Former WWE Star Maven Explains Why WWE Network Launch 'Sucked' For Talent

Former WWE star Maven has disclosed why WWE stars were not in favor of the WWE Network and revealed how it impacted the wrestlers' bottom line.

From 2001 to 2005, Maven Huffman, in his own words, had the best job in the world: he was a WWE Superstar. The former Tough Enough winner was a featured roster member during the Ruthless Aggression Era, a time when the WWE Network didn't exist. 

The network was introduced in 2014 and changed the way wrestling fans watched content forever, but that change didn't benefit the wrestlers. Maven has become a successful YouTuber in recent years, with one of his recent videos covering the infamous "Art of Wrestling" podcast with CM Punk and Colt Cabana. When Punk brought up the fact that the WWE Network was about to debut, Maven remembers this being a bad thing for the wrestlers. 

"The network coming out ... it sucked," he said. "I do know other guys who were making good royalty checks." 

Punk departed WWE just before the network debuted, meaning that he and Maven suffered from royalty checks shrinking in value.

"Once people stopped buying pay-per-views, I guarantee you their pay-per-view checks went down dramatically," Maven said. "When you're in this business and you get to the WWE, that's why you want to be on the pay-per-views. You know the buy rate, you're going to get a piece of that and when you're at his level, you're going to get a big chunk of it. Once that goes down ... I feel him on that."

CM Punk has since returned to WWE and is set to compete in the 2024 edition of the Royal Rumble, making it his first televised match in WWE since the 2014 Royal Rumble. 

Please credit Maven's YouTube when using quotes from this article and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.