WWE Needs to Continue to Integrate Raw with Live Programming on the WWE Network

WWE Raw went into overtime this past Monday, and it was glorious.

When I say "glorious," I'm not talking about the overtime match in question—it was rather slow and lacked crowd energy—but rather the concept.

WWE has tried everything to get its otherwise large fanbase to subscribe to the WWE Network, but the organisation seems to have hooked only a hardcore following.

With just over 700,000 subscribers announced during WWE's most recent earnings call, this number is just a fraction of the average weekly audience of around four million who tune in to Raw.

If WWE truly wants to capitalize on those potential WWE Network Subscribers who tune into Raw, they need to make Raw part of the WWE Network.

Common during the territory era of TV wrestling, ending a wrestling show prematurely has become a lost art. WWE could benefit by strategically booking high-profile matches and segments to air exclusively on the WWE Network. Just imagine the sense of urgency among potential subscribers if Sting showed up on WWE TV in the final seconds of Raw:

"Is that Sting in the rafters? We're out of time, folks! Tune into the WWE Network to see what happens next!"  

They trained fans to tune into a third hour of Raw, what's an extra 20 minutes?

Following Raw this past week, WWE experimented with its first exclusive post-Raw match on the WWE Network. It was the acceleration of an otherwise anticipated feud between Rusev and United States Champion, Sheamus, as the anti-American monster captured WWE's most patriotic title.

On paper, the match is pay-per-view quality, especially with Sheamus as the reigning United States Champion. Fantasy bookers everywhere have had this feud penciled in since they began taking Rusev seriously. Even WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross chimed in on the scenario:

"

@IamJamesMB ..@RusevBUL isn't ready for US Title yet. He needs ring time and wins. @LanaWWE learning her role too. Like them both.

— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) May 6, 2014"

Months later, here we were. Rusev's defining moment as provocative figurehead of the Russian establishment had arrived.

For just $9.99.

WWE's continuing efforts to plug the price point of the WWE Network have proved fruitless, with just 23,000 subscribers added in the third quarter despite a huge international launch (from James Caldwell of PWTorch).

Baiting fans with price points and pay-per-views will not do the trick. The  small net gain of subscribers is evidence of fans signing up for big-name pay-per-views before cancelling. Now that subscribers don't have to commit for six months, this will continue to be a trend as long as WWE makes pay-per-views a focal point.

In the pre-Network era, WWE's most successful pay-per-view (WrestleMania XXVIII) drew just over one million buys (from Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter h/t WrestlingInc.com).  Raw's weekly audience quadruples that amount.  

WWE has given away pay-per-view quality matches on free television for a while now. But with the pay-per-view business effectively cannibalized (SummerSlam drew just 147,000 buys in 2014 compared to 296,000 pre-Network), WWE needs to make Raw better than pay-per-views in order to ensure fans stay subscribed on a weekly—not monthly or occasional—basis.

If the WWE Network is going to be a long-term staple of WWE's business, overtime booking won't be necessary, it'll be mandatory.

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