Review: WWE is Netflix

,

I suppose if there’s one definitive thing that can be said about WWE at this point it’s that the company has never shied away from breaking new ground regardless of the person in charge.

The old WWE Network was both a grand collection of wrestling history and a massive shakeup of how we consume content. WWE’s stepping away from a straight pay-pay-view format years ago to combine its premium events with weekly television into one streaming experience was well ahead of its time.

Although the “Network” has not been what it was when it was a standalone property featuring a vast collection of older wrestling companies’ libraries, even in its stripped down format upon arriving on Peacock in the U.S. and at least for myself on Sportsnet a few years ago, it has offered a good variety of WWE’s own hallmark events ripe with weekly shows, PLEs and special features.

While its long term success is still to be determined, early indications are that WWE’s debut week on the platform drew 5.9 million views over the course of the week, placing Raw among the top programs on Netflix for that period. While WWE content is not available on all regions just yet, and while the offerings vary even from Canada to the U.S., the question is whether or not this version of the Network is worth a Netflix subscription. Further to that point, if you’re only subscribing for WWE, is a higher tier package worth the price?

WWE on Netflix

The key thing to remember is that offerings are going to vary between regions, with Smackdown and NXT not being available on the U.S. version due to their TV contracts, whereas Netflix Canada for example offers those alongside Raw.

Looking first at the television offerings, across the board with Raw as the centrepiece you get the livestreams each week, and are able to watch from the beginning even while the episode is in progress. Additionally if you so happen to miss a Raw for any reason, at least from my observation the show is available on-demand almost immediately. That’s a huge benefit, whereas in my experience WWE and AEW shows on Sportsnet and TSN respectively might not be available for a day or two after the livestream. That alone is a valuable point, and that applies to Smackdown and NXT should your region give you access to them.

Additionally, at least in my case since I primarily use my PS4 to watch Netflix, you’re provided two sets of content: 1) Previously Live and 2) Live & Upcoming. In the latter case the tab shows all of the WWE shows that are scheduled until the Feb. 7 Smackdown. For each show you can set a reminder for any entry you like.

The Vaults

Raw

One of the major selling points of the Network as it was in the past was its collections of the WWE back catalogue. Where Raw is concerned a limited selection of episodes from the Raw archives are available for viewing spanning from 1993-1999, and a selection of Raws from 2000 and 2001.

Altogether the Raw offerings span 12 “seasons,” however the slimmed out assortment does not include more than 20 episodes per year. For example, 1998 features 20 episodes while 1994 and 2001 have four and five episodes respectively. This might not differ from region to region, and while I’d assume these will be filled out over time the offerings for now are underwhelming. In terms of the more recent shows every episode of Raw from 2022-2024 is included (52-53 episodes a piece).

In addition to the broadcasts themselves Big E hosts several specials titled “Raw Classics” that focus on specific WWE wrestlers. These showcase some of their more memorable matches. These include:

• Steve Austin
• Cody Rhodes
• John Cena
• Batista
• Becky Lynch
• Bianca Belair
• Bret Hart
• Charlotte Flair
• CM Punk
• Kurt Angle
• Lita
• The New Day
• Randy Orton
• Rey Mysterio
• Roman Reigns
• Seth Rollins
• HBK
• HHH
• Trish Stratus
• The Undertaker

These all range in duration from about 65 minutes to around 135-141 minutes, with HHH and Cena’s episodes being the longest. Additionally there are a collection of specials to introduce new Netflix fans to WWE, notably Raw is Netflix and the Best of Raw 2024 special.

Smackdown

Similarly to Raw there are a selection of what I assume are prime episodes from Smackdown’s history. Seemingly filling in the time gap, where Raw’s offerings drop off after 2001 the Smackdown Vault consists of a variety of episodes spanning 1999 to 2008. Unfortunately the episode offerings are even more sparse with the counts on any given year being as low as 2 and as high as 19. Similarly to Raw, seemingly all episodes of Smackdown that aired between 2022 and 2024 are available in case you wanted to either catch up or rewatch some of the more major stories of recent WWE. Overall there are fewer episodes in this collection and it’s difficult to say how worthwhile this collection actually is without watching the individual episodes.

From scanning through 2004 for example there seems to be a good collection of episodes of Eddie Guerrero’s feud with JBL, or 2005’s episodes include the show after John Cena’s WWE title win as well as the debut of the spinner championship. Once again while I assume we will see these expanded over time, right now it’s a little disappointing.

Presumably there isn’t much else on Netflix for Smackdown akin to the Raw offerings since there are separate U.S. distribution deals for Smackdown and NXT; this deal for WWE heavily skews toward Raw where Netflix is concerned. The wider selection of content makes sense, but nonetheless I feel like WWE has plenty of specials from over the years they could have used for international markets. Although it is underwhelming, being realistic if you’re outside the U.S. you’re probably mostly subscribing for the new content and if you’re in the U.S. this point is irrelevant.

NXT

For international viewers, much like the other two shows you’re getting live NXT every week. In addition to new episodes that can be rewound, watched live or viewed on demand, the NXT Vault follows suit to the other two programs with select episodes from 2014 through 2021. The episode counts range from 4-6 and are predominantly NXT Takeovers. For example, the 2014 offerings consist of Arrival, Takeover, Takeover: Fatal 4 Way and R-Evolution. The 2015 offerings will include Takeovers Unstoppable, Brooklyn, Respect and London (Finn Balor’s Jack the Ripper Demon entrance). That’s what you can expect, and much less so the pre-weekly programming offerings that the Network was home to.

Including all of the pre-2022 Takeovers in their entirety is a great addition, especially since I haven’t see chunks of that early era. That also stands true for a lot of the other older content for Raw and Smackdown, but because those are so sparse, going back over NXT’s history via the Takeover events is a great catch up for viewers wanting to see current main roster wrestlers in the earlier stages of their careers.

PLEs and PPVs

Over the course of writing this review, I watched both WrestleMania 1 and 2, something I hadn’t been able to do because SportsNet’s streaming service was AWFUL…

Worst. Buffering. Ever.

That has definitely not been the case so far when watching any of the old major events, which is where I would think most new fans are going to click toward as opposed to any given show’s vault.

These offerings are divided by event into massive collections. For example, there’s a WrestleMania collection, a SummerSlam collection, a Royal Rumble collection, etc., with every edition of the show being offered to subscribers. Yes, every WrestleMania is here, including WrestleMania 20 and at least for me is seemingly uncensored. Yes, that means the main event featuring HHH vs. HBK vs. Chris Benoit is available to watch, which to my understanding hadn’t been the case for some time. It definitely was not among the WrestleManias on Sportsnet. These seem unedited, as when I scrolled through WM 20, Benoit’s backstage segment with Eddie Guerrero was included. This might change, but for now it’s there if you want to watch it. However it’s definitely odd and took me by surprise when I scrolled through the shows given the censorship history with Benoit.

In terms of the shows, it seems every event has every available show upon checking Mania, the Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series and King of the Ring (1993-2002, 2024). In addition to the core five classic PPV shows, the service has the following:

• Backlash (1999-2009, 2016-2018, 2020-2024)
• Invasion (2001)
• Judgment Day (1998, 2000-2009)
• Crown Jewel (2021-2024)
• No Way Out (1998, 2000-2002, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2012)
• Extreme Rules (2009-2022)
• Elimination Chamber (2010-2024)
• Hell in a Cell (2009-2022)
• No Mercy (1999-2008, 2016, 2017)
• No Mercy UK 1999
• New Year’s Revolution (2005-2007)
• Fully Loaded (1998-2000)
• Bragging Rights (2009-2010)
• In Your House (1995 – 5 shows, 1996 – 7 shows, 1997 – 7 shows)
• Clash at the Castle (2022, 2024)
• St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1999)
• WWE Evolution (2018)
• Over the Limit (2010-2012)
• Bash in Berlin (2024)
• Tuesday in Texas (1991)
• Over the Edge (1998, 1999)
• Battleground (2013-2017)
• ECW December to Dismember (2006) (Also…. WHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYY?!)
• Taboo Tuesday (2004, 2005)
• Day 1 (2022)
• Fastlane (2015-2023)
• Rebellion (1999-2002)
• The Bash (2009)
• Payback (2023)
• One Night Only (1997)
• Cyber Sunday (2006-2008)
• Rock Bottom (1998)
• Capital Carnage (1998)
• Capitol Punishment (2011)
• Clash of Champions (2016-2020)
• Breaking Point (2009)
• Bad Blood (2024….weirdly not the 1997 show)
• Money in the Bank (2010-2024)

Along with the main five shows, that’s a lot of content to watch. There are obviously still a number of old shows they can add, but purely from a WWE perspective that’s the majority of their PPV/PLE history readily available. I would hope they at least add WCW back at some point, and I have to question adding December to Dismember and not other, better, more watchable WWECW shows like the One Night Stands, never mind the original ECW content. This collection is quite expansive, and at least based off WrestleMania 20, appears to be unedited.

Profiles

Most are going to flock to Netflix just to continue watching WWE, so these will be less worthwhile and maybe serve mostly as refreshers. However, as a complement to the television programming and PLE/PPV shows, WWE and Netflix have uploaded a collection of profiles on current and former WWE/F wrestlers to both bring new fans up to speed on the current roster while also detailing the history of how we arrived in modern day WWE and who helped pave the road here. These profiles are 3-5 minutes and explain who they are, their impacts on the company, and what they’ve accomplished in their careers. These are the included profiles:

Superstar Profiles

• AJ Styles
• Asuka
• Austin Theory
• Bayley
• Becky Lynch
• Bianca Belair
• Braun Strowman
• Charlotte Flair
• Cody Rhodes
• Drew McIntyre
• Gunther
• Jey Uso
• Damian Priest
• Kevin Owens
• LA Knight
• Liv Morgan
• Nia Jax
• Rhea Ripley
• Roman Reigns
• Sami Zayn
• Seth Rollins
• Shayna Baszler
• Sheamus
• The Miz
• The Street Profits

Legends Profiles

• Booker T
• Bret Hart
• Hulk Hogan
• Kane
• Kurt Angle
• Lita
• Paul Heyman
• Rey Mysterio
• Shawn Michaels
• Steve Austin
• Trish Stratus
• The Undertaker

Both these lists of highlight packages are accurate as of January 2025.

Straight away this is a sparse list with some questionable additions like Kane, while omitting for example a team like the Road Warriors, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat or Randy Savage, among many others. They should probably also include Medusa and Bull Nakano given their recent Hall of Fame inductions. It’s clear the Legends set skews more toward the late 90s-2000s, with exceptions like Hart and Hogan. This should definitely be expanded, as 12 profiles hardly encapsulates the company’s history that was partially defined by others like Roddy Piper or Bruno Sammartino.

The contemporary roster is a little more sensibly inclusive, albeit still odd in its own right. Much like the legends, this set of profiles details their history with the company and hits all of their high points. The list includes many of the more recent champions in the company, although when looking down the list the inclusion of people like Strowman or Theory on such a short list of people you want viewers to learn about doesn’t make sense when there are better options. The women’s roster inclusions are pretty solid, but the men’s profiles feel puffed out.

For example I’m not sure why you’d feature someone like the above two or the Miz, then include Priest and Ripley but not someone like Finn Balor who has been central to their story for the last several years. I personally would have also liked to see more tag teams included as it’s just the Street Profits. I think it would be beneficial to add some NXT profiles since the Vault is so well done.

Additional Content

While there isn’t much else yet, there is an episode of “The Wrestling Classic 1985” in which Hulk Hogan defends the WWF title against Roddy Piper, while a field of 16 including Savage, Steamboat, Nikolai Volkoff, Iron Sheik, the British Bulldogs, Adrian Adonis, Bob Orton and Terry Funk competed for a luxury car. The show runs about 2.5 hours and since it’s something I haven’t personally watched I’m glad they added older content like this. I would have also liked to see them add a collection for Saturday Night’s Main Event, the Main Event sister series, or some old collections of shows like Superstars. Additionally, there’s room to add more here since the company does own the libraries of so many territory companies from the 80s and 90s and I would hope/assume that over time more specials like this one begin to populate.

Final Thoughts

The important question is whether a Netflix subscription is worth it to continue watching WWE, and I think this is a heavier weighted question for the international markets. With the rights still split three ways in the U.S., if you’re an American fan you’re pretty much looking to continue watching Raw and I assume the archives are also present across the board. That’s obviously a moot point if you’re already a subscriber to Netflix at whichever tier you’ve chosen.

For the fans that perhaps unsubscribed from Netflix like I did two years ago when the offerings were thinning out, I would say subscribing at the ad-based tier is more than a suitable price to pay to access not only WWE but the wider range of Netflix content. At $5.99 CAD a month the ads are hardly intrusive, and when watching WWE they seem to typically be for WWE content or merchandise. I would say the ad frequency is on par with the ad-based options for platforms like Prime. That base tier is more than fine even just to watch Raw, never mind the whole of WWE TV content in addition to all of the PLEs. Given the price discrepancy between the ad tier and the standard tier, I don’t think there’s a need to upgrade unless you want access for more devices, better resolution and obviously no ads.

That price point is more than fair when I compare it to the $19.99 TSN package in Canada to watch AEW, which I then mostly otherwise use to watch NBA games and the odd hockey game. In comparison to those both NJPW World and Stardom World are more expensive then the Netflix ad-based package, but at least include PPV-level events unlike the more costly TSN package. Those are at least comparable in value. So from a monetary perspective it’s a fair deal with decades of WWE content alone. Tack on other Netflix content and there aren’t many downsides.

That being said, considering what the Netflix WWE “Network” could be it feels light at the moment, making paying a full subscription to Netflix just for WWE unwise. There’s room to grow out its more recent content (like 24/7) in combination with legacy content from places like WCW, AWA, ECW or pre-89 WCCW. What’s offered on Netflix is a good snapshot of WWE history that could be so much more thoughtfully developed and rounded out. I would like to see the profiles section expanded, especially with respect to the legends.

I would like to see more Raw and Smackdown episodes added, specifically more recent years. For example I wanted to go back and watch an Asuka-Mercedes Mone match from Raw a few years ago and saw it wasn’t available. Another interesting addition could be to re-add a lot of those old, out-of-print DVD sets, perhaps license that 2018 Andre the Giant documentary from HBO and add that even on a limited time basis.

From a UI perspective, I went through the WWE offerings on both desktop and through the PS4’s app. The desktop version is badly laid out, and the search terms didn’t quite return what I wanted when I went looking for specific shows. I had more success narrowing down what I was looking for by searching just for broad terms like “sports entertainment.” On the PS4 Netflix app the content is organized into specific tabs for the shows, and from there can be easily narrowed down by year.

One gripe I found though was, for example, when searching directly through the WrestleManias collection tab on the main page — the shows were not in chronological order. The same was true for the Takeovers. Overall, while the desktop UI is utterly bad, the console app’s UI was more organized into sensible breakdowns. I felt like the search function worked a bit better too.

Despite the flaws to the content offerings and UI, I don’t think there’s a downside to a base level subscription considering what’s available today. Any tier beyond that depends on what you want from your experience and how you want to absorb the content as a whole. From a fan perspective I think it’s solid, and can definitely be built out and improved over the course of the deal.