This past week has seen two events take place that is the advent of something new. For the WWE it was the first time tinkering with Facebook events for their Mixed Match challenge and for Impact it was partnering with Twitch for Barbed Wire Massacre. The digital era in entertainment has truly created an entirely new viewing experience. The fed has already established itself as a juggernaut when it comes to streaming wrestling even if they are not doing the numbers they had projected. Today there are many various ways one can watch wrestling out there; Powerbomb TV, High Spots and of course GWN. The NWA rely completely on various social media outlets to get their product attention, and it has worked. Granted, the numbers aren’t huge, but it is getting people talking about the promotion to a greater degree. From flying under the radar it has become slightly elevated. It is without a doubt thanks to Billy Corgan’s use of YouTube and Instagram. Impact have always had a great following on YouTube, and it would be foolish to not admit that the interest in Final Deletion wasn’t brought on by teasers on the internet.
It would be equally foolish not to admit that Barbed Wire Massacre was a way for the company to garner interest in their Twitch stream. One might wonder who this is aimed at. For those who don’t know Twitch is a streaming service that allows people to view others playing computer or video games. Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore has been using the service for their latest events to some success. But why would Impact do so?
With their own GWN app and service it seems strange to put their trust in a service that focuses on a demographic that is not necessarily into wrestling. But it is a vehicle to introduce this group to the wonders of sports entertainment. At the moment there is a current live stream that shows older content from the big vault of videos from the promotion and it will also contain a lot of original content. If this will bring in viewers to Impact on Pop or send them over to GWN only time will tell. What kind of financial gain the company will make from this is also up in the air, but what excites me is that we will be able to see house shows and stuff we might otherwise miss.
-C. Marry Hultman
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