With dwindling amounts of subscribers to the WWE Network, it wasn’t a shock to see Vince McMahon make his WWE television return to announce that the Network would be free for the month of November. This would include the Survivor Series PPV and suggests that the company is looking to get as many subscribers hooked on the Network as possible to make it more successful.

Something that was introduced on Monday night was the idea of a bonus match being exclusively on the Network. With no commitments and a need to pay, it was like a “Money-Back Guarantee” for people new to the Network to see not only more wrestling action, but a title match with a character who has been undefeated.

(For those who haven’t seen it yet keep scrolling).

It didn’t come as a shock to see Rusev reign victorious over Sheamus in the Network’s US Title match. The idea that he could have potentially suffered his first loss was a tempting factor to people to check the match out on the Network, making him the best choice to one half of the first bonus match on the service.

(For those avoiding the potential spoiler, you may resume reading).

Add in that it’s a title match and there’s a chance for great success. However, for some people who want to see the WWE in HD, some cable providers only offer an East Coast feed to West Coast viewers. The bonus match couldn’t be seen until 11pm Pacific Time after it would have been shown live at 8pm Pacific Time using the East Coast HD feed. There was a risk for spoilers and the chance of some people even forgetting to see RAW on the normal West Coast feed after seeing it live (legally) hours earlier.

While that would be the biggest downside for some fans, a 3 hour wait isn’t enough to get rid of an interesting deal to spice up WWE Network interest. Here’s to seeing how successful the post RAW bonus match exclusively on the WWE Network will be.

-Celine

One of the perks of being a WWE Superstar is the fact that many top names have an opportunity to star in a movie. From John Cena, Ted DiBiase and The Miz in “The Marine” franchise to Dean Ambrose starring in the upcoming film, “Lockdown,” wrestlers make the transition to the movie industry rather easy. Some, like John Cena, are making mainstream jumps as he is set to star in the 2015 film, “The Nest”, featuring such stars as Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph.

While it’s wonderful to see wrestlers gaining mainstream attention, the other side of the coin is the time off that the wrestler has to take. It was just announced that Randy Orton will star in the sequel to the 2007 movie, “The Condemned”, which starred Stone Cold Steve Austin. After suffering a curb stomp injury from Seth Rollins on Monday’s RAW, similarly to how Dean Ambrose was put out of action to film “Lockdown”, Randy Orton appears to be written out of further story lines to film “The Condemmed 2”. While it’s necessary to take time off in order to film, would is still be possible for Orton to be able to take some time off to for certain events. He had been built up as a major character for Survivor Series but with him taking time off, how hard would it be to come back for one night to finish help better finish the storyline with his involvement. After all, the PPV is in Orton’s hometown of St. Louis, Missouri.

Especially when the WWE is in lack of top name stars with the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar out of the television picture until perhaps the Royal Rumble in January, is this the right time for Orton to be gone? On one hand, it’s always a plus to your career when you have movie roles. On the other hand, someone like Orton is always needed to help build WWE’s shows to the best product it can be, especially with the situation with the potential disbandment of The Authority and multiple characters being a part of the Team Cena vs. Team Authority storyline. It’s something to think about the next time it’s announced a WWE superstar will be starring in a movie—how greatly will storylines be affected and how significant will the change be?

-Celine