easily resuming where you left off.

It's just puzzling that this wasn't included.  Maybe not an "exciting" feature, but a necessary one.

No PPV Ommissions

After having access to every single WWE pay-per-view, the next biggest selling point of WWE Network is the extensive on-demand library, which, at launch, consists almost entirely of what WWE claims is every WWE, WCW, and ECW PPV event ever.  In practice, there are a few shows missing.

One of them, The Big Event from 1986, was on the original list WWE.com posted before the launch.  The exclusion makes sense, as someone likely realized that it wasn't a PPV.  Instead, it was a a regular house show that served as part of the Canadian National Exhibition fair in Toronto—it just happened to draw 70,000 fans to Exhibition Stadium.

It's also more than fair that something like WCW Millennium Final from 2000 is missing.  It was a PPV for the German market that never aired anywhere else and did not have English language commentary recorded for it.

Where it gets tricky is with the co-promotions WCW did with New Japan Pro Wrestling and AAA in Mexico.

The NJPW shows—which were dubbed, edited versions of NJPW's big Tokyo Dome shows featuring WCW wrestlers—were promoted as regular WCW shows, albeit at a lower price.  The very first one, Japan Supershow in 1991, ended with a major angle that set up regular live American PPV SuperBrawl.  

When Worlds Collide, produced by WCW and distributed by AAA, was a regular live PPV exclusively featuring AAA talent, but using WCW's announcers (Chris Cruise and the debuting Mike Tenay) and production crew.

WWE owns all of these shows; most of them aired on WWE Classics On Demand in the past.  There's really no reason to skip them, and I hope this is rectified as soon as WWE can get the shows re-edited and captioned.

Better Device Support

This one is inevitable and not that far away, but it's going to frustrate some fans in the meantime.  WWE has already announced that support for XBox One, various Smart TVs (they haven't said which brands, though Samsung TVs had an earlier WWE app), and other internet-connected devices will be added this Summer.  When it comes to connected Blu-Ray players (Sony's seem especially popular), Google Chromecast, and so on, there's no word yet.

Still, WWE really covered most of the must-have devices at launch.  I was surprised by the lack of Nintendo Wii and Wii U support, as well as Chromecast since it's cheaper than its competitors and quite popular in its own right, but Roku, AppleTV, and three of the other four connected game consoles is a great start.  

Still, after this Summer, WWE Network should be closer to ubiquitous on most mainstream devices, and most fans won't have to purchase a new device to enjoy the service.

Addition of Non-PPV Supercards

While it's awesome to have almost every PPV ever at their disposal, it feels like there's something missing right now.  Even if we're not getting more weekly TV shows for a while, there are some easy, less-extensive additions that would help fill in the gaps around PPVs.

For WCW, it's the Superstars on the Superstation and Clash of the Champions TBS specials.  For WWE, it's the Saturday Night's Main Event and The Main Event NBC specials.

The Clash shows were just below PPVs in terms of importance, full of memorable matches that amazingly aired for free: some of Ric Flair's most famous matches with Sting, Ricky Steamboat and Terry Funk; Sting's two big matches with Rick Rude; the one famous Steamboat vs. Funk match; multiple title tournaments and much more.  

Famous angles include Steamboat stripping Flair of his suit, Funk attempting to smother Flair with a plastic bag, Sting being kicked out of the Four Horsemen, Lex Luger turning on Steamboat and Sting at different times, and more.

WWE's NBC specials are best known for featuring the blowoff matches of feuds that had made the rounds on the house show circuit, like The Rockers vs. The Brain Busters, Hulk Hogan vs. Big Boss Man in a steel cage match, and more.  They also served as the host of some of WWE's biggest angles, like Hulk Hogan's first WWE Championship loss, Jake Roberts injuring Steamboat, George Steele falling in love with Miss Elizabeth, and so on.  They also had some unique matches, like a really good Roberts vs. Randy Savage heel vs. heel match from 1986.

WWE also has a number of memorable stadium shows that didn't air on PPV, like Showdown at Shea from New York in 1981, The Big Event from Toronto in 1986, WrestleFest in Milwaukee in 1988 and Global Warning in Australia in 2002.  

While not as vital as the TV specials, to fans who grew up renting WWE videos, The Big Event and WrestleFest are as memorable as any PPV and right now, their absence is palpable.