Breakdown Of What’s Going On With WWE’s Changing Media Rights Deals

WWE has a lot of history, and they need somewhere to put it all. After all, everything was recorded and fans want the ability to search the archives. With ongoing media rights deals, the landing pad for all that content is another question.

The future of WWE’s massive content library is getting harder to track. During a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer recently broke down how WWE’s deals with Netflix and ESPN are reshaping where fans will actually be able to watch wrestling history.

The biggest takeaway is timing. Netflix only has access to WWE pay-per-views through September 2024. After that point, any new pay-per-view content will air on ESPN and stay there.

“The pay-per-views were considered—as far as the library goes—the most valuable asset. So the most valuable asset is off the table.”

Dave Meltzer explained that Netflix’s current access is limited and temporary, while ESPN’s role expands after September.

"Well, for Netflix, they have got the WWE pay-per-view library at least up through September, and they’re not going to get it after September. Anything from September on that is airing on ESPN will stay on ESPN. Right now, only the pay-per-views are on Netflix. Everything else appears to be heading to the WWE YouTube page."

That “everything else” includes a lot of material fans have spent years tracking down. Meltzer noted that territory footage like AWA, WCW, and other legacy libraries are slowly disappearing from paid platforms.

"Yeah, very slowly rolled out, but essentially, the territorial stuff is going to be largely gone. Like, they'll put stuff up on YouTube, but you’re never going to get anywhere near all the stuff up."

There is still a chance WWE could sell parts of the archive separately, but interest may be limited. At this point, we will have to wait and see.

"Right now, they could still sell it as a separate thing. ESPN had interest in that stuff, but I don’t know how much interest they would have in the non-WWE stuff. The WWE library obviously has all those territory libraries, a lot of modern stuff, some independents from the UK they made deals with. They could release it any way they want, but the pay-per-views were considered—as far as the library goes—the most valuable asset. So the most valuable asset is off the table."

The situation gets even more tangled when it comes to weekly TV libraries. Dave Meltzer outlined how Raw, SmackDown, and NXT are all split across different homes.

"Netflix will probably get all the Raws and maybe for international some of the other stuff. They’re not going to be able to get NXT for now. I’m not sure what CW will own there. SmackDown they wouldn’t be able to get because that’s USA and that’s going to stay on Peacock. So they’ll still keep the SmackDown library for years. The NXT library—Peacock is going to be dropping relatively soon. So who knows where that’s all going to go as well."

For fans, the result is a constant struggle to figure out which service has what show. Pay-per-views move to ESPN. Older content drifts to YouTube. SmackDown stays with Peacock. NXT’s archive becomes a question mark. We will keep our fingers crossed that things don’t get more complicated.

The WWE library still has value. It’s just no longer in one place. Netflix will house a lot of those older shows and pay-per-views, but only time will tell where WWE’s archives will be in another 10 years.

What’s your take on WWE’s media rights deals? Do you miss the WWE Netflix for $9.99 a month? Let us know what you think in the comments section!