WWE Announces February Debut For WWE Network

After months of planning and speculation, the WWE officially announced their revolutionary WWE Network will debut immediately after Monday Night Raw on February 24, 2014.

The WWE Network will be the first 24/7 streaming network for professional wrestling/sports entertainment.  Upon its release, the WWE Network will feature original programming, both reality shows and weekly wrestling broadcasts, as well as an extensive on-demand catalog of over 1500 hours of classic footage ranging from television broadcasts to pay-per-views from the WWF/WWE, WCW, and ECW, as well as the WWE’s home video library of documentaries and match collections.  Also, the WWE Network will be the home for the WWE’s live premiere pay-per-views, with Wrestlemania XXX being the first to be featured on the network, both live and later on-demand.

For laptop and desktop users, the WWE Network will be available through WWE.com, but portable media and home video game system users will be able to download the WWE Network App, much like the current Netflix and Hulu apps.  While most home systems will be app ready at launch time, the apps for X-Box One and Smart TVs are expected to be launched this summer.

According to WWE.com, the original programming from the WWE Network will include,

The Monday Night War

A series exploring the shocking real-life stories that fueled the mid-'90s rivalry between WWE and WCW. Battling for ratings dominance, WWE’s Vince McMahon and WCW’s Ted Turner engaged in a masterful game of one-upmanship, and in the process, elevated WWE Monday Night Raw and WCW Monday Nitro to all new levels of pop-culture relevance.

WrestleMania Rewind

A comprehensive look back at the most groundbreaking matches and dramatic moments in WrestleMania history, including never-before-seen footage and in-depth interviews.

WWE Countdown

A one-hour, groundbreaking, interactive, countdown series that puts the power squarely in viewers’ hands by giving the audience the chance to discuss and rank WWE’s most spectacular Superstars, unexpected moments, best catch phrases and more through digital polling and social media interaction.

WWE Legends House (Coming April 2014)

WWE’s greatest Legends reunite for a new title – only this time, they’re competing outside of the ring. Imagine a beautiful house in the suburbs – perfectly furnished, with gorgeous landscaping, a lovely pool and quiet, respectable neighbors. WWE Superstars from the past including "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Tony Atlas and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan will turn the neighborhood upside down as the house staff tries their best to keep these Legends on time, on speaking terms, and out of trouble in this new reality show.

WWE NXT

WWE Superstars and Divas of tomorrow face off every week on WWE NXT, a one-hour weekly show that features the brightest and best of WWE’s rising stars. WWE NXT showcases the Superstars and Divas from WWE’s Performance Center as well as appearances from WWE Superstars and Legends in an intimate setting. WWE NXT broadcasts from the state-of-the-art Full Sail LIVE venue on the Full Sail University campus in Orlando, Florida.

WWE Superstars

A one-hour weekly show highlighting the best of WWE Superstars and Divas in heart-pounding matches. Features highlights from all WWE programming, as well as a special glimpse at everything going on in the WWE Universe.

The WWE has said that all on-demand programming of classic shows and PPVs will be ran uncensored and uncut, an intriguing idea with the WWE’s current censoring of Chris Benoit in the history of the company.  After the tragic events of the Benoit family murder/suicide, the WWE basically erased Benoit from the history books, not featuring him in any documentaries or specials since.  However, this changed when the WWE released their retrospective of the classic NWA/WCW match “War Games” last year, of which Benoit was a necessary piece in telling the history.  Recent rumors indicate that the WWE will stay true to their uncensored and uncut idea, not removing Benoit from the classic broadcasts, but issuing a disclaimer at the beginning of any show he’ll be featured in.

The 12 yearly WWE pay-per-views alone usually run buyers over $600 a year, but the WWE Network is being priced as $9.99 per month with a six-month commitment.  At this time no information has been released about the WWE’s streaming through Netflix (which features the WWE documentaries) or Hulu (which aires some of the live wrestling shows being advertised for the new network).