Is WWE going back to the pay-per-view model after 12 years?

WWE made a major announcement regarding its premium live events streaming on Wednesday. The Stamford-based promotion officially announced via its social media profiles that, from 2026, the company's all PLEs will be available on ESPN's new streaming platform for US fans, which will launch on August 21st.

Hence, starting from the 2026 Royal Rumble, every WWE PLE will be on ESPN. The Stamford-based promotion's current deal with the Peacock streaming platform is set to expire later this year, probably after the Survivor Series: WarGames 2025. Moreover, ESPN is set to host all pre- and post-shows.

Many fans are now perplexed and are wondering, with its ESPN deal, whether Stamford-based promotion is shifting back to its pay-per-view model after 12 years, where fans had to pay a certain price to watch every event separately, like a ticket. The answer to this question is no, WWE is not shifting back to the PPV model.

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However, fans must pay a PPV-level monthly subscription fee to watch the events. The subscription fee is $29.99 a month.

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While the PLEs are shifting on ESPN next year onwards, it has been confirmed that Friday Night SmackDown will remain on the USA Network till 2029 as per the network's original deal with the Stamford-based promotion.

Also, a point to note is that the ESPN deal is mainly for the United States fans, and most countries and territories can catch all the action from Monday Night RAW, Friday Night SmackDown, NXT, and all premium live events on Netflix

World Wrestling Entertainment signed a deal with the Netflix streaming platform in 2024, which came to fruition this year. It appears that both parties are satisfied with the deal so far, and it has indeed brought about some new changes in the business.

It will be thrilling to see whether the Stamford-based promotion's deal with ESPN would bring some new, better changes in the company.

About the author

Nayan is a WWE News and Features writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling. After completing his bachelor's degree in Mass Communication from Poddar International, he began working as a YouTube script writer. Nayan then transitioned to Pinkvilla as a combat sports writer. He gained valuable experience there before finally coming under the banner of Sportskeeda.

Within 1.5 years, Nayan has written over 1,000 articles, interviewed MFN promotion owners, and conducted a Twitter campaign that gained over 50k retweets and more. He puts fact-checking and mindful journalism above everything by applying a three-check method, where he tries to verify reports from reliable sources and cross-check whether other major publications have covered them.

Looking back at his association with pro wrestling, Nayan recalls being hooked on the sport after watching Shawn Michael vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25. Since then, the product has been an inseparable part of his life.

Apart from The Heartbreak Kid being Nayan's favorite wrestler for his confidence and charisma, he is also a fan of Brock Lesnar due to The Beast's "work speaks louder than words" attitude.

Nayan can be found performing mixed martial arts and reading true crime in his free time.

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Edited by Gurjyot Singh Dadial