WWE Beast in the East 2015's Success Should Lead to More Live House Shows

WWE Beast in the East 2015 was a home run of a show that serves as a blueprint for future network-exclusive live events.

In the flood of programming that is the WWE calendar, the house show-turned-major event stood out. It sparked interest in a fanbase often turned numb from three-hour Raws and a succession of pay-per-views. It made it clear that WWE needs to go this route again.

The first thing one noticed about Beast in the East is how different it felt from WWE's weekly TV shows and monthly pay-per-views.

For one, it didn't drag. There was no filler, no influx of games, shows and burgers to promote as we see with Raw each week.

And as Greg Parks of PWTorch notes, the two-hour time frame was a refreshing shift:

The show looked different as well.

The arena wasn't choked with LED displays. Pyrotechnics didn't turn the entrance ramp into a Fourth of July fireworks show. Overall, the presentation was more stripped down and intimate, much like a rock band putting on an acoustic set.

WWE need not remove these elements from Raw and elsewhere, but the change of pace production-wise made Beast in the East feel distinct and special.

Future house shows airing on the WWE Network would benefit from that, too. These events would get a boost from being a departure from WWE's norm. And having less bells and whistles has to be good for the WWE budget.

Should WWE air more house shows on its streaming service in the future, how easy they are to put on is a big part of the appeal. 

Fans weren't expecting the kind of storyline builds that precede a pay-per-view. This was a one-off event, a special treat. Fans didn't need Chris Jericho to appear on Raw and talk about why he wanted to beat Neville so badly. There didn't need to be any hype at all for the bout, apparently.

Having Jericho back again and watching him go up against the electric Neville was enough to hook fans.

It would have felt odd to see Jericho just pop up for a pay-per-view. The house show format, though, made Jericho's bout feel like a surprise gift.

Former WWE writer Alex Greenfield was one of many who praised Jericho vs. Neville:

Aside from complaints that Dolph Ziggler and John Cena vs. Kane and King Barrett shouldn't have been the main event, there was little negativity sent the show's way. After an outstanding opener, Nikki Bella, Tamina Snuka and Paige put on one of the best women's matches on the main roster this year. Finn Balor and Kevin Owens made sure they would be in the Match of the Year conversation at 2015's end.

With a shorter list of matches and less material (video recaps and the like) in between the bouts, the wrestlers had more time to work with. As a result, the match quality shot up.

Even a squash match got rave reviews. Sean Radican of PWTorch tipped his hat to Brock Lesnar vs. Kofi Kingston:

"

Lesnar destroying Kofi was fantastic #BeastInTheEast

— SeanRadican (@SeanRadican) July 4, 2015"

Had WWE booked Lesnar to decimate Kingston as he did in Tokyo at an event like Battleground instead, gripes would have been plentiful. There are different expectations for a house show, though. 

They are seen as bonus material. 

Bonus material this excellent is a surefire way to pull in WWE Network subscribers. They add another incentive to sign up for the service. And these are shows that WWE is putting on for the fans in attendance anyway. 

The company doesn't have to rearrange its calendar or find a new venue to host them; it simply has to bring in a crew to air the house show live.

The buzz Beast in the East created is reason enough that it shouldn't be the last of its kind. Fans made it clear they wanted more material like this by waking up at 5:30 a.m. ET to tune in to see Lesnar feast and Balor triumph. PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson writes, "WWE was very happy with the streaming numbers for the live 'Beast in the East' broadcast." 

That happiness should result in WWE giving fans more shows like Beast in the East, by making house shows on the network a tradition.