WWE’s testing out ‘VR content’ that would make you feel like you were at a WWE live event while sitting on your living room couch. It’ll make those John Cena victories really feel like they’re disappointing you in person!
The NBA, Artists Den, Skybound Entertainment and now World Wrestling Entertainment are now all in the business of creating 360-degree video using gadgets like Samsung’s Gear VR smartphone-based head-mounted display, a headset that makes it look like you’re wearing a back massager on your face. VRFocus has more:
The news was announced during a panel at CES titled ‘Masters of Trailblazing Content’, which VRFocus attended. Speaking on the session was WWE’s Chief Strategy & Financial Officer, George A. Barrios. He revealed that the company is currently testing VR content at the WWE Performance Center in Florida. “It’s very, very early days… it’s very expensive; the amount of cameras and post-production needed,” Barrios reasoned.
“We’re early days on what the content might be,” he continued. “We saw the live content – Cirque du Soleil – and we were blown away.” The Cirque du Soleil VR experience is an app that can currently be found on Gear VR.
All snark aside, live is the only way to watch a pro wrestling show. The experience is tremendously different, and immersion into the “universe” so to speak is crucial. Watching matches on YouTube just doesn’t have the same connectivity, and connection’s one of the most important parts of a wrestler’s job. You have to reach out to every person in the building and make them feel like they’re a part of what’s happening. That could be easier when all the people at home are “there” with you. Imagine if WWE nailed the technology and it could be implemented across the board. Imagine being in the front row at Wrestle Kingdom without having to pay thousands of dollars for a plane ticket. Imagine going back and being in the crowd at WrestleMania 3.
Of course, this is the company that can’t reliably put their own content on their own network without fouling it up and pissing everybody off, so we’ll keep a cautious eye on this. Worst case scenario, those Florida Georgia Line performances will really pop.
