WWE Network

Leave it to World Wrestling Entertainment to take on the cable and satellite TV companies in a no-holds-barred match. With the launch of their WWE Network streaming service—available on the Web, iOS, Android and gaming consoles—WWE delivers a Stone Cold Stunner to Time Warner by offering up their weekly content, original programming, and live streams of every pay-per-view match. The real finisher is the price—a six-month subscription is $60, while six months of pay-per-views alone would run you close to $250. The catch is that the weekly shows—Raw, SmackDown, NXT, etc.—don’t appear online until 30 days after they air on television, but there’s enough archived content to keep viewers clicking down the rabbit hole regardless. Watching the recent WrestleMania XXX could easily lead to seeking out a few Attitude-Era matches with the New Age Outlaws, which in turn might point you to 1980s with some classic bouts featuring The Rockers. This archived content from the past four decades presents a fascinating look at the evolution of sports entertainment and, added to the pay-per-view live streams, allows the WWE Network to stand as the No. 1 competitor to cable. If the network succeeds—a fate that may be contingent on adding the live streaming weekly content—it could pave the way for how we consume media in the future.