Since WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” moved from USA Network to Netflix at the start of 2025, the program has exhibited enviable consistency by appearing on the streamer’s weekly top 10 English-language TV list every week it’s been available — a total of 32 weeks and counting.
Globally, WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” averages nearly 3 million views per week. While the WWE program typically lands towards the bottom of the list as new series slide in and out of the cultural zeitgeist, “Monday Night Raw” and other WWE programming have steadily grown a substantial audience on Netflix, tallying up over 280 million hours of viewing across the first six months of 2025.
While the U.S. audience followed WWE to Netflix, the program has also grown its global audience, appearing in Bolivia’s top 10 for all weeks it’s been on Netflix, joined by regular weekly top 10 appearances in Canada (31), the U.K. (28) and Mexico (27).
“We’re thrilled with the performance of WWE programming as a whole,” Netflix VP of sports Gabe Spitzer told TheWrap. “From the start in January to now, it’s just been everything we could hope for and more, and a really great partnership.”
For Spitzer, the plot-driven nature of WWE programming crosses over beyond the streamer’s sports strategy and dips into the overall goal of entertainment that Netflix strives to achieve.
“When we did the deal, we thought about, ‘This is just 52 weeks of, in some ways, an incredible Telenovela,’” Spitzer said, applauding WWE heads Nick Khan and Paul “Triple H” Levesque for raising the bar creatively week in and week out. “It’s hardcore sports programming, but it’s got the storylines that carry you throughout the whole year.”
While one might expect WWE viewers’ Netflix profiles to lean toward sports documentaries or action flicks, the storytelling attracts a broader audience. Over 55% of current Netflix subscribers who watched “Monday Night Raw” also watched “Happy Gilmore 2,” for example, while nearly 40% also watched “KPop Demon Hunters.”
“It’s bringing in kids, men, women, everyone. So it’s not like they’re just watching WWE and turning and watching standup comedy. It’s everything from a ‘Bridgerton’ to ‘Squid Game’ to standup,” Spitzer said. “It’s pretty family-friendly overall.”
The livestream element of “Monday Night Raw” also fits smoothly into Netflix’s growing live-sports strategy, which aims to craft water cooler moments like the massive viewership and chatter brought in by the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight in November, but on a weekly basis.
“It’s just a question of being opportunistic and trying to find those programs that are really going to appeal to people around the world,” Spitzer said, noting that might be a documentary, scripted show or live sports event.
“Monday Night Raw” isn’t the only WWE programming that is performing well for Netflix. The recent documentary “WWE: Unreal,” which takes viewers inside the WWE writers’ room, cracked the top 10 during its debut week with 2.3 million views.
Such tangential programming was a key point of Netflix’s 10-year deal with WWE, with Spitzer recalling, “What can we do for shoulder programming that could appeal to the core audience, but also potentially bring in new fans?” He praised “Unreal” for showing “the whole company in a more vulnerable, open and authentic light,” adding the platform will continue to pursue similar ancillary programming moving forward.
Given the success of the WWE deal thus far, Spitzer and his team hope to specifically target the brand’s growing international audience. “We know that they have this incredibly passionate fanbase in the U.S., and it’s growing outside of the U.S.,” Spitzer said, pointing to WWE’s global social media power as one of the most followed channels on YouTube.
While Netflix has the rights to “Raw,” other companies hold rights to other premium WWE events, with ESPN taking over the rights from Peacock earlier than expected, as announced Wednesday. The spread-out rights don’t seem to bother Spitzer, who noted, “What we’ve seen is that that whole portfolio is working really well for us … WWE should do whatever makes the most sense for their business … [and] we’re excited to continue to partner with them for many years to come.”
