You’re probably thinking, “I should be watching professional wrestling.” After all, it’s come back into fashion in the last few years. You’ve seen people cosplaying as wrestlers, or wearing their merch. You’ve heard people talk about it at parties. Or maybe you’re just curious about the spectacle that comes with it.
But before you can dive headfirst into this weird and wonderful world, you need a little help to get started. You don’t need to pay a cent to witness some exciting wrestling action, but there are a few things you’ll want to know first. We’re here to help you figure out how to get started, and where to go from there.
Wrestling World Entertainment (WWE) is a sports entertainment company. It provides television, pay-per-view, and online entertainment. The company operates through two segments: Live and Televised Entertainment and Consumer Products. The company’s business involves the management of professional wrestlers and other talent, contract negotiations, performing by the wrestlers, selling advertising and sponsorship, merchandising, ticket sales, and television production. It also broadcasts its flagship program Raw on Monday nights, SmackDown Live on Fridays.
Where To Start
If you’ve never watched wrestling before, it can be hard to know where to start. Do you just watch whatever’s on TV? Do you get the WWE Network? Is that even the only option?
There are plenty of options for watching wrestling online. If you want to check out the biggest shows from around the world, then the puroresu streaming service Samurai TV is an excellent place to start. It may not have the most extensive library of classic matches (that honor goes to WWE’s network), but its massive catalog of live events is incredible.
What is this “WWE” thing you speak of?
If you’re looking to get into professional wrestling, you probably have a lot of questions: What should I watch? Who should I root for?
If you’re only going to watch one wrestling show, make it WWE’s flagship program Monday Night Raw. Every week, Raw brings three hours of nonstop action on the USA Network. Raw is also home to some of WWE’s most popular wrestlers—John Cena, Roman Reigns, and Brock Lesnar among them.
Of course, there’s also SmackDown Live on Tuesday nights in the USA. But don’t be intimidated by all that blue—smackdown is usually a little easier to follow if you’re new to wrestling (and the fewer matches you have to keep track of means less confusion in general). Plus, smackdown has its roster of stars like AJ Styles and Kevin Owens. You can’t go wrong with either show—just pick one.
WWE has been the leader in professional wrestling since its inception in 1952. The WWE brand is a global entertainment phenomenon that reaches across multiple platforms including television, social media, digital and more to deliver unique content experiences that delight fans around the world.
WWE’s television programming includes weekly shows SmackDown Live (on USA Network) and Raw (on USA Network). WWE also airs original content 52 weeks a year on WWE Network, which is the first-ever 24/7 streaming network that delivers exclusive content seven days a week. In addition to Raw and SmackDown, other programming includes 205 Live (a live two-hour show), NXT (a live two-hour show), NXT UK, and NXT Women’s Division show.
