WWE could soon be heading to Netflix in Japan as the country’s wrestling streaming landscape continues shifting following New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s ownership change and AEW’s upcoming departure from NJPW World.
During Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed the television situation in Japan after the New Japan ownership shakeup and revealed that WWE’s current deal with ABEMA appears to be winding down, with Netflix expected to take over before the end of 2026.
“WWE was on ABEMA, which is a streaming service, not television station, but it’s a streaming service, sports entertainment and everything like that. And they are owned by CyberAgent. WWE was on that. Gabe Spitzer of Netflix had mentioned just the other day. Now he said that WWE would be going on Netflix before the end of the year in Japan. So it’d be when this contract is up. So they were losing Japan, you know, and Netflix was getting it.”
Meltzer also admitted the current WWE performance on Netflix in countries like Germany and Italy was difficult to fully gauge based on available viewership information.
“But he also said that WWE is now on Netflix in Germany and Italy and I don’t know what the situation is, they might be on and not getting a lot of viewers because I’ve been checking the Germany and Italy numbers and WWE is nowhere to be found.”
The update comes at the same time AEW is preparing to leave NJPW World in Japan entirely. New Japan World announced that AEW programming will officially be removed from the streaming service once the current agreement expires on August 31, 2026. That includes Dynamite, Collision, Rampage, Battle of the Belts, and AEW Now.
The process actually starts earlier than August. NJPW World confirmed that new episodes of Dynamite and Collision will stop being uploaded at the end of June. The June 24 edition of Dynamite and the June 27 episode of Collision will be the final episodes added to the service. NJPW World released the following statement confirming the change.
“AEW content available to users in Japan and comprising editions of AEW Dynamite, Collision, Rampage and Battle of the Belts as well as AEW Now will no longer be available on NJPW World following the conclusion of the current contract term on August 31 2026.”
The company also confirmed that Japanese viewers wanting weekly AEW programming moving forward will need to switch over to MyAEW starting in July.
“Further, new editions of AEW Dynamite and Collision will no longer be added to NJPW World as of the end of June. For new episodes from July onward, fans in Japan can view MyAEW.”
NJPW World also confirmed the full timeline for the removal process.
*“Final AEW Dynamite episode
Wednesday June 24Final AEW Collision episode
Saturday June 27End of streaming for Dynamite, Collision, Rampage, Battle of the Belts, AEW Now archives
Monday August 31.”*
One major part of the AEW and New Japan relationship will still remain intact. NJPW World confirmed that Forbidden Door pay-per-view events will continue to remain available for purchase and viewing despite the weekly television split.
Between WWE potentially landing on Netflix in Japan and AEW leaving NJPW World for MyAEW, the wrestling streaming setup in Japan is about to look very different heading into 2027.
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