WWE and Disney make their first deal ever together

The Walt Disney Company (WDC) announced today that, for the first time ever, they will be working directly with WWE. According to a report from the Sports Business Journal (H/T to Wrestling Inc.), the House of Mouse will be the exclusive provider of the WWE Network to the country of Indonesia.

Starting with this weekend's Royal Rumble show, Disney+ Hotstar will be airing WWE live events to any subscribers with a standard subscription. The deal will presumably include all of WWE Network's on-demand content as well. All programming will be presented in English, along with Bahasa Indonesian.

While this is the first time both WDC and WWE have worked directly together, the two media giants aren't exactly strangers to each other. RAW and SmackDown have been on-demand on the streaming service Hulu for years. WDC obtained majority ownership of Hulu in 2019 following their purchase of 20th Century Fox.

Hulu's rights to those shows expire at the end of the year. Fox also had broadcast rights to WWE shows in Latin America, rights WDC also obtained in the purchase.

WWE and Disney aren't exactly strangers

During an investor call before the Fox acquisition in 2018, WWE executive Stephanie McMahon compared her company to WDC. She also mentioned that WWE was "always open to" serious offers to buy the promotion.

Late last year McMahon also compared WWE to WDC-owned property Marvel. She said that much the superhero film series, each WWE Superstar is a brand and franchise.

It's also worth noting that WWE Superstar Sasha Banks (billed as Mercedes Varnado) played Koska Reeves on two episodes during the second season of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian.

Do you think we'll see more deals between WDC and WWE in the future? Let's talk about it in the comments below.