The inaugural episode of WWE “RAW” on Netflix brought in 4.6 million global views in live plus one day ratings, securing a strong start for the pro wrestling league’s shift to streaming.
That’s not all. The first match of the year averaged 2.6 million households in the U.S., according to VideoAmp, a 116% increase from the average U.S. audience “RAW” saw in 2024 (1.2 million households). Monday’s match also had a higher viewership than any other Monday night “RAW” broadcast in the past five years and doubled its audience in the 18-to-46 demographic compared to 2024.
This first episode also saw returns on social media. On X, #WWERaw was the No. 1 trending topic in the U.S., Brazil, Australia and the U.K. In the U.K., it trended as No. 1 for 14 hours straight, and it occupied six of the top seven trending topics in the U.S. Additionally, WWE generated 223 million social views across platforms on the day of Netflix’s premiere. That was more social views than any episode of “RAW” saw in 2024.
The match, which took place in the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., aired on Monday night. Aside from the streaming viewership victories, the match set a record as the highest-grossing WWE arena event of all time as well as a merchandise sales record for a non-Premium Live Event.
Since 1993, WWE Raw has maintained a home on linear television, moving between USA Network to Spike TV over the years. But Monday’s episode marked the first time the event moved fully away from linear to air on streaming. From a storyline perspective, the match was also big in that it marked the beginning of John Cena’s farewell tour.
Monday’s episode saw matches between Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa; Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan; Jey Uso and Drew McIntyre; and finally CM Punk and Seth “Freakin” Rollins. But some of the more notable appearances happened in between the matches. The Rock, The Undertaker and Hulk Hogan all appeared for the event, and Houston rapper Travis Scott debuted the program’s new theme song.
This continues a push into live events for Netflix. The streamer’s first major test in the space happened in November of 2024 with the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight. That live event was streamed by 108 million people globally. Netflix then continued that momentum with the NFL on Christmas Day, live streaming two professional football games on Dec. 25. The Chiefs-Steelers game saw 25.8 million viewers in the U.S., while the Ravens-Texans game averaged 27.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel. That makes these games the most watched Christmas Day matchups in the history of the NFL. Last year was the first in a three-year agreement that will ensure Netflix streams a pro football game live on the holiday.
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