With the advent of the WWE Network, the WWE's streaming over-the-top service that has all but destroyed its pay-per-view (PPV) business just a couple months after its launch, the pre-show as we've known it is changing. Sure, we're still getting one, but it won't air free the way it used to.
Actually, it will be exclusive to the Network though not offered via PPV for those providers still carrying the show.
It used to be the pre-show would air free on YouTube and in various other places as a way to entice potential buyers to plunk down their cash on the main event. Now, instead of a match mixed in with analysis and promotional material, we'll simply get a short preview show.
The first of these aired prior to the Extreme Rules PPV last month and it's back again for tonight's (June 1, 2014) Payback event at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois. The stream is embedded above and is scheduled to go live at 7:50 p.m. ET.
See you then.
Remember to follow along with tonight's event by clicking here.