WWE Raw – an institution among wrestling fans for decades – is moving to be exclusively on Netflix from 2025, the company that owns it has announced.
TKO, the company that owns WWE – created when WWE merged with UFC recently – announced the move this week, ending a 31-year run of WWE Raw being shown on broadcast television.
WWE Raw has long been the most popular weekly wrestling show on TV, with more than 1,600 episodes broadcast since its launch in the early 1990s. The show usually goes out live and has been essential viewing for fans seeking to know the latest storylines and happenings in the WWE world. TKO claims the show has about 17.5 million viewers tuning in each week.
The Netflix deal will see WWE Raw, as well as pay-per-view events such as WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble move exclusively to the streaming service – although whether these will be included in a standard subscription has yet to be clarified.
Viewers in the USA, Canada, UK and Latin America would be affected by this move first, with it being expanded to other countries at a later date.
TKO says that there more than 1 billion followers of WWE’s social media platforms across the world, so there is plenty of appetite for wrestling.
“We believe Netflix, as one of the world’s leading entertainment brands, is the ideal long-term home for Raw’s live, loyal, and ever-growing fan base,” said Nick Khan, WWE President.
In addition, TKO has announced that Dwayne Johnson has joined the company as a director. As part of the deal, Johnson now takes ownership of The Rock trademark. While that was the name he used in the ring during his WWE days – and later in his early movie work – The Rock name had remained under WWE’s ownership.
There are also rumours that The Rock may be planning a return to the ring after he appeared on WWE Raw recently.
