The Great Debate – An alternate to watching WWE content on Peacock

Well, 

Here we go. A debate, whoop whoop!

NOW if you know me in real life, you will know I love a debate, no matter what the topic is, I try my upmost to cement my opinion and in this debate, I can assure you that I am NOT the only one who feels like this..

Ever since the WWE Network in the US moved to NBC’s streaming service Peacock, it has left many to source out a VPN so they can keep the European version of the popular viewing platform, it is astonishing really, especially as us Europeans had to do the opposite when it was initially launched in February 2014.

Why do they want to continue keeping the WWE Network, as it is viewed in Europe? Simple. The content!

It is said that WWE Network on Peacock will include all the programming by the Fall but even with this news it has left many wanting more.. I don’t blame them but truthfully as much as I love the WWE Network myself, I actually end up telling people to do something else instead and that is to start a Wrestling Blu Ray and DVD collection or to continue purchasing them, especially if you already have a few.

I started collecting alongside my brother in August 2001, almost twenty years ago now.  The reason we started was to merely only purchase the WrestleMania’s and the PPVs that would air on Sky Box Office. We didn’t have the means to obtain that channel, let alone pay for them so this was the next best thing. First one we got was Royal Rumble 2001, which in my eyes is a great show from start to finish.

As the months and years flew by, we were in awe by the time April 2004 rolled around. As frequent buyers of the old Silvervision website, we would receive their monthly catalogue in the mail and what we saw coming soon was something we didn’t expect. It was the first two Tagged Classic releases, WrestleMania I and WrestleMania II as well as Royal Rumble 1989 and 1990. It would be a while till we got our first one but only because we weren’t sure as we thought that they would be heavily edited but after reading a review, we decided to try our luck as we purchased King of The Ring 1993 and 1994. I had a very vague memory on 1993 but I absolutely loved 1994 growing up, we had the VHS so I guess if something was a miss on the DVD, I could always check the VHS but to our surprise, nothing was edited, cropped or bleeped out!  We were in heaven.

17 years later I still get asked why I collect? Well.. I see it this way. IF you were collecting your favourite movie franchise or your favourite TV show, you wouldn’t leave out a particular one just because you didn’t enjoy it, right? Sure some are very hit and miss but it still gives me great joy to see how far our collection has grown over the years.

Peacock have edited a lot of stuff out, I don’t know if that bolds well for the WWE Network as a whole but the reality is that prior to the WWE Network launching, there were many that sold off their collections and now due to all these edits, they want back in and want to start collecting. Some of the DVD’s have stuff edited too but I am sure that not all are as badly edited as the Peacock edits? Someone correct me on this.

There is some great releases out there and not just WWE but Impact Wrestling formerly TNA Wrestling, ROH, AEW and even ECW had their shows released on DVD. Just before Christmas I started my TNA / Impact Wrestling collection and it is nicely coming along.

I’ll end this by saying that don’t take the WWE Network, Impact Plus etc for granted. Yes it might be available but we have learnt that it isn’t forever. Start collecting, or continue your collections! It always makes me happy how if I want to watch a PPV, I can just grab it from my shelf and put the disc  in. That is all I have to do and it is that satisfaction and pleasure that make me happy to be a collector and a serious one at that.

I would like to dedicate this blog to my dearest friend Stephen Ambury who we sadly lost in 2009. Stephen was a Silvervision employee and we would “talk shop” endlessly about WWE DVD’s and what was coming up as far as releases went, he helped light a spark in me and to this day I can’t help but think of him whenever I receive a WWE DVD in the mail. It was him who sent me the Armageddon 2000 and No Way Out 2001 Tagged Classic in advance so I would have it for my 21st birthday, he knew how much that one meant for my collection and little did I know, he would pass away before I got it.

That to me is my favourite wrestling DVD, it carries a great deal of significance and it always will.

You can follow me on Twitter @DJDiaz88