Make a WWE Network Show

[klunderbunker]

The Network turns four years old later this week and there have been a bunch of shows around in its life span. A lot are of course wrestling shows and there have been a bunch of interview shows, but what do you want to see?

I've love to see something where wrestlers offer commentary on a match. This can't take long to produce and could be padded out with some stuff hyping up the match (ala Wrestlemania Rewind, which could have gone on for years in various forms). Air the match in full with the wrestlers (or even just one) giving commentary. There must be some good stories or just a look at how a wrestler's mind works.

Any other good ideas?

[Dave]

I think, as wrestling fans, we all like to see behind the curtain a bit more. I think that's the reason why Total Divas and Total Bella have been a success outwith the Network. The WWE 24 series is probably my favourite series on the Network too, simply because you get a look at wrestlers like you never have. The last one, showing the Undertaker like it did, was something really special.

So with that in mind, I'd like more reality stuff. The ESPN 30 for 30 series is a blue print that the WWE could and should follow. The stories there are incredible and there's no reason that the WWE couldn't exploit that and do it their own way. Really compulsive and entertaining viewing. Documentaries should have a place on the WWE Network too.

[Slyfox696]

I wouldn't mind seeing more biographies of wrestlers. Rather than an hour and a half long epic of a biography, though, just a short 30 minutes would be fine. There are so many interesting characters in wrestling history, it would be good for the WWE to highlight some more of those.

[Yaz]

I echo the idea of more behind the scenes type of stuff. I don't need a camera following a guy around 24/7 in the lead up to Wrestlemania, but the WWE 24 special on Angle was solid.

To build on KB's idea about match commentary, I'd probably, and I say probably because you know how hit and miss WWE comedy is, enjoy like a MST3K or Riff Tracks style show where guys can give commentary over their bad matches. A few companies like High Spots do this for indie wrestling, but seeing someone like Trish Stratus who was awful in the beginning or Triple H who underwent drastic gimmick changes kind of roast their own work could be fun.

[Dave]

The thing that always annoys me about the WWE is the lack of original content. I know that it can't be that easy to put together a show in a small period of time. But they seem to be making no effort anymore. I honestly thought that the Stone Cold Podcasts were very good. But that seems to have taken a nosedive lately. I don't think they're even doing that any more. I'm left wondering why?

It was surely a cheap show that they could run and stars could do them after any Raw or Smackdown. More proof that the WWE doesn't really care what we want.

[Yaz]

I think it has to do with A) WWE not actually knowing what the fans want B) Them trying to force their own stupid content no one asked for on fans C) Not liking it when their stars are given a platform that isn't Raw/SD/PPV/NXT and D) Anything that costs money has to be thrown away so they can keep paying Brock Lesnar 12 million a year to lose to Roman at Wrestlemania.

Outside of Up Up Down Down, which is run and filmed almost exclusively by Xavier, WWE has no original content that people care about, because WWE doesn't really know what their fans care about.

[Phoenix]

And given they haven't touched Xavier's stuff, like they did with Ryder, it's surprising.

While Tough Enough isn't the best show, what would be interesting is doing a series on the Performance Center, see new people coming in and preparing for their NXT/WWE life. You could spotlight 2-3 different people each time and see what the early impressions are. I wouldn't necessarily do it as frequently as Total Divas, but it would be cool to get that insight into the pre-NXT time for newcomers.

I wouldn't mind seeing more biographies of wrestlers. Rather than an hour and a half long epic of a biography, though, just a short 30 minutes would be fine. There are so many interesting characters in wrestling history, it would be good for the WWE to highlight some more of those.

I like this idea, do 30 mins of the biography, followed by another 30-ish mins of their best/favourite matches.

[The Bearded One]

There used to be a program that came on NFL Network that would replay the week's games based around real time. For example, it would show something that happened at 1:05 p.m. in one game, and then shift to another game if something important happened at 1:07 p.m. I thought it was always fun to see how the games developed throughout the day.

The WWE is obsessed with the Attitude Era and Monday Night Wars, and a similar program would work based around that time. It doesn't have to be the full two hours Raw and Nitro ran, but just show the important segments/matches from each week based around the actual time they happened. If they need to fill in time in a given week, have someone do a talking head segment about what they thought of the segment/match and what went into its production.

I also enjoy the character profiles they do on the Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard podcast. They take a character, and based upon how long he or she was around, they go into detail either about a certain time frame of their career or the entirety of their run. They discuss the creation of the character, shooting vignettes, big matches etc. A video version on the Network would be awesome. They could actually get the wrestlers to give interviews about the time frame and character.

[Spidey]

I'm also more about the stuff backstage. Show me how they set up the ring day after day. I want to know the people behind the costume making. Pyro guys probably have great stories to tell. I would love to see what writers have to deal with when working on a script. Let me see what goes in to an episode of Smackdown or Raw. I'd love to see what measures are taken to provide a solid show, plus dark matches. Let's meet the guys behind the graphics. I realize I'm asking for a lot here, but it's not like they couldn't do it. A documentary of how they set up a standard show could prove to be worth our time as subscribers. Maybe we can develop a greater appreciation for the performing arts.

[Yaz]

I'm also more about the stuff backstage. Show me how they set up the ring day after day. I want to know the people behind the costume making. Pyro guys probably have great stories to tell. I would love to see what writers have to deal with when working on a script. Let me see what goes in to an episode of Smackdown or Raw. I'd love to see what measures are taken to provide a solid show, plus dark matches. Let's meet the guys behind the graphics. I realize I'm asking for a lot here, but it's not like they couldn't do it. A documentary of how they set up a standard show could prove to be worth our time as subscribers. Maybe we can develop a greater appreciation for the performing arts.

While they probably want to keep some things as trade secrets but I would enjoy this. I went to my first show when I was 11 or 12 and watching them set up the ramp for Gangrel's entrance and change the ropes and ring skirts from Velocity to Smackdown and watching the dark matches was all very fascinating to me. I would love more of that.