WWE announced at the International Consumer Electronics Show tonight in Las Vegas, Nevada that they will finally launch the WWE Network immediately after WWE RAW on February 24th, 2014, with the WWE Network costing $9.99 per month. The first pay-per-view to air on the WWE Network live will be the WrestleMania 30 pay-per-view on April 6th, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Full coverage of the WWE Network announcement is below:
Michael Cole came on stage and welcomed everyone to the announcement that would forever change the history of the WWE. Cole said that the company is taking a huge step towards delivering their product to the fanbase, no matter how those fans viewed the product and said that it’s fitting it’s at CES and that everything the WWE does today is because of the vision of one man, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon.
Vince McMahon came on stage and said that he’s been called many things over the years, most of them complementary, but the best thing he’s been called is a fan and said that he’s a WWE fan and today is a great day for WWE fans worldwide before showing a WWE video package on screen regarding the company’s popularity, social media, entertainment crossover, charity work and much more. Vince said that once again it’s a great day to be a WWE fan, because the company are finally launcing the WWE Network and then introduced WWE’s Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer Michelle Wilson on stage.
Wilson said that today is about the transformation of how the company presents premium content and said that back in 1985, the first-ever WrestleMania pay-per-view event was seen by one million fans via closed circuit and that today, they are announcing the WWE Network, noting that it will be groundbreaking and over the top with 24/7 streaming programming, original live content and an on-demand library that the WWE fans can access from almost any device. Wilson said that the WWE fans want their content with them anywhere they go at any time and said that the company’s fans are engaged in consuming online content, claiming that the WWE consumes 5 times the online videos than a non-WWE fan and then noted that the WWE Network will be priced at $9.99 per month and will include all 12 pay-per-view events including WrestleMania at no additional charge. Wilson also noted that the WWE Network will include pre-shows and post-shows for both WWE RAW and WWE SmackDown, a live daily studio show, WWE NXT and WWE Superstars, episodes of WWE RAW and SmackDown from the past, video on-demand of every WWE, WCW and ECW pay-per-view event and that more content will be added per month. Wilson said that the WWE Network will launch first in the United States and will launch late 2014-early 2015 in places such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore with additional countries to follow. Stephanie McMahon was then introduced on stage.
Stephanie came out and said that whether you loved the Attitude Era or are a new fan of the product, the WWE Network will feature programming from several different era’s in history. Stephanie then walked through several shows including the pre-show and post-shows for WWE RAW and WWE SmackDown, the WWE Legends House reality series, WWE NXT and more. Stephanie hen praised the connection between the WWE roster and its fanbase and said that she had one of those moments when she was in the crowd for the first WrestleMania pay-per-view and saw her friend Andre The Giant bodyslam Big John Studd and said that she had the blessing of sitting next to Andre The Giant later that night and listening to his stories and said that with the WWE Network, they will give the fans the opportunity to do the same with WrestleMania Rewind. Stephanie said that the WWE Network is also about fun and introduced Shawn Michaels and Triple H, who made their way out in D-Generation X gear.
HBK said that many years ago, when they started doing this, he’d get nervous like he is now and said that the only time he’s been in front of this may suits and ties is when he’s been terminated and then teased taking off his clothes because he was nervous, however Triple H stopped him. Stephanie stepped in and said that they are great at interacting with the crowd, just like another new show for the WWE Network which is WWE Countdown, a show that will allow fans to vote on the lists of Best Entrances, Best Divas, Best Wrestler and so much more. DX interrupted Stephanie and said that she needed some better hype for the show. HBK said that if he had the WWE Network when he was a kid, he would’ve never got off the couch, while HHH said that he’d still be eating Fruit Loops in his underwear. Stephanie said that in the 90’s, Vince McMahon turned into the evil character Mr. McMahon and then introduced the new Monday Night War series, which saw HBK & HHH make fun of the teleprompter for including an S in the description and naming it Monday Night Wars. HHH said that those days were a crazy time as they were in a real battle for their livelyhood and that they went out there trying to steal the shows, before introducing a video package for the show. Stephanie then came out and introduced the leader of the Attitude Era, Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Stone Cold came out and talked about how happy he was to be here for the announcement and that he’s blown away by the amount of content he saw that they were showcasing. Austin said that he’s so happy that he even hugged Vince McMahon and said that the company loves their fans more than any other organization worldwide and said that Vince said that it’s all about putting smiles on people’s faces and that with the WWE Network, you can re-live the Attitude Era. Austin said that going to WWE RAW every week in those days was like therapy for him and they’d change things on the fly, noting that fans will get to re-live those days unedited, uncensored and uncut and said that he’s looking forward to seeing it for himself. Stephanie then returned to the stage and showcased more of what the WWE Network has to offer, before WWE’s Executive Vice President of Digital Media Perkins Miller came on stage.
Miller said that he’s excited to walk everyone through the WWE Network experience and said that the WWE Network will be available via WWE.com and that you can also sign in or sign up via your social media accounts and that in 3 clicks, you can watch programming live on the WWE Network. Perkins then walked through the VOD content, social media, reminders via text/push notifications, second-screen experiences and more and noted that the VOD programming includes WWE Main Event, WWE NXT, WWE Superstars, WWE RAW and WWE SmackDown replays, WrestleMania Rewind and other shows, as well as the PPV library with over 300 WWE, ECW and WCW pay-per-view events. Miller showed one of his favourite moments and then had a “Michael Bay moment”, which led to HBK & HHH returning on stage. Triple H said that there will be an unlimited supply of favourite moments on the WWE Network and then joked with HBK and Perkins Miller. Bob Bowman, CEO of MLB Advanced Media was introduced on stage.
Bowman said that they were so happy when the WWE contacted them 6 months ago to help distribute heir WWE Network content and said that great content needs great distribution and said that distribution has changed from even 2 years ago. Bowman said that the WWE Network is a big effort and that WWE are ahead of their time and creating something unique with the partnership before going on to mention that Vince McMahon is an incredible father, promoter, patriot, but most of all, visionary and is bold enough to take a step forward where no other content has gone prior. Bowman said that Vince McMahon has been fan-centric from day one and that they are proud to help launch the WWE Network together. John Cena was then introduced on stage.
Cena said that he wanted to thank everyone for being here and that what he’s going to say is brief. Cena said that the WWE Network will launch immediately after the February 24th edition of WWE RAW goes off-air and then showcased a countdown clock, which he said will be seen on all WWE RAW and WWE SmackDown programming going forward. Cena said that before he closes his brief speech, he wants to pre-thank the fans and said that the first event to air live on the WWE Network will be the WrestleMania 30 pay-per-view. Cena said that without the fans, the WWE doesn’t exist and said that with the WWE Network, they will stand as one with one passion. Michael Cole returned to the stage thanking everyone for joining WWE for their presentation.
