For those who pay attention to our weekly WWE Network New Next Week post, you’ll be aware of WWE Beyond the Ring returning to the schedule this Friday, April 7th. Beyond the Ring is the longest running “series” on the Network, dating all the way back to the service’s actual launch day in February 2014. In truth though, this original programming is just the documentary portion of DVD releases repackaged as a “show”. It was a regular during the formative days of the Network, with a new episode being released almost monthly.
Once WWE had worked their way through the majority of their modern home video catalogue though, its appearances slowed right down to a practical stop. While Beyond the Ring did return to start offering more recent home video documentaries, these were increasingly cut down from their physical releases.
Unfortunately, the WWE Network version of Scot Hall: Living on a Razor’s Edge has suffered the same fate. Clocking in at 52:48, this is over 29 minutes shorter than the DVD release at 82 minutes. This is in-line with other more recent BtR episodes, which were slimmed down by similar margins. While this could be an effort to avoid cannibalising WWE’s DVD market, it’s much more likely just an attempt to make these documentaries more “schedule-friendly”.
How does this pruning make you feel? Do you find it annoying? Is it acceptable to you? Does it make you more or less likely to watch it? Voice your opinions in the comment section below.