WWE’s Premium Live Events Are Leaving Peacock for ESPN Earlier Than Expected
ESPN wants to absolutely own the news cycle tomorrow when it and Fox launch their semi-competing/semi-collaborative new streaming apps. To that end, ESPN is moving up its rights-takeover date for WWE’s premium live events (PLEs) from 2026 to one month from today, Sept. 20, 2025, beginning with a whole new PLE, Wrestlepalooza.
WWE personnel currently are in Indianapolis, the site of the first-ever Wrestlepalooza, to announce the news on Thursday — the same day the new ESPN direct-to-consumer app launches.
Peacock, which had to give the “OK” for this to happen, will live stream its last WWE PLE. ESPN did not buy out Peacock’s remaining rights, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Instead, the arrangement for WWE’s PLEs to exit Peacock was brokered between WWE and Peacock and then brought to ESPN, owned by Disney.
The feeling was that through splitting its top two PLEs, WrestleMania and SummerSlam, into two nights apiece, WWE actually fulfilled its Peacock PLE tally early, a person with knowledge of the deal told THR. WWE and Peacock have worked out a deal to include new main-roster WWE programming to stream on the NBCUniversal digital platform; details of that programming are expected to be announced soon.
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The 2025 Royal Rumble already took place in Indy at Lucas Oil Stadium, setting the event’s all-time attendance record. Wrestlepalooza will be set at the city’s Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and will begin streaming live on the ESPN app, beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. It’ll be the last time the retiring all-timer John Cena wrestles in Indianapolis.
Speaking of lasts, Peacock’s final WWE PLE, Clash in Paris, will stream live from France on Sunday, Aug. 31. With the time difference, it starts at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT. WWE’s developmental league, NXT, will still see its premium live events stream on Peacock.
“On September 20, WWE and ESPN are coming together for a can’t-miss event to kick off our new partnership,” said WWE’s chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque. “The biggest Superstars in WWE. The biggest brand in sports media. Are you ready?”
Other 2025 WWE PLEs that will now be on ESPN, not Peacock, including Crown Jewel on Saturday, Oct. 11, and Survivor Series on Saturday, Nov. 29.
WWE’s weekly shows, Raw and SmackDown, stream/air on Netflix and USA Network, respectively; Peacock (still) gets SmackDown episodes the next day. As of this writing, it is unclear what will come of WWE’s extensive programming library, currently on Peacock — but indications are that that could soon change.
The new, ambitious ESPN app, launching on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, will cost $29.99 per month. Users will be able to access all of ESPN’s programming, including live feeds of its many linear TV channels. Beginning on Oct. 2, streaming users can also choose to bundle ESPN with Fox One for $39.99/month; the new Fox streamer, which includes live feeds of its own news, sports and broadcast channels, costs $20 a month as a standalone option.
