As WWE prepares to move its flagship weekly TV program, Monday Night RAW, to Netflix, testing on the arrangement appears to already be underway.
First noted by Lightshed Partners’ Brandon Ross and later confirmed by Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online, it appears that last weekend’s WrestleMania XL event aired on Netflix in New Zealand.
A fan in New Zealand shared the information on X, as well.
@WrestlingDazeYT WrestleMania 40 is being streamed live on Netflix in New Zealand. I didn’t think the wwe Netflix deal started until 2025. pic.twitter.com/M9MkHu2bpM
— Aaron (@R0MANR0YCE) April 7, 2024
In January, WWE announced a new ten-year deal with Netflix that would take RAW from the USA Network, where it spent most of its 30-plus year run, to the streaming giant. The deal is reportedly worth more than $5 billion over 10 years.
Netflix is relatively inexperienced when it comes to streaming live sports, compared to Paramount+ or Prime Video, which both have multiple events per week. It was, and still is, unclear how the site’s servers would handle such a large influx of people watching one thing at one time, so airing WrestleMania XL on the site in New Zealand was the first test.
While RAW will be heading to Netflix in the United States, WrestleMania and WWE’s other Premium Live Events will not be. Not immediately, at least. The company is locked into a streaming deal with Peacock to host all Premium Live Events and the robust tape library through 2026.
[Brandon Ross, WON4FW, R0MANR0YCE]
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