When WWE Network stepped into the streaming ring back in 2014, there were many challenges they’d be facing that there’s no way they could have known: There weren’t as many competing names on the market, cord-cutting hadn’t yet reached its apex, and there was no global pandemic to deliver a major swing to the market. Times have changed, and WWE Network is rolling with the punches.
NBCUniversal’s Peacock is soon to become major U.S. provider for all exclusive WWE programming. WWE Network is soon to be a thing of the past. The deal kicks in tomorrow - March 18, 2021 - and by April 4, the original WWE service and app will be taken offline.
If you are new to Peacock Premium, you can get get four months of the Peacock-WWE combo for $9.99 with the promo code PEACOCKMANIA. That’s a 50% discount, as long as you sign up before April 9. After the four month period, your subscription will renew at the regular rate.
How to Get 50% Off Peacock
- Click here to activate the offer
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Though fans of WWE Network might at first be upset by the news, all parties involved seem confident it’s for the best. “We can drop the price in half and add their technical support,” explained WWE president and chief revenue officer Nick Khan.
Truth be told, discussions regarding the future of the service had been on the table since long before the pandemic. In addition to the price difference between the two (WWE Network was $9.99 per month, while Peacock is instead $4.99), Peacock is a far more popular streaming service. Even though it only came out in the summer of 2020, Peacock’s 33 million subscribers has dwarfed the steady WWE Network’s 1.5 million. “Ultimately it became a no brainer, especially with their reach,” said Khan.
Which WWE Network shows will be on Peacock?
WWE Network is moving to Peacock just before Fastlane - the first pay-per-view featured on the streaming service. Peacock will also be adding more content WWE Network to their library as the year goes on, spanning to complete their entire archive. This will include every WWE, WCW, and ECW PPV event in history, and will be available to stream before before SummerSlam.
Peacock will also be including all past WrestleManias leading up to WrestleMania 37, every PPV event from the last calendar year, and all current (and recent) episodes of their original series: “Steve Austin’s The Broken Skull Sessions,” “WWE Chronicle,” and “WWE Icons.” New weekly episodes of NXT can be streamed the day after they air; and 2021 replays of “RAW” and “SmackDown” will come online 30 days after airing.
WWE Network’s move to Peacock will hopefully provide it with a much-needed financial boost it sorely needs. Allegedly they’ll be seeing a major increase to Peacock’s average of $200 million a year throughout their five-year contract. It’s a boon the brand sorely needs since the pandemic has reduced the network from 310 live events in 2019 to a mere 42 this past year. “Bringing back fans was needed, and we’ve been able to try things out that we have thought about but not had the chance,” said WWE chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon. “We can apply everything that we learned to the future when we do have a merging of the physical and virtual fans.”