You can’t get your ‘first month free’ on WWE Network anymore

Earlier this week, WWE announced the free tier of their streaming Network. Anyone can sign up and for no cost get access to more than 15,000 shows.

Along with the move, they’ve done away with a promotion which has been around since shortly after the over-the-top service was launched back in 2014... the 30 day free trial is no more.

PWInsider was the first to report the change, and Wrestling Observer confirmed it. The latter was told the company may bring back the promotion at certain times in the future, and speculates it could be revived at high traffic times like the annual January - March “Road to WrestleMania” portion of the event schedule.

The idea behind the “first month free” offer was to give prospective subscribers a way to sample the Network before committing to its regular $9.99 per month price tag. WWE now feels the free tier - which does offer some older PPV events along with highlight shows, the revived Monday night fallout show Raw Talk, and a sampling of their documentary, interview & reality offerings - will serve that purpose.

Switching to this model removes the “work around” some fans used where they’d sign-up to get a PPV they were interested in for free, cancel before billing started, then do the same with a new email address for the next PPV they wanted to watch.

Understandable, but still the end of an era. What’s next? No more $9.99?