The WWE-Peacock era is inching one step closer to coming to an end. WWE ramped up their PLEs to finish their agreement with Peacock early this year. The TKO-owned company did this so they could team with ESPN to launch the sports company’s app. While WWE PLEs have underwhelmed ESPN so far, this will be a long-term partnership. Now, WWE’s content is expiring in 2 weeks on Peacock. Here’s the latest on the WWE leaving Peacock, and the future of its media library.
WWE Content Leaving Peacock Starting December 30, 2025
WWE and Peacock have an agreement through 2026. That said, Peacock lost a significant amount of WWE’s content in 2025.
While Peacock hosted John Cena’s final match, they lost all new Raws and PLEs. New-run episodes of Raw are on Netflix, while new-run PLEs are on ESPN streaming services.
In the meantime, Peacock has been the host to all the old WWE, WCW, and territory content. Peacock has everything from old WWF Coliseum releases to documentaries to classic episodes of Raw, SmackDown, and Nitro. Plus, they have every WWE, WCW, and ECW Pay-Per-View event.
All of this access is going to be gone by December 31, 2025. Some content is set to expire starting December 30, 2025. Each case is unique, depending on the episode. Make sure to check the expiration date if you plan to start a WWE-owened show or want to catch up on older content on Peacock.
What WWE Content Is Staying on Peacock After January 1, 2026?
As of right now, NXT and classic SmackDown episodes are the only noticeable shows to not have an expiration date. SmackDown might stay on Peacock because NBCUniversal owns the service.
NBCUniversal also owns the USA Network, which is home to SmackDown on Friday nights. If you would like spoilers for the post-Christmas edition of SmackDown, tap here.
Meanwhile, the NXT library will also remain on Peacock. This content will be available until March 2026, when the WWE-Peacock deal officially ends.
Of course, WWE could reach an agreement with Peacock to keep NXT programming. Peacock might also be interested in maintaining the rights to Saturday Night’s Main Event.
After all, John Cena’s retirement generated significant buzz for the streaming service. In fact, The Last Real Champion’s final hurrah caused a massive spike in Raw viewership on Netflix.
The fallout of John Cena’s loss to Gunther on Peacock caused Raw to bump Sean Combs: The Reckoning from the#1 spot on the streaming giant. This bump was hard to ignore for the documentary series’ Executive Producer, Curtis “50 Cent’ Jackson. It even caused the rapper to call out Cody Rhodes for taking the top spot.
Paul Levesque Leveraging Netflix to Procure WWE’s Media Library
Right now, WWE is shopping around the rights to WWE content. Originally, WWE intended to create first-run content for Peacock through March 2026.
Earlier this year, Paul Levesque spoke with Sports Illustrated, confirming this notion:
“This will be our last year on the current deal for PLEs. The WrestleMania coming up in Las Vegas will be our last WrestleMania under that existing deal. At some point this year, we’ll obviously start discussions about the new deal.”
In retrospect, that new deal didn’t come to fruition. As we mentioned, WWE sped up its content calendar to fulfill its obligations to Peacock. Then, they moved on to ESPN.
Long before they launched PLEs on ESPN, WWE was trying to find a new home for old-school PPVs. When Paul Levesque discussed the new partnership with Netflix, he felt the home for Raw would also be a great place for pre-existing WWE content.
The Chief Content Officer stated:
“Call Netflix and push for them when the PLE deal comes up. The PLE deal is up this year, okay?
We’ve loved working with Peacock, and they’ll obviously get a lot of consideration as the existing partner. But I like to think that if we’re successful the way we believe we will be, Netflix will be very interested. And I think others will be, too.
When you talk about PLEs—premium live events—that’s our biggest content. It’s our most valuable content, including WrestleMania and everything across the board. I think people will come in strong for that.”
With WWE content expiring on Peacock, it doesn’t look like they will reach an agreement anytime soon. There hasn’t been much discussion on where this media will go next. Therefore, WWE might shelf their old content to make it more desirable for licensing in a couple of years.
Will WWE Content End Up on YouTube?
Another serious contender for hosting old WWE content would be YouTube. WWE has used its acquisition of AAA to bring millions of livestreams to the platform. They’re set to do it again this Saturday in what was supposed to be the reunion of the Lucha Brothers. Find out who is replacing Rey Fenix at Guerra de Titanes here.
In addition to the highly successful WWE, WWE Español, NXT, and AAA channels, WWE has made new channels for WWE Vault, WCW, and The Undertaker.
Currently, the WWE Vault has over 3.34 million subscribers. It has a blend of full shows, mixtapes, shorts, and more. WWE Vault also introduced the world to Furface, which led us to crack the case on who was behind the fur.
With many devoted fans turning to YouTube for classic WWE content, this might be the best destination for old-school PPVs and shows. Until this deal is reached, we may no longer have access to any WWE, WCW, or ECW event at our fingertips anymore.
However, this content may still be available in other countries that have WWE Network. You may be able to create an account in another country using a VPN. This would require a subscription, which will vary by country. So, you might want to do some research before investing in this option.
Hopefully, WWE will provide a solution soon. Otherwise, we might be going back to DVDs and tape trading again!