At the end of July and beginning of August, WWE made big changes to the WWE Network, upgrading the Over The Top streaming service to include "a sleeker design, simpler navigation and smarter search tools." By the time SummerSlam rolled around this past Sunday, fans on every device had seen their Network updated to the new design.
The update was met with mixed reviews at first as fans got used to the new interface and noticed that certain sections had gone missing. However, the new search was a big hit amongst most. One area no one gave much thought to was the streaming of live events as, for the most part, WWE Network performed flawlessly during live events under the old layout.
Then, NXT TakeOver: Toronto and WWE SummerSlam happened.
Man, the new update for the WWE Network is fucking garbage. It keeps buffering every 5 seconds & I’m sure it’s happening to everyone.
— I’m A JD Guy #TeamJD (@MrEddieKing) August 11, 2019
I don’t know what it is or is this WWE telling us “Please don’t watch this PPV, we know it’s gonna be complete garbage.”#SummerSlam
Turned the Summerslam kickoff on, went to get a drink and came back to the same buffering issue I (and many others) had last night. @WWENetwork please sort this out
— Lunakind (@gtaspec) August 11, 2019
#SummerSlam. #WWENetwork This streaming issue is getting old. pic.twitter.com/o18faT2WXq
— Tim McKay (@othytimquejac) August 12, 2019
hey @wwe please fix the audio sync issue on the #WWENetwork especially on the day of Summerslam!! makes watching #NXTTakeOverToronto no good! Your "improved" network might be new but a big downgrade in quality..will cancel if not fixed..lots of other complaining as well. @TripleH
— Tracy Doyle OO (@T_Doyle) August 11, 2019
Personally speaking, I had buffering issues during the NXT TakeOver main event on my PS4, delayed video in a Chrome browser, and a complete freeze during the SummerSlam main event in Internet Explorer and Firefox. Streaming had never been a problem for me on any device prior to the update.
The @AskWWENetwork account was bombarded with replies about the issues and gave the standard reply of "Hello! We're truly sorry for the inconvenience. Please know that we're here to help you out. We sent you a DM, kindly reply. Thank you!"
Fightful reached out to multiple Network users to get their experience dealing with WWE Network Support.
One user said, "I had problems on Saturday night when trying to watch NXT takeover and I tweeted them and they come back about 5 hours later asking for the usual speed test results etc so I provided them with it and got nothing back. Tweeted them again during Summerslam last night they responded asking for exactly the same information so I resent it all along with a bit of sarcasm and they haven’t responded."
Another user stated that Network Support told him that they could not find his account while another said they kept getting logged out every 20 minutes and were told to reinstall the app before logging out of all devices.
I was given the same solution from WWE Network Support; log out and back in. If that doesn't work, reinstall the app.
WWE Network Support was yet to reply when asked for comment about why the issues were happening under the new Network and if steps were being taken to prevent the issues in the future.
Fightful can report that the Network issues were well-known backstage over the weekend.
We will update this post if WWE or WWE Network offers a response to the issues.
