World Wrestling Entertainment's long-running fake sports showcase Monday Night Raw is leaving cable TV for streaming platform Netflix. After a 30-year run on cable, Raw will be live on Netflix beginning in January 2025. Until then, you can stream it on Peacock or catch it live on the USA Network at 8 p.m. every Monday night.
It was known that WWE was trying to move away from its long-time home on NBCUniversal's USA Network, but Netflix was an unexpected suitor. The company isn't known for live events; it began experimenting with small scale live "broadcasts" in 2023, streaming a standup special from Chris Rock, offering viewers a live feed of a baby gorilla (like it was 2004), and hosting a golf tournament featuring Formula 1 drivers and pro golfers, but paying a reported $5 billion for a decade of WWE broadcast rights is far more ambitious than anything the company has previously attempted.
“This deal is transformative,” Mark Shapiro, President of WWE's parent company TKO said in a press release. “It marries the can’t-miss WWE product with Netflix’s extraordinary global reach and locks in significant and predictable economics for many years." I like economics that are significant and predictable, but when they're locked in and there's extraordinary global reach? That's what I call transformative!
In other wrasslin' news, TKO CEO and WWE-founder Vince McMahon announced on Friday that he was stepping down from the organization to spend more time with his lawsuits, and the future of ex-champion and WWE star Brock Lesnar is in doubt as well. According to The Wall Street Journal's sources, Brock Lesnar was involved in McMahon's alleged crimes. Lesnar was replaced at the last minute in this past weekend's Royal Rumble, which is not a promising sign for Lesnar fans.
