Archive for category The Heat

Could be Better On Demand

…Because it could be so much better.  Just like everything the WWE has done in the past couple of years,  WWE Classics on Demand has so much potential but doesn’t deliver.  I’ve subscribed to this service since January so I feel that I have a pretty good sampling of what it has to offer.

In fairness, I need to point out that I own a huge collection (possibly over 200 VHS and DVDs) of WWE, WCW, and ECW material.  So a lot of the WWE’s extensive library is already in my house.

Let me break down the pros and cons of WWE’s Classics On Demand in the sections that they give us:

The Big Ones:

Pros - This is the main section.  Full PPV action from the WWE and WCW.  My favorite part of this category is the house shows that have never been seen out of market.  So far I’ve match full shows from Madison Square Garden and The Summit in Houston.  Also if you are willing to wait a few months, I’ve watched Survivor Series 2008 and Wrestlemania XXIV (which seems like a bad business model, but its good for us).

Cons - There is never more than 3 PPV’s available at a time.  I understand that they don’t want to give everything away at once, but I don’t think 5 or 6 PPVs a month is too much to ask for.  How about adding some ECW house shows from the 1990s or more WCW PPVs.

Shorties:

Pros - Individual matches that normally have a theme.

Cons - I rarely go into this section

Legends:

Pros – This is MY favorite section.  This area contains the only exclusive programming for Classics.  The “Legends” series is what hardcore wrestling fans will love.  This is a round table discussion about what really happened during different moments in wrestling history.  It seems that most of this series was filmed a year ago but I still enjoy the banter.  Michael Hayes is normally the star of these discussions as he tries to tell the stuff that we REALLY want to know, but with either editing or poor hosting his topics rarely get touched on.  For example, in a Monday Night Wars episode, Michael wanted Jim Ross to talk about what it was like the night of the Montreal Screwjob at the 1997 Survivor Series.  Michael kept bringing this up and saying “let’s talk about it.”  But it was never discussed.

In addition, this section will also have DVD releases and spotlight matches on WWE Hall of Famers.

Cons – Even though the “Legends” series is worth the subscription, they could do so much more.  The segments seemed rushed and max out at an hour.  There is no reason that they couldn’t expand this to two hours or just let the roundtable participants talk and when it’s over…it’s over!

TV Classics:

Pros – The Monday Night Wars segments are great.  They put together a particular week’s Raw and Nitro sans commercials.  This section also has ECW, NWA, Mid-Atlantic, and WCCW TV episodes.

Cons- Not Much…

The thing that really irks me about Classics is how the WWE is editing older material.  If someone is bleeding during a match, it is now in black and white.  If someone curses or says “I’m going to kick your ass!”  ”Ass” is bleeped out.  They are even blurring out Stone Cold’s middle fingers.  Because of this, I’ve actually considered canceling my subscription.  This is a service that I pay for and I expect AT THE LEAST for the content to be the same as when it originally aired!

This is one of the worst aspects of the WWE.  Their revisionist historians.  This “bleeding, cursing, and other bad stuff” was good enough to make a profit just a few years ago, but now you can’t watch these shows without censorship.

Now that’s BullS***!