WWE PLEs moving to ESPN in September; ‘Wrestlepalooza’ first
WWE PLEs moving to ESPN in September; ‘Wrestlepalooza’ first
The wrestling promotion has created a new premium live event to celebrate an early departure from Peacock.
It’s shaping up to be another big news day for Disney and ESPN. The new ESPN streaming service has officially made its debut as of Thursday, Aug. 21, giving viewers the ability to stream the Worldwide Leader in Sports without cable for the first time. However, that’s not the only major news coming out of ESPN, as the sports juggernaut has announced that WWE premium live events (PLEs) will be coming to the recently launched platform far sooner than had been originally anticipated. The final WWE PLE streaming domestically on Peacock will now be this month’s Clash in Paris, with a newly announced event kicking off the ESPN era in September.
Key Details:
- Breaking the lease: WWE PLEs are moving to ESPN in September instead of in 2026.
- New event in town: WWE has created the new ‘Wrestepalooza’ event to celebrate.
- Plucked peacock: Previously, WWE PLEs were shown on Peacock.
WWE premium live events were due to arrive on ESPN’s new streaming service in 2026, as per the terms of the original deal announced earlier this month. But apparently, they just couldn’t wait, and now WWE PLEs will begin airing on the ESPN direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform in September.
To celebrate the occasion in style, WWE is launching a new event called Wrestlepalooza, which will air from Indianapolis on Sept. 20, starting at 7 p.m. ET. As of that date, ESPN will become the exclusive home of all WWE PLEs in the United States, and all events will be available to stream on its new DTC service. Some events will also appear on linear ESPN channels. Internationally, Netflix will continue to be the home of all PLEs. For its part, Peacock has signed a deal to be the home of WWE’s “Saturday Night Main Event,” which will air four times every year. The NBCUniversal platform will also house the WWE library through the end of 2025, and will be the home of NXT PLEs through 2026.
Wrestlepalooza will see top names in wrestling such as John Cena, Undisputed WWE Champion “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes, World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch, CM Punk, and Drew McIntyre in action.
“On September 20, WWE and ESPN are coming together for a can’t-miss event to kick off our new partnership,” WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque said. “The biggest Superstars in WWE. The biggest brand in sports media. Are you ready?”
WWE PLEs were once a staple of Peacock programming, and there has been a not insignificant amount of consternation as to whether or not fans will follow them to their new, more expensive streaming home. Unfortunately, the terms under which WWE departed Peacock early to head to ESPN are not public, but one would think it had to pay a pretty penny to leave that platform six months early.
But Peacock’s loss is ESPN’s gain. WWE premium live events are headed to their new home far earlier than originally anticipated, and fans will be able to watch them on ESPN starting Sept. 20 with Wrestlepalooza.
ESPN Unlimited
ESPN launched its highly anticipated direct-to-consumer streaming service on August 21, 2025. For the first time, this service gives sports fans access to its full lineup of linear channels without a traditional cable or satellite subscription.