In a segment on Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown, pro wrestler R-Truth did his best to educate the company’s fanbase about Saturday night’s debut on the ESPN direct-to-consumer streaming service.
“What if I’ve already got ESPN with my cable?” WWE superstar Angel Garza asked R-Truth.
“If you’ve already got ESPN with your cable, you do your cable log-in, and you set, dog. It’s right in the app,” R-Truth replied. “See, most big providers already got that taken care of. So you go in and you watch it.”
Need help figuring out how to stream Wrestlepalooza TONIGHT?@RonKillings will tell you what’s up!https://t.co/jKAIj8nxxt pic.twitter.com/toTeZg4a7Y
— WWE (@WWE) September 20, 2025
“Most” would prove to be the operative word.
While multiple cable services do offer the ability to log into ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service via authentication, there are still some major providers that don’t. As of Saturday, that includes Comcast, YouTube TV, Cox and Sling TV, with subscribers to those platforms required to pay the $29.99 monthly price in order to access the ESPN Unlimited package to watch Saturday’s Wrestlepalooza Premium Live Event.
For some, this wasn’t surprising, as it had been known since ESPN’s partnership with WWE was first announced in August that there were still some cable providers without deals in place to allow authentication. But many viewers stil found themselves caught off-guard by not having access to the ESPN app via their cable providers and took to social media to express their frustration regarding the confusing nature of the communication.
So they lied after all. Access to this “new” ESPN app was supposed to be free with a @YouTubeTV account. Turns out I DO have to pay $30 a month to watch @WWE. TKO can shove their greed up their ass! I’m done. #Wrestlepalooza
— Ryan Goodman (@RGoodman4483) September 20, 2025
See go on to watch wrestlepalooza and I have espn with YouTube TV and I still can’t watch it the provider is not part of it so I have to pay to watch it and I already have espn total bs….thanks WWE
— Anthony Vivinetti (@NYAJV25) September 20, 2025
@JoeTessESPN You work for both WWE and ESPN and yet you still lied about how fans can watch Wrestlepalooza. I will not be paying more money to watch WWE programming. As an apology why don’t you pay for my ESPN Unlimited account?
— Alan Arango (@MrAlanArango) September 20, 2025
Hey @DIRECTV I changed my satellite plan from a legacy one to a modern one. It showed ESPN Unlimited as one of the benefits. I gave up a few loved legacy channels to do so, but find I still can’t watch Wrestlepalooza on the ESPN app . I feel like you and @WWE lied to us.
— Darrell Shoop (@DarrellShoop) September 20, 2025
Hey @DIRECTV I changed my satellite plan from a legacy one to a modern one. It showed ESPN Unlimited as one of the benefits. I gave up a few loved legacy channels to do so, but find I still can’t watch Wrestlepalooza on the ESPN app . I feel like you and @WWE lied to us.
— Darrell Shoop (@DarrellShoop) September 20, 2025
The good news for WWE fans: ESPN executives said earlier this week that they anticipate this issue will be a temporary one, with deals including authentication to the DTC app for the “vast majority” of major cable providers currently without access expected to be completed by the end of this year. Still, the frustration for many fans is understandable, as it would be tough to argue that the reality of the current situation was properly communicated in the leadup to Saturday’s show.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.