WWE PLE’s to air on ESPN

[Jimmy King]

The problem is they are trying to price regular people out.

On top of this, ticket prices are pretty ridiculous now as well. Eventually people like Troop or Shane won't be able to probably even afford to go to shows.

This is one of the reasons why I was reconsidering going to Survivor Series in San Diego this year. That and I can’t take the day off of work because it falls on the weekend of Black Friday and we’re not allowed to take any days off that weekend.

 

[R-Troop]

So... let me see if I can break this down properly.

- To watch RAW, you need Netflix.

- To watch SmackDown you need cable for USA Network.

- To watch WWE NXT, you gotta go to The CW.

- To watch WWE Evolve (god forbid), you gotta go to Tubi.

- To watch the tertiary shows and the archives, you gotta get Peacock.

- To now watch PLEs, you either need a specific kind of cable, or pay $30/month for the privilege of getting 5 matches, shitty booking, and shitty people on your TV screens.

Greeeeeaaaaaaaaaaat

• To be fair, NXT is broadcast TV, Don't have to pay for it (just an antenna).
• If you have any Pay-TV service with USA Network you're getting CW with it. This covers most of America at this point, even with the rise in cord-cutting.
• Tubi is free if you really care about Evolve.
• WWE is leaving Peacock so you don't need that come March.
• Tertiary stuff and Archives don't have a home yet (officially) but Youtube is the expected landing place, which is free.
• As of the ESPN deal, US viewers need to pay for Netflix, Pay TV, and the ESPN app (which by the time WWE launches on it will included with most pay-TV providers). The rest are free.

And it isn't like every other rasslin show has been stable. NWA moves all over the place if they ever get a TV deal. Impact did too (and is seemingly close to moving again with a real TV deal).

Even AEW isn't stable. Dynamite moved a couple years ago (yes TNT to TBS is a move, different channel with different amount of homes it's in, even if it's the same parent company), air on 2 networks (or a Streaming service) and a separate streaming site for ROH. Then they do a Pay Per View model where to watch their premier events you need to spend $60 per show either through your Pay-TV or a streaming option. At the end of the day it isn't cheap to be a hardcore rasslin fan regardless of the company. Watching 100% of AEW will end up costing as much or more than watching 100% of WWE for most US viewers.

 

[O-Blaze]

 

[Switchblake]

WWE is leaving Peacock so you don't need that come March.

We don’t know yet. They may strike a deal for legacy content.

If they do leave, you just replace this line with YouTube. Still a separate place for that content.

 

[Switchblake]

Even AEW isn't stable. Dynamite moved a couple years ago (yes TNT to TBS is a move, different channel with different amount of homes it's in, even if it's the same parent company), air on 2 networks (or a Streaming service) and a separate streaming site for ROH. Then they do a Pay Per View model where to watch their premier events you need to spend $60 per show either through your Pay-TV or a streaming option. At the end of the day it isn't cheap to be a hardcore rasslin fan regardless of the company. Watching 100% of AEW will end up costing as much or more than watching 100% of WWE for most US viewers.

This isn’t true. I can watch everything from AEW with HBO Max for $9.99-20.99.

 

[R-Troop]

This isn’t true. I can watch everything from AEW with HBO Max for $9.99-20.99.

PPVs and ROH are not included. ROH is another $10 a monthI believe, and PPVs are $60 a piece. So price wise it is pretty close to even. AEW Legacy content is on Max (well it's starting to get on there).

 

[Chris]

This isn’t true. I can watch everything from AEW with HBO Max for $9.99-20.99.

PPVs probs need to be counted separately bc they get added like 3 months late or something so you'd need to buy them

$50 like 10 times a year so add like $44 a month for them

 

[Chris]

PPVs and ROH are not included. ROH is another $10 a monthI believe, and PPVs are $60 a piece. So price wise it is pretty close to even. AEW Legacy content is on Max (well it's starting to get on there).

It's all on now. I would count ROH as an NXT equivalent and it's $10 yes. PPVs $50 on streaming, $60 on cable. ROH no longer charges for PPVs (not that you mentioned, just listing everything I can think)

 

[Jimmy King]

AEW back catalog from 2019 to 2024 is all available on HBO Max and surely this year’s stuff will be on there by next year.

*Chris beat me to it lol*

 

[Switchblake]

PPVs probs need to be counted separately bc they get added like 3 months late or something so you'd need to buy them

$50 like 10 times a year so add like $44 a month for them

I wouldn’t factor them because of the fact you have the option of waiting for them to drop for free. So you can technically see everything AEW has offered with just an HBO Max subscription.

Even counting your $44 though is cheaper than the WWE model considerably.

 

[Switchblake]

PPVs and ROH are not included. ROH is another $10 a monthI believe, and PPVs are $60 a piece. So price wise it is pretty close to even. AEW Legacy content is on Max (well it's starting to get on there).

I’m not including ROH at all.

 

[Loochblade]

If you include ROH in those math puzzles, then you also have to include AAA on the WWE side... if anyone really wants to go that elbow deep into it.

 

[Chris]

If you include ROH in those math puzzles, then you also have to include AAA on the WWE side... if anyone really wants to go that elbow deep into it.

I don't think you can legally watch AAA in America at all rn except when WWE puts them on YouTube so probs doesn't change anything if we're talking $ lol

 

[Loochblade]

I don't think you can legally watch AAA in America at all rn except when WWE puts them on YouTube so probs doesn't change anything if we're talking $ lol

Fair point.

 

[Switchblake]

The thing with ROH is it’s technically a separate company. Unlike NXT, which is just a brand operating under WWE. Ring of honor has a completely separate ownership structure, and on top of that as far as I’m aware and someone can tell me differently if I’m wrong ring of honor, never advances an AEW storyline. I never have to watch ring of honor to understand what’s happening on an AEW pay-per-view or when I’m watching collision or dynamite do I have to have seen the ring of honor tv to understand what’s going on.