Netflix has requested three top WWE stars for the RAW roster ahead of $5bn deal
WWE’s deal with Netflix is expected to change the landscape of professional wrestling. Beginning in January 2025, the streamer will be the new home of Monday Night RAW in the US, Canada, UK and Latin America, among other territories. RAW arrives on Netflix in January 2025 The deal marks a major programming shift as RAW leaves linear television for the first time since its inception 31 years ago. Netflix will also become the home for all WWE weekly shows and specials outside the US, including WrestleMania, SummerSlam and the Royal Rumble. Under the deal, it will pay $5 billion to air content from 2025 for a decade, with the option to exit the partnership after five years, or extend for a further 10. With so much money on the line, Netflix will be hoping their flagship RAW show will provide must-watch television every single week. And to make that happen, executives have reportedly requested at least three top WWE stars for the RAW roster. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reports that Netflix have indicated their hopes that CM Punk, Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes will be on the show. Rhodes is the current Undisputed WWE Champion, and performs on SmackDown, so it’s unsurprising that the streamer wants to put WWE’s biggest draw on the roster. Reigns is also currently on the SmackDown brand, meaning that a shake-up could soon be on the cards. If those two names, as well as Punk, are to feature on RAW, it will be up to the likes of Gunther, the current World Heavyweight Champion, to switch over and carry SmackDown going forward, if they are to have a title on the blue brand. However, Fightful Select noted that the talent they have spoken to haven’t been informed about their respective brands, and that rosters for the Netflix move have not been finalized yet. Netflix is said to be keen on bringing Reigns onto the RAW rosterGetty WWE’s Chief Content Officer, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, will have plenty of big decisions to make ahead of the move. Speaking earlier this year, he described the Netflix deal as a “game-changing moment”. “Netflix is a completely different animal,” Levesque said during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show back in June. “It’s a streaming service. How are commercials going to work? How are breaks going to work? What’s the length of time? What are the restrictions [and] what are not restrictions? “The ability to be live globally; the ability to have everything seen all at once everywhere, it’s a game-changing moment. “I think in many ways – not to disparage other partners because we want to be everywhere, but that’s sort of where the world is heading, right, is streaming services.” Mark Shapiro, the president of WWE’s parent company TKO, also reflected on the mammoth significance of the deal last month, saying: “This deal is transformative. “It marries the can’t-miss WWE product with Netflix’s extraordinary global reach and locks in significant and predictable economics for many years. “Our partnership fundamentally alters and strengthens the media landscape, dramatically expands the reach of WWE, and brings weekly live appointment viewing to Netflix.”
WWE’s deal with Netflix is expected to change the landscape of professional wrestling.
Beginning in January 2025, the streamer will be the new home of Monday Night RAW in the US, Canada, UK and Latin America, among other territories.
The deal marks a major programming shift as RAW leaves linear television for the first time since its inception 31 years ago.
Netflix will also become the home for all WWE weekly shows and specials outside the US, including WrestleMania, SummerSlam and the Royal Rumble.
Under the deal, it will pay $5 billion to air content from 2025 for a decade, with the option to exit the partnership after five years, or extend for a further 10.
With so much money on the line, Netflix will be hoping their flagship RAW show will provide must-watch television every single week.
And to make that happen, executives have reportedly requested at least three top WWE stars for the RAW roster.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reports that Netflix have indicated their hopes that CM Punk, Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes will be on the show.
Rhodes is the current Undisputed WWE Champion, and performs on SmackDown, so it’s unsurprising that the streamer wants to put WWE’s biggest draw on the roster.
Reigns is also currently on the SmackDown brand, meaning that a shake-up could soon be on the cards.
If those two names, as well as Punk, are to feature on RAW, it will be up to the likes of Gunther, the current World Heavyweight Champion, to switch over and carry SmackDown going forward, if they are to have a title on the blue brand.
However, Fightful Select noted that the talent they have spoken to haven’t been informed about their respective brands, and that rosters for the Netflix move have not been finalized yet.
WWE’s Chief Content Officer, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, will have plenty of big decisions to make ahead of the move.
Speaking earlier this year, he described the Netflix deal as a “game-changing moment”.
“Netflix is a completely different animal,” Levesque said during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show back in June.
“It’s a streaming service. How are commercials going to work? How are breaks going to work? What’s the length of time? What are the restrictions [and] what are not restrictions?
“The ability to be live globally; the ability to have everything seen all at once everywhere, it’s a game-changing moment.
“I think in many ways – not to disparage other partners because we want to be everywhere, but that’s sort of where the world is heading, right, is streaming services.”
Mark Shapiro, the president of WWE’s parent company TKO, also reflected on the mammoth significance of the deal last month, saying: “This deal is transformative.
“It marries the can’t-miss WWE product with Netflix’s extraordinary global reach and locks in significant and predictable economics for many years.
“Our partnership fundamentally alters and strengthens the media landscape, dramatically expands the reach of WWE, and brings weekly live appointment viewing to Netflix.”
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