WWE PLE’s headed to ESPN starting in 2026

[Rell84shots]

I'm retired from interacting with 99% of this board and really IWC as a whole. The only exception being pics threads. It's made viewing wrestling a lot better not being part of echo chambers or reading shyt daily by people with mental needs. But when I saw the news I had to come here and...y'all didn't disappoint

Wrestling fans have this innate ability, whether here, Reddit, Twitter, doesn't matter where, to be completely and totally wrong on anything and everything outside the bubble of wrestling. Including the business of wrestling. Then double down on the mental gymnastics and conclusions that only ever existed in their heads. It's like you all have opinions you think these company need to follow on TV weekly, now you know better than execs handling billion dollar grossing entities for a living. It isn't just a TKO, you all did the same thing with Vince.

This guy and a lot of the rest of you thinking you have one brain cell to offer Nick Khan about his handlings is wild. IWC said the Netflix deal was bad, they'll cancel the deal because of Vince, other shyt you came up with hyperventilating off scenarios you made up. Raw is consistently a top viewed program for Netflix. Let the IWC tell it, wrestling fans have been priced out, they're still selling out venues and hitting near sellouts. At the very least the shows are fuller than 2019 while costing more, while a depression is coming off of Trump. How can Nick Khan be wrong about so much and the IWC be right about it all, yet Nick's the one signing these billion dollar deals and the price structures so far are working, while IWC ain't been asked to sign shyt. They just keep waiting for the next boogeyman that'll "sink the ship". Thought that kind of shyt was supposed to stop with Vince...yeah

Anyway man, carry on. I just thought it was crazy reading comments here and elsewhere about things nobody outside Nick/Ari have the data or enough insight to be having opinions on, having opinions. Not even defending money hunger, if the shyt ain't for you cool then let them know and not watch. Let the ones that actually have an idea about 2030 in 2025 worry about what things look like in 5 years.

If things don't work they'll feel it. They seem to think they'll be fine and if I'm honest they most likely will be. People in the "just watching WWE" category on Netflix & Peacock are most likely few and between. This is aimed to hook more casuals by putting wrestling right next to real sports and further legitimize wrestling as sport instead of just the carnival with steel chairs. But until then when things stop working, take the rest of the summer off and kick your feet up tiger.

Peacock was dying until they brought the WWE network to the platform.

 

[The Intergalactic Koala]

Bottom line I'm not going back to cable just to get a"full package" of ads, background noise and mid content.The deal was 9.99, and then it was 4.99 on Peacock, now they expect me to "save" by either spending 30 on a bloated tumor or ESPN to hear Yell at me and my joey, along with bar hopping streaming services just to catch any form of WWE content.

Child boo .

 

[FS4LFE]

Shows ain’t good enough for that much. I’ll stick to watching Social media post and highlights on YT.

 

[Brad Piff]

Bottom line I'm not going back to cable just to get a"full package" of ads, background noise and mid content.The deal was 9.99, and then it was 4.99 on Peacock, now they expect me to "save" by either spending 30 on a bloated tumor or ESPN to hear Yell at me and my joey, along with bar hopping streaming services just to catch any form of WWE content.

Child boo .

Aren’t you supposed to be #NWG anyway? lol

 

[Rev]

You still have to pay $30 for big PPVs each so that is still over $100 easily even if you have cable

 

[prophecypro]

I don’t know if it’s already been talked about it this thread (posting without looking lol) but having read more about the deal, it’s actually not that bad for fans in this sense that some might already have this package included in their cable or Hulu bundle deals and it’s not paying individually for the PLEs


Again VPN and a stick is an option

 

[Mike the Executioner]

Same playbook they used to sell Raw on Netflix and literally nothing changed. You could even say it got worse in some ways

Every PPV will now be two nights.

 

[Rell84shots]

Bottom line I'm not going back to cable just to get a"full package" of ads, background noise and mid content.The deal was 9.99, and then it was 4.99 on Peacock, now they expect me to "save" by either spending 30 on a bloated tumor or ESPN to hear Yell at me and my joey, along with bar hopping streaming services just to catch any form of WWE content.

Child boo .

It's not even worth it because all you're getting is the PLEs, the actual weekly shows/library is someplace else. The shills talking about it's $20 cheaper than the past PPVs are forgetting that the WWE had the roster to warrant the $50. I guess with this new deal HHH's fantasy of small IWC wet dream cards are finished.

 

[jadillac]

I wouldn't even say they're better at it than Vince, he just never felt the need to squeeze every last drop out. When you go from essentially having to rebuild your entire business and film RAW from high school gyms after the steroid trial to the heights they reached with Austin/Rock, you can't help but feel like you're playing with house money. Very different dynamic from paying 9.3 billion for a company and starting the process of turning a profit.


It's fascinating because the talent is why we watch, why we care, and will always provide some sense of passion - while everything surrounding them feels/gets more and more soulless under this TKO iteration.

I think we have to be careful not to overglaze Vince.

But overall, yes the wwf/e was Vince's baby. TKO is a total outsider with no emotional connection to anything but money. Arguably, they care LESS about wwe than they do ufc, even tho wwe prints more money

 

[Rell84shots]

Just kidding, do what u want

This shyt is so stupid because we all have about 3 different streaming services that cost money, so trying to financially shame someone makes no sense.

 

[Lord Beasley]

 

[2 Up 2 Down]

We didn't know how good we had it with the WWE Network era

Once it shut down I knew things were going to get worse. How could you not know that

 

[FunkDoc1112]

Cacs love racism and capitalism. They want to be victims so bad that they created a system that is designed to rip them off and they PRAISE IT. This deal has ZERO benefit for fans but people will still praise the grift. Its pathetic. So glad to be NWG

So many dweebs out here just wanna feel like theyre part of the winning team. Goofy as fukk.

 

[Thavoiceofthevoiceless]

you’re making way too much sense on a forum that thrives on fake outrage lol

The fundamental problem with his comment is that casuals have never viewed wrestling as a sport no matter how hard everyone has tried and moving it to this partnership with ESPN isn't going to change that.

It will always be sports entertainment due to the pre-determination aspect of things and why this partnership is doomed to fail if that's their plan.

 

[FunkDoc1112]

It's got Nick Khan fingerprints all over it, he's the guy along with Ari and the board responsible for all of it. Hunter is their lackey who writes the shows with Prichard and some other cacs

Yup, all of the shyt from the excessive ads to the monetization traces directly back to him, this preceded TKO.