Savio Vega Is Mr. In Your House

Shawn Michaels earned the moniker of Mr. WrestleMania as he put on a ton of legendary performances on the biggest stage of all. Now, I find it more than slightly debatable than The Hearbreak Kid is the true Mr. WrestleMania. Since I am a lifelong Hulkamaniac, I obviously put Hogan very high on the list, and Undertaker could definitely make a claim. Still, it got me thinking about who would be the guy known as the embodiment of other pay per views. After thinking about the impact that people had and what those PPVs meant, there was really only one clear choice to take that honor. And that is why Savio Vega is Mr. In Your House.

Think about it: In Your House is probably one of the worst PPVs that the WWE has ever had, and that sounds like I am demeaning Savio Vega. In a way, I am, but any PPV is better than no PPV, and although I was never a huge Savio Vega guy, it is better to have Savio Vega instead of nobody at all.

And don't get it twisted, this man made an impact at many of the In Your Houses. He debuted on it to help out Razor Ramon, and proceeded to personify a dark period in WWE history. Savio was a good guy, because the WWE decided you should cheer for him. He was an honorable dude, but he never really did anything. He was basically Rocky Maivia without the looks and charisma. He was the transitional WWE Superstar, to get people doing more important things, much like In Your House was a transitional PPV to get to something that was actually important.

He hung out with Santa Claus for In Your House 5, and Million Dollar Man tried to buy Savio, but Savio wouldn't let him, because of his belief in Santa Claus. Then Santa Claus attacked Savio, as he had been bought by Million Dollar Man. It turns out that it was actually Xanta Klaus, who is from the South Pole and steals presents. Xanta Claus lasted one other night, which is about the most In Your House thing possible.

If you think that was the end of his run against Million Dollar Man, you would be sorely mistaken. First, he lost to Stone Cold Steve Austin, but he vowed revenge in a Caribbean Strap Match. Ted DiBiase was so confident that he said he would retire if Savio won. Well, Mr. In Your House took it to Stone Cold and won the match to boot DiBiase over to WCW. Vega managed to do this a month before Stone Cold won the King of the Ring and began his ascension to superstardom. Stone Cold may have been great, but he was not Mr. In Your House.

Oh, and in one of the most In Your House things ever, he literally had the same feud with Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw that he did with Stone Cold in that Bradshaw won their first match, and then Vega beat him in a Caribbean Strap Match. Yes, Savio Vega could definitely be called, Mr. Caribbean Strap Match.

Instead, he became Mr. In Your House. A forgettable superstar matching a forgettable string of Pay Per Views. But In Your House was a Pay Per View, and Savio Vega was a WWE Superstar. Savio Vega embodies the importance of just making it there. His career may be forgettable for a WWE Superstar, but it is still more memorable than 99.9% of the general population. Mr. In Your House may not be Mr. WrestleMania, but it's still one hell of an impressive accomplishment.

How the WWE Network Could Change Television Forever

The WWE announced last night that it would be starting a streaming service for $9.99 a month. With it, they are creating exclusive content and make it possible for fans to stream a huge variety of content from the past. The biggest news about the service is that it will also stream all of WWE's PPVs. Since a PPV runs about $50 these days, a fan who buys two PPVs is nearly at the break even point, and a fan who purchases three would be crazy not to sign up for the service.

It makes a ton of sense for the WWE. Instead of sharing profits with the cable company, WWE takes home everything. Yes, there's more overhead, but I'm someone who has not bought a PPV in a while, but will strongly consider this package as it makes a lot of sense. I believe there are a lot of fans who pick and choose PPVs, especially those who only care about WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and maybe SummerSlam or Money in the Bank. Even if they are only getting those first two, it makes sense to purchase this service.

WWE is consistently ahead of the curve when it comes to utilizing technology, and I can definitely see others following their lead in the future. The first company that comes to mind is the UFC. These are very similar companies in that they both have monthly PPVs with a fan base that will pick and choose depending on how the main events look. The UFC recently introduced an on-demand service for classic fights which is one large part of what the WWE service looks like. However, it seems like the current service only appeals to hardcore fans. They would get a huge uptick in sales if they were willing to add in the PPVs with the service. They could also up the cost of the service to make it more financially appealing, but I do think this business model has potential.

Finally, I may sound ignorant on this last part, as I am not sure how the money is split between production companies and cable providers, but on demand movies is another place where this could be an option. Instead of paying $6 a movie, a $15-$20 service that included all new movies may be financially viable to increase revenue.

If those options all follow the WWE's lead, what is PPV left with? Boxing and pornography. The porn numbers have to be down with how easy it is to stream pornography from a variety of websites. And boxing has 1-2 fights a year that actually get mainstream press coverage. I don't know how or why the PPV model exists at that point. It's something that appeals to a niche audience, and that niche may be shrinking by quite a bit.

Although I think it is a far ways down the road, this may also be the end of cable companies bundling channels. People are getting more and more comfortable with technology, and with smart TVs, it will be very easy to use your big screen TV as an internet device without having to plug in a computer. Why not just pick and choose what you want. Sure, you may pay a premium to have that option, but by not paying for hundreds of channels you never watch, many people would still come out ahead. Outside of channels that show sports, the only channels that I really need off the top of my head are FXX and Comedy Central. I'm sure there are plenty of people who have similar tastes.

Even though the WWE only appeals to a small part of the population, this was actually very big news for anyone who watches television as it cold have a domino effect that changes the way everyone consumes television.