WWE’s switch to Netflix in the New Year is edging ever closer as wrestling fans in the UK prepare to say some goodbyes.
The wrestling behemoth announced earlier in 2024 that, come the New Year, its flagship Monday Night Raw programme would leave linear TV for the first time since its 1993 launch.
Netflix will be the new home of the red brand and WWE’s pay-per-view offerings like WrestleMania in the US and, globally, the changes are more far reaching. Here in the UK for instance, all WWE programming will switch to the streaming platform.
That means that while the likes of SmackDown and NXT remain on their respective television networks beyond January in the States, Netflix will be the one-stop shop for Brits looking for WWE content.
The ground-breaking move is hugely lucrative for WWE, with the deal said to be worth in the region of $5 billion.
It will mean some huge changes, though, and not least the demise of the hugely popular WWE Network, the 24/7 in-house streaming channel provided by the company.
It had been the home of all of its major events like Mania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble over the last decade before gradually being phased out in North America.
It has remained in place in the UK, with fans still able to access its huge library of archive content and new Premium Live Events – until now.
In readiness for the big switchover, Brit fans subscribing to WWE Network were emailed at the weekend to advise them that the service is being switched off, and subscriptions cancelled.
There was a softener, of sorts – fans can retain their access right up to 31st December before the service closes altogether.
“On January 1, 2025, WWE Network will no longer be available in your area and Netflix will be the new exclusive home of WWE,” the letter read.
“As a result, subscription to WWE Network has been disabled in the app store and will not renew on your next billing date.
Champ Cody Rhodes will be amongst the stars moving to Netflix[/caption]
“As a thank you for being for being a fan and valued subscriber, we welcome you to continue enjoying WWE Network with complimentary access until December 31, 2024, after which you will need to subscribe to Netflix to continue enjoying WWE content, including all Premium Live Events as well as Raw, SmackDown and NXT — streaming live, in one place, for the first time ever.”
The note added: “If you already have a Netflix subscription, you’re all set.”
Fans on social media bemoaned the closure, noting the likelihood that at least some of the vast library of niche, archive content is likely to be reduced in favour of a selection of past footage.
“It will be missed for sure,” mused one fan. “Not sure Netflix will have anything apart from the live shows basically.
Another said: “End of an era. I’ll actually miss the Network. Got me back in to watching WWE,” while a third added: “I’m going to miss the WWE network. Having the ability to just go back and watch a random episode or raw or SmackDown 25 years ago was great.”
Fans also noted – and applauded – a surprising fact about WWE Network. Since its launch in the UK in late 2014, the £9.99 launch price has stayed the same, with the company never opting to hike the price over the course of a decade when the cost of almost everything else has gone up.
One happy fan added: “I was always surprised it never increased but glad it didn’t, it’s been £ well spent each month on savings alone for PLEs and having that huge video library was incredible.”
The impending closure of the Network comes hot off the heels of an entertaining latest Premium Live Event on Saturday – likely to be WWE’s final major outing of its kind before the Netflix move.
Survivor Series featured the crowning of a new United States Champion in Shinsuke Nakamura after his surprise victory over LA Knight and a win for Roman Reigns’ team in the men’s War Games main event.
