It is almost halfway through the year and the WWE has suffered some financial low-blows that are about to take them out of the game.
Recently on The Inquisitr , we reported the repercussions of the WWE’s initial difficulties, including the unceremonious termination of eleven WWE superstars and a head writer . Let’s not forget that their most popular star, Daniel Bryan, had to give up the WWE World Heavyweight Championship due to a neck injury . And if that’s not bad, Bryan might be out even longer for a shoulder injury too .
Speaking of neck injuries, WWE superstar Santino Marella announced his retirement from the WWE because of his third neck injury. That is bad because Santino filled a role that was needed: comedic wrestler.
However, those are all the bitter fruits of the WWE’s failure. The reason for the failure in the first place is reported to be one thing; the WWE Network.
Unfortunately for the company, the product has performed well below expectations. Vince McMahon wanted two million subscribers by the end of the year, and right now, they are at about 667,000. Not to mention, it could be plausible that the only reason why subscribers are still on the WWE Network is because they have to honor their sign up agreement.
Most people subscribed for Wrestlemania XXX, and with that subscription, there was a stipulation that subscribers would pay $9.99 for a minimum of six months. Once the six months are up, they can cancel. Guess what? Six months will be up in about two months, and if the content doesn’t surpass the cost, Vince McMahon is going to see a lot of cancellations.
So to counter this, Vince McMahon, the genius behind WWE as it is today, is attempting another act of desperation.
According to an article by Give Me Sport , McMahon is giving a plea to the WWE fans to try out the WWE Network, and he is literally begging for their support by offering the WWE Network for free up to July 14th. The official tweet came on his official Twitter page and is displayed below.
Do you want to sample #WWENetwork for free? http://t.co/TMvfFGdFRY
— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) July 7, 2014
More details about receiving the WWE Network are detailed in an article by Design & Trend . According to the article, the official WWE website states that the network could be accessed for free through devices like Apple TV, Roku, Sony platforms PS3 and PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox 360 along with iOS devices. All that is needed is an account on the official WWE website.
However, there is also a change of plans in the WWE according to the second source. Now, we are told the WWE only wants 1 million subscribers for WWE Network. If that is the case, then the WWE is well on the way to their goal.
But that begs the question on why there are major cuts in talent if the network is supposedly a success? In conclusion, only time will tell if the WWE Network was a worthwhile endeavor that will pay out in the end or another failure like the XFL and WWE 24/7… which was probably the initial build of the WWE Network if you think about it.