Royal Rumble to be WWE's first HD pay-per-view event?
Apparently, the WWE will finally be rolling out a major pay-per-view event in high-definition some 12 months after UFC did the same. According to a tipster, Time Warner Cable (partly owned by Time Warner, parent company of AOL, which owns Engadget) is gearing up to offer the WWE Royal Rumble PPV event in HD when it airs on January 27, 2008. Of course, this shouldn't be too surprising considering that WWE was already planning to switch Smackdown to HD next month, but for fans of the sport, we're sure they'll be delighted to have the PPV matches in 1080i, too. We'll let you know if we hear anything official.[Thanks, DG]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Marrvia @ Dec 28th 2007 6:58PM
That's great! Too bad I'm not much of a fan anymore. I used to be a huge fan and ordered every PPV, and watched every show. But now, I've maybe seen a total of five minutes of it in the last 6 months. I might order it though, Royal Rumble was always my favorite and I've been dieing to see it in HD. TNA used to be HD a few years ago on INHD, and it was great looking.
gamedude420 @ Dec 28th 2007 8:16PM
actually tna was never in hd, that was stretchovision at best. tna has yet to invest in hd equipment. spike tv wants them to though, i think hd is part of the new deal they signed in september, but tna isnt going hd til end of 08 or early 09. they aren't even doing live tv yet, mostly due to not having a crew experienced in live tv (commercials... not ppv)
wwe wont be so bad to see, only reason im watching now, is due to the ric flair retirment storyline which is ending at wrestlemania 24, because flair is actually retirng from in ring full time wrestling, hes taking time off after that, and signed a new 3 year wwe contract. He will prob become a manager of his son REID flair after hes out of wwe development down in flordia's fcw. and flair might have a mick foley ring schedule and only do mega matches on rare occasions.
Marrvia @ Dec 28th 2007 8:51PM
No, TNA Impact was in HD and it looked great. Trust me, I can tell the different between Stretchovision. I'm a definite videophile. It was 16:9 1080i HD, I am about 99.999% sure. It was long before they went to Spike TV. It was INHD or INHD2, which were an HD only channels, no stretchovision. Maybe that had to deal with In Demand with the HD cameras. Which is why I always wondered why if TNA did it a few years ago, why did it take WWE so long.
Ben @ Dec 28th 2007 7:54PM
There have been more PPV HD boxing matches in HD then I can count.
Kizzle @ Dec 28th 2007 8:09PM
Can't wait to see steroid-fueled backne in sweet, sweet 1080i. Barf.
Ross Finlayson @ Dec 28th 2007 11:13PM
Unfortunately, if you're a Comcast cable subscriber, you *won't* see this PPV in HD. Earlier this week, I finally heard - from a real human at Comcast - that they have *no* plans to carry PPV events in HD.
Aaron @ Dec 31st 2007 6:02PM
Anyone know if it will be availiable on Dish Network???
JayHDDVD @ Dec 29th 2007 10:20AM
If they do this I will order it for sure. As long as Bell Canada has it for HD anyway.
Kerry @ Jan 3rd 2008 3:45PM
It's about time to see the WWE in HD. Does that mean it will also be widescreen? I'd love to be able to fill my entire screen with the show without them being stretched short and fat.
Dave @ Jan 17th 2008 2:12PM
Yes, true HD programming is always at least in the 16:9 ratio.