Many people view professional wrestling with derision. They call it "fake," "staged" or "scripted" and decry it as inauthentic when compared to mainstream professional sports. But I just went to see my first wrestling ever at Netflix's "WWE Raw" in Atlanta this past Monday (Jan. 27) and after seeing it for myself, I can tell you those people are wrong to hate it.
I'm not alone in this opinion. For as many people that dislike professional wrestling, it also has an incredibly large, devoted fanbase and that was certainly visible to me in person when at the event. American sports teams would kill for the passion of these fans and frankly, their choreographed reactions to each wrestler's performance. It's tough to decide whether it's more like seeing a soccer match in Europe or a midnight showing of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" and frankly, professional wrestling might just be a combination of both.
It's that combination that makes "Raw" a must-watch TV show on Netflix, whether you watch it live on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET or catch up later in the week. In fact, it might be even better to watch from your home than in person.
"WWE Raw" isn't live sports — it's peak soap opera drama with athletes
Let's make one thing clear, wrestling isn't fake. After watching the wrestler Sami Zayn start bleeding from his nose while fighting the wrestler McIntyre, there's no way you could claim that the blood running down his face and onto the floor was fake.
But wrestling is undoubtedly scripted. This is a good thing, because after watching "Raw" it's clear that the WWE scriptwriters know what they're doing. I went into the experience expecting to be checking my phone while waiting for athletic contests battled with chairs, fists and tables. And while I did ultimately get two of those three, by the time the show ended I found myself having been far more invested in the more scripted, soap opera elements of "Raw." When Jay Uso comes out and gets the crowd going wild, or CM Punk announces to Cody Rhodes to expect him in the ring at Wrestlemania, its enthralling drama that's as enjoyable as the best shows on TV.
This brings me to one of two criticisms I have about "Raw," and they're connected. The show clocks in somewhere between two to three hours long and it's just too long. During the scenes of dialogue and monologue, this isn't a huge issue. But some of the fights could use some editing. I get that you can't have someone be pinned down or knocked out right away. But when they kick out of the pin for the ninth time, perhaps it's time to wrap things up.
Ultimately though, I came away thoroughly impressed by just how much the show held my attention. Netflix has a winner on its hands with its new weekly live event.
"Raw" proves Netflix can handle a live show
After watching Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, I was concerned that Netflix wouldn't be able to handle a regular live event like "Raw." In the crowd on Monday though, there were certainly no technical difficulties that I was aware of, and when I checked in on my phone to see the broadcast, it seemed to be fine, just probably 15 seconds delayed from what was happening live.
It seems for its part, that Netflix is aware that the Paul vs. Tyson fight was a low point in terms of its ability to handle large-capacity live events. A Netflix spokesperson said that the streaming giant had optimized its systems ahead of its NFL Christmas games to better handle live events at an "unprecedented scale" and is continuing to work with ISP partners to grow interconnection capacity. While some customers still report some frustrations, the widescale issues reported during the Paul fight haven't cropped up in subsequent live events.
That's good news for wrestling fans, given that Netflix's massive deal with WWE means there will be plenty of live events going forward, including weekly episodes of "Raw." Even better news is that fans won't have to pay-per-view for any of Netflix's WWE events. Netflix has told us that there are "No present plans to pivot from our subscription-based model. We continue to bring more value to our members, as all of our live events are included in all subscription plans; there are no extra costs."
