Why I’m Cancelling the WWE Network . . . for now.

After this week’s Monday Night Raw I made the decision to cancel the WWE Network. I can usually put my trust in the company with storylines. In the past the road they’ve been on has been shaky but I’ve stuck it out, often with scant reward. But recent events culminated in an ideology I can’t be a party to. WWE doesn’t seem to care about Raw’s pathetic weekly ratings so the only place to make a stand is by removing my payment of 9.99.

The bone of my contention is the deformation of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. We all get that John Cena is the company’s main guy. I acknowledge without any gripes that this has been his year. He’s given the US Title credibility and in the process put over performers such as Cesaro and Kevin Owens. This should have existed while the main title looked strong and its champ – the supreme Seth Rollins – was given legitimacy. Never the twain shall meet.

But they did meet. There could have been other ways to get the belt back to Cena, beforehand they could have afforded Rollins one clean win over Super Cena. Now it is unclear the benefit of the whole Cena/Rollins program. Cena certainly doesn’t need a boost. It’s etched in the fans’ minds that he is the man that runs the place. All it’s done has made the World Champ looking like he’s only good enough to be top of the mid-card.

This is diabolical. Rollins on the mic has no equal right now, and in-ring he’s shown signs he could be not just the greatest of this generation but of all time. His reward for this is a match against Kane going into Hell in a Cell with a belt that’s now worthless.

This poor writing from WWE Creative – the best example of an oxymoron ever – will be masked by the interest in the PPV. Thanks to Undertaker and Brock Lesnar being on duty it’ll appear to be a successful event. In reality it will paper over the cracks.

This is the future of WWE: Poorly managed talent and badly written stories. But as long as the t-shirt sales stay up, kids are buying toys, and the Network bounces around 1.2m subscribers, Vince won’t make a change. Until then I won’t be sending him my ten British pounds each month.

Okay, I’ll probably crack before then. Maybe. Definitely Maybe.

Teachings from Tokyo

The WWE Network aired its first live performance from Tokyo, Japan. Labelled after Brock Lesnar, the jewel in the crown, it taught us nothing new about the Beast Incarnate. It did reveal that WWE is aware of sensitivities surrounding the way it delivers stories and conclusions. Here we learnt a lot about the WWE and its self-awareness.

As some of you will know from my autobiography Balls To You, I’m no stranger to wrestling. My father competed in Germany but his career was sadly cut short before he had the opportunity to travel further afield. I was did get to visit Japan with my band. Whilst there I was fortunate enough to see some wrestling events. I’m confident in the coming days much will be made of the Japanese crowd from this Saturday. It didn’t surprise me.

Just like their in-ring action, the Japanese audience is a constant conveyor belt of excitement and flow. Consider the westerners that have won them over in the past – like Chris Jericho – observe the style they used to do it, and you’ll get an idea of how high octane means something different there. They also buy more into action as opposed to soap opera finishes.

We now know WWE were aware of this and didn’t dare “cheat” the intelligent fans. It would have been easier for WWE creative to throw a few dodgy finishes in. They like to do it so much on TV because it can get the result they desire while keeping both competitors looking strong. In reality it just makes us at home groan and invalidates any result. In Tokyo they took their balls out of their mother’s purse and went for clean outcomes all show.

First up was the aforementioned Jericho against Neville. This was always going to be a clean match. It was also one of the hardest to call. We’ve witnessed Y2J pass the torch so many times (bet he ponders that Fandango one now) that it seemed probable he was here to put Neville over. But in what would set the marker for the rest of the night, WWE acknowledged Japanese support for the talent on show. Jericho cut his teeth as the Lionheart and the fan base in Tokyo got the win they wanted. It was a classic of a match, finished off with the LionTamer, minutes earlier Neville was subjected to what I reckon is the most painful Walls of Jericho ever seen.

The Divas followed and, not to be flippant, what I learnt here is that I’ve lost my faith in the division. It was actually a decent match but the characters, barring Paige, are flat. And there is no story. It’s time to introduce the NXT Divas to liven the division up.

The title and presumed spectacle of the show entered in the middle of it to face the formidable opponent of Kofi Kingston. That was said with a slight hint of sarcasm. Still, this match did reveal that WWE would avoid any interference. The New Day members allowed the match to play fair – all four minutes of it. Kofi barely passed through Suplex City before the F5 ended his day. After the match his pals did arrive before also finding the mat the hard way. Fast as it was, it’s always a privilege to see Lesnar.

Next was match of the night, in terms of anticipation and delivery, for the NXT Championship. Finn Balor faced current champ Kevin Owens. Now, what did we learn? First off you need to ask: what do you think needed to happen? Kevin Owens has outgrown NXT, he already is part of the main roster. So there needed to be a way to drop the belt and remain looking strong. Another problem with this is Balor himself is ready for promotion to Raw.

It was the fight where WWE Creative most needed a get out of jail free card. But Tokyo rules meant no such luck. They had to revert to traditional action with an undisputed result. Owens mocking Cena’s move set gives a new narrative, that he was no longer focused on the NXT Championship. That the inevitable moment Balor took the 1-2-3 Owens was already moving onto his next “proper” match. It doesn’t entirely work for me. Cena should surely beat a man put away by Balor? But that doesn’t take away from how good this match was.

This review could end here really. We learnt – or saw – nothing new from the tepid main event that was King Barrett and Kane vs John Cena and Dolph Ziggler. There was no Kevin Owens appearance to hurt Cena. Again, WWE played it clean. The result was predictable. You know which Goldenboy got the pin. He paraded around afterward with the man that should have been main eventing by now. Instead Ziggler stands in purgatory. At this point his career hangs by a thread. Unfulfilled in WWE and too big to wander elsewhere. This is why WWE needs a major rival.

WWE Tokyo showed us the writers do understand fan frustration with questionable finishes and when required they can put on a great, clean show. Good matches are always better with endings that don’t leave the fans feeling robbed. Let’s hope we see more WWE on-the-road events via the network.