And got some mixed results.First up was the Cena vs. Lesnar prelude.  This was good but we’ve seen about half of it on Raw already.  It runs 28 minutes and has one really good moment.

Heyman: “Let me explain to you what it means for Brock Lesnar to beat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. Let’s say you’ve been elected President of the United States. WOW! What an honor! You’re the most powerful man in the world…..but about forty people have done that. It’s a great accomplishment yes, but it’s not exclusive.

Then let’s say one day you run for God and actually win. Well there’s only been one being to hold that position. Brock Lesnar did that.”

It’s not bad but it would be much better for someone who hasn’t seen any WWE TV in the last month and wasn’t around in 2002.

Next up was the main event: the Shield’s Journey to Summerslam. I had a blast with this and it’s an awesome documentary. It covers each guy individually and shows their paths to the WWE, even showing ROH, CZW and Dragon Gate USA clips. WHere else are you going to see that in something from WWE? It’s really entertaining and interesting and made me want to see these three succeed. The fact that they’re all about 28 years old and this polished is incredible. It runs just under an hour and it’s more than worth checking out.

It’s not who you would expect.It’s Michael Cole.  Last night he was added to the Main Event announce team, putting him on PPV, Raw, Smackdown and Main Event, plus whatever interviews he has to do for WWE.com.  When you consider all the stuff he has to deal with as he’s doing commentary (as in the voices in his ear and all the stuff he has to plug) and how much content he has to produce every week, it’s really a shame that he gets all the flack he does.  The guy works HARD and that’s far more than you can say about some people.

“It was worth the $9.99.” No, not really.That’s a line you hear about the pay per views airing on the Network.  Here’s the thing though: when you break it down, it’s FAR cheaper than that.  Think about it for a second.

Let’s say the Network costs $10 a month for easier math. At 30 days, that’s about $0.33 a day. A pay per view runs three hours(ish), or 1/8 of a day. Therefore, a pay per view is costing you five cents a month. Let me repeat that.

A WWE PAY PER VIEW COSTS FIVE FREAKING CENTS A MONTH!

I remember when a regular pay per view was $30 a month. Now it’s FIVE CENTS and includes unlimited free repeats, every other pay per view plus a bunch of other stuff. It’s why I continue to shake my head when people complain about the Network’s content. People who complain about it are never going to be happy and I have no idea why they want to watch anymore. It’s clearly never going to live up to whatever expectations they have, so why bother trying? Those people make me shake my head the same way people who rant about how much they hate Raw but never miss a show. It makes very little sense.

This is more of something I looked up rather than an idea.As far as I can find, Booker T. and Shawn Michaels never had a one on one match.  I know Booker was on Smackdown for awhile, but you would think it would have happened once or twice over the years.

According to WWE.com it was due to an altercation with an employee and unprofessional conduct.  This sounds like something where more details will come out later.

I can’t say I’m complaining as he hasn’t meant anything like forever, so I’m not the most annoyed, though I always liked his in ring work. If nothing else, this cuts down even more salary.

Yeah according to a photo from tonight’s tapings.

Photo Credit: wrestlingrumors.net

This one could change a lot of things as NXT would have to move and Impact’s negotiations would take a BIG hit as they would be going head to head with the first hour of Smackdown. However, keep in mind that nothing official has been said and this could be doctored.

Garrett Dylan, Travis Tyler, Slate Randall, Mac Miles and Dani Jax.

Dylan is the only one that jumped to my mind though I’ve seen Tyler a few times too. These are really basic cuts and an easy way to save money.

In something that doesn’t really need a full entry, WWE also ended WWE Magazine. With WWE.com, it really hasn’t needed to exist for years so that’s another big way to cut costs.

They finally announced some countries for the Network.

The UK gets the Network at some point in October.

Over 170 countries and territories get it on August 12, including Canada, Australia, Spain and Mexico among many others.

There’s good stuff in the report, but the number of buys still isn’t great. International will help A LOT though. THere’s also an offer of one month for $19.99, which will come off as a great deal for people wanting a pay per view and nothing more. THis could be far worse.

That’s not good. Here’s the report from 411mania.com.

– The WWE released their 2014 Q2 earnings reports today, and in that report they announced that the WWE Network is up to 700,000 subscribers. This is up from the 667,00 announced the day after WrestleMania. It is also far below the 850,000 figure that most analysts felt that the company should be at, especially with WWE stating that they want to hit the 1 million subscriber mark in the US by the end of 2014. Some notes from the financials on the Network…

Customer Engagement: Viewer data indicates that, on average, 91% of subscribers access the network at least once per week and use 2.5 devices to consume network content. Moreover, consumer research indicates that 90% of subscribers are satisfied with WWE Network (with 51% extremely satisfied and 39% somewhat satisfied).

International Availability: The Company plans to make the U.S. version of WWE Network available on an over-the-top basis starting August 12th in over 170 countries and territories, including Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mexico, Spain and the Nordics, among others. The network is expected to be live in the U.K. by October 2014. Plans for the network in Italy, UAE, Germany, Japan, India, China, Thailand and Malaysia will be communicated at a later date.

Canada: The Company has entered into a new 10-year partnership with Rogers Communications, a leading media enterprise in Canada, under a landmark television programming and WWE Network agreement. The partnership facilitates the launch of WWE Network as a traditional a-la-carte Pay-TV channel in Rogers’ cable systems with a preview beginning August 12 and thereafter through other Pay-TV providers outside Rogers’ footprint. The partnership also renews Rogers’ license of the Raw and SmackDown television programs, and grants Rogers distribution rights to the Company’s pay-per-views.

Consumer Marketing: To enhance awareness, additional marketing investment is planned around the popular SummerSlam pay-per-view event in August. The Company will also introduce new payment plans in August, including a $19.99 monthly plan (with no commitment) and an upfront one-time payment option for its existing $9.99 per month offering (with six month commitment).

Other Developments: Content coming to WWE Network includes The Monday Night War and WWE Rivalries, the most recent addition to the network’s program schedule, both of which provide a documentary-style look at some of the greatest moments in WWE history. Expanding current distribution, WWE Network is launching on several smart TVs and Blu-ray players in mid-August. The Company also plans to deliver a new “resume play” feature later this year.

– George Barrios, Chief Strategy & Financial Officer had the following to say about the future of the Network…

“As we expanded WWE Network to 700,000 subscribers, our earnings performance surpassed our guidance, which targeted a Net loss ranging from $15 million to $18 million. Our key metrics continued to show strength as average North American attendance increased 11%, representing the fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth. Raw and SmackDown TV ratings increased 5% and 3%, respectively, marking SmackDown’s 7th quarter of growth among the past 8 quarters. We identified efficiencies across WWE, which include a 7% reduction in staff, and improved our 2015 OIBDA outlook by $30 million. We developed plans to make WWE Network available in over 170 countries, and entered a 10-year deal that provides for the WWE Network launch as a traditional a-la-carte Pay-TV channel in Canada and renews our television licensing agreement for Raw and SmackDown. The progress in our strategic initiatives reinforces our view that successful execution of our WWE Network strategy can generate meaningful economic returns.”
Read more at http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/news/330556#ueZCGt88VbQrckCc.99

Confirmed on Twitter.  This could be the first of many names coming this weekend.  Stay tuned.

There isn’t much to say about Rodriguez. Without Del Rio, he was pretty expendable. I did like his comedy stuff though.