When WWE struck a deal with Netflix to move its flagship show, Monday Night Raw, from the USA Network to the streaming platform starting in January 2025, the agreement extended beyond just the rights to Raw. Netflix will become the exclusive home for Raw in the US, UK, Canada, Latin America, and other territories.
In addition, WWE will transition its programming outside the US to Netflix, including SmackDown and Premium Live Events (PLEs). This move will effectively replace the WWE Network in many international markets, as the WWE Network will cease operations on January 1, 2025.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer highlighted concerns about the limited availability of WWE’s extensive library on Netflix for international viewers. Meltzer noted that while current weekly programming and all PLEs will be available, the archival content will be sparse, with only around 40 WWE pay-per-views accessible at launch.
Meltzer said, “This is actuallyinternational, but it does have to do, perhaps, with long-term because People have been asking, internationally, when everything moves to Netflix, how much of the library are we going to see? And the answer is, not much. All the current shows, obviously, will be on every single week. This is international, not United States, United States is only Raw. All the pay-per-views are gonna be on Netflix. As far as your archives, there will be some, but very little. This is all international. On January 1, when everything starts, they’re gonna have about roughly 40 pay-per-views, will be the only thing up. Just intermittent. Some recent, some years ago. But like 40-ish pay-per-views, dating back to the Wrestling Classic and Tuesday in Texas, Rock Bottom, and there’ll be Royal Rumbles and WrestleManias, of course. Hell in a Cell. The Invasion pay-per-view. Evolution pay-per-view, the all-women’s show. Some of the ECW pay-per-views, December to Dismember’s gonna be up there.… I think they just blinded themselves and threw darts at a wall, and whichever name they picked up, because it’s not like they picked the best pay-per-views, or recent, or anything. Clash at the Castle’s gonna be on. The point is it will only be, when it starts on Netflix, there will be 40 pay-per-views. There’ll be no WCW. No WCW it’s all WWE. No Mid-Atlantic Wrestling, no Mid-South Wrestling, World Class Wrestling. None of that taped library stuff. People didn’t really watch a lot of it, so that’s what happened. But there will be a few WrestleManias. There will be some old episodes of NXT, Raw and SmackDown. All the new episodes airing live, of course.”
Additionally, WWE has begun uploading older footage to the WWE Vault YouTube channel, leading to speculation that they may shift to distributing their library in segments across platforms like YouTube, rather than hosting the full archive on a single service.
While WWE fans in the US will initially see only Raw on Netflix, concerns are growing that a similar reduction in archival content could occur if WWE moves its US rights from Peacock to Netflix in 2026. For now, the future of WWE’s vast tape library remains uncertain as the company explores its new streaming strategy.
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
