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NBCUniversal and the WWE announced in February 2021, that it had signed a deal to bring the entire WWE Network over to Peacock starting on March 18, 2021. Essentially killing the WWE Network in the US, and making it even cheaper for WWE fans to get all of the monthly PPVs, as well as WrestleMania. And you still get access to a ton of non-WWE content, too.
But as always, there are a lot of questions surrounding this move, like whether or not everything from the WWE is included in the Peacock Premium plan. Or if you need to pay extra for each PPV like you would with UFC on ESPN+. So, in this post, we’re going to aim to answer all of your questions.
Update: WWE just announced a deal with Netflix that will see Monday Night Raw move to the streaming service in 2025. Netflix will also be getting the entire WWE library, including PLE’s starting in January 2025. However, that is going to be outside of the US only. In the US, PLEs like WrestleMania will continue to be on Peacock until at least March 2026.
When will the WWE launch on Peacock?
WWE officially launched on Peacock on March 18, 2021. That’s the Thursday before the first PPV that will be available on Peacock – Fastlane, which is also the last PPV on the Road to Wrestlemania.
The entire WWE library won’t be ready for launch day, though. Peacock notes that most of the recent PPVs won’t be available on Peacock until later on. Right now, they are saying “by Summerslam,” which takes place in August. This means that wrestling fans could go several weeks or months without some of the more recent PPVs from WWE.
How much will this cost me?
Here’s the beauty about this deal between the WWE and NBCUniversal, it’s actually going to cost you half as much as the WWE Network cost you.
You can get access to the full WWE library of content on Peacock Premium. Which is $4.99 per month, and if you’re a Comcast or Cox customer, you actually get that plan for free, instead of the $9.99 per month that the WWE Network charged you for everything.
On top of that, you also get access to the entire Peacock library of content, which is pretty vast. Giving you a lot more content to watch for a whole lot less.
What happens to my existing WWE Network gift cards?
A very popular aspect of the WWE Network was allowing users to buy gift cards and use them for their subscriptions. But with the Network sunsetting on April 4, those gift cards will turn useless. So what can be done with them?
The WWE hasn’t come up with a plan just yet on what to do with these gift card balances, but they will likely credit you or turn them into WWE Shop gift cards so you can buy some merchandise.
Will my account get credited for the remaining balance?
If your WWE Network subscription renews on April 1, and the Network shuts down on April 4, you’re definitely not getting your full $9.99 worth. And the WWE has said that they will credit users for a pro-rated amount.
The thing to do here is to cancel your WWE Network subscription now, so you don’t have to worry about the pro-rated amount that the WWE might give you back.
What’s happening to the WWE Network?
The WWE Network will still be up and running in the US until April 5. So you can watch Fastlane on either Peacock or the WWE Network. However, Wrestlemania, which is a two-day event once again, taking place on April 10 and April 11, will be exclusively on Peacock.
In the US, the WWE Network will cease to exist, Peacock is basically becoming the “WWE Network”. But this is in the US only. In other countries, the WWE Network will continue to exist. So if you don’t live in the US, then this changes nothing for you.
What WWE programming will be available on Peacock?
In short, everything. The entire WWE library will be available on Peacock. But not entirely at launch. As mentioned already, some of the PPVs from recent years won’t be available on Peacock for the March 18 launch. Those will make their way over in time for Summerslam in August. It’ll likely be available ahead of that time though.
Just like on the WWE Network, Peacock will bring you every live WWE pay-per-view event, along with every WWE, WCW, and ECW pay-per-view in history. There are also thousands of hours of on-demand programming. This includes original series, documentaries and your favorite shows from the WWE Archives.
Like with the WWE Network, you won’t be able to watch Raw or Smackdown on Peacock immediately. Replays will be added 30 days after they air on the USA Network and FOX, respectively. However, NXT episodes will be available on Peacock the next day.
Do I need to pay extra for PPVs?
No.
Unlike ESPN+ and the UFC, Peacock is including all PPVs in the price of Peacock Premium. So that $4.99/month price you’re paying brings you all of the PPVs that WWE will put on each year. There are usually 12 PPV events per year (this does sometimes fluctuate though), roughly one per month. These would normally cost at least $60 per pay-per-view, and you’re getting it for about $5. That is a really incredible deal.
What if I already subscribe to Peacock?
Then you’re all set. If you already subscribe to Peacock Premium or Peacock Premium Plus, then you’re all set and will be able to start watching WWE content on the service starting on March 18.
The WWE and Peacock have done a great job of making it easy as can be to switch over to Peacock to watch all of its content.
What devices are support for streaming Peacock?
Peacock is available to stream on most devices. Below, you’ll see the full list of supported streaming devices for Peacock.
Web Browsers:
Chrome 75+ (Windows/Mac)
Firefox 68+ (Windows/Mac)
MS Edge 80+ (Windows/Mac)
Safari 12+ (Mac)
Mobile and Tablet Devices:
Android: 6.0 or above
iOS: 12 or above
Connected TVs, Game Consoles and Streaming Devices:
Android TV: Peacock is supported on a wide variety of Android TV-enabled Smart TVs, such as Sony Bravia, and set-top boxes, including NVIDIA Shield, running Android OS 5.1 and above.
Apple TV: Apple TV HD (4th Generation or above) with tvOS 13 or above
Roku:
Roku 2 (4210X model only)
Roku 3 & 4 (model 4200X or later)
Roku Streaming Stick (model 3600X or later)
Roku Express/Express+ (model 3900X or later)
Roku Premiere/Premiere+ (model 3920X or later)
Roku Ultra/Ultra LT (model 4640X or later)
Roku TV and Smart Soundbar (model 5000X or later)
Chromecast: 1st Generation or above, including Chromecast with Google TV
LG Smart TV: LG WebOS 3.5 or above
PlayStation:
PlayStation 4
PlayStation 5
Vizio TV: SmartCast 2.0 or 3.0 (from 2016 and newer)
Xbox:
Xbox One
Xbox Series X
Xbox Series S
Cable Provider Set Top Boxes:
Cox:
Contour Box with Voice Remote
Contour Stream Player
Xfinity:
XG1v1 (Arris)
XG1v3
XG1v4
XG2v2
XiD
Xi3
Xi5
Xi6
Flex
Will WWE on Peacock look similar to the WWE Network?
It will.
And while we don’t yet know exactly what it will look like, Peacock has shared some images of what it’ll look like. There will be a new shortcut in the top navigation bar, for WWE. Click on that, and it’ll look like the WWE Network for the most part.
From there, you’ll see featured content, with recent PPVs, and then it’ll dive into other aspects of the WWE library from there.
The one thing that will be missing though, is the 24/7 streaming channel. When you log into the WWE Network now, there is always something that is “live” usually reruns, but it is actively streaming. That is not available on Peacock, at least not yet. Now Peacock does offer up some live streaming channels itself, so that might change in the future. We’ll have to wait and see on March 18 when it launches.
Search won’t be as extensive as it is on the WWE Network
Because this is being done through Peacock’s interface, the search won’t be as extensive as the WWE Network’s search functionality was. So when you search for something that’s related to WWE, you may not immediately find what you were looking for. For example, if you search for a wrestler’s name like “Bray Wyatt”, you might not find a whole lot available on Peacock.
This should get refined over time. And when you search for shows, those should be pretty easy to find.
Match markers will disappear
One of the best features of the WWE Network is the match markers. Basically when you open up a PPV, it’ll show markers for different matches. This is very useful when you open a longer PPV like Wrestlemania which is typically 6-8 hours long, with many, many matches on the card. So you can easily skip to the match you want to see.
That feature won’t be available on Peacock. Again, because this is using Peacock’s own user interface and not the WWE’s. Which is very unfortunate.
What else is available on Peacock?
There’s plenty of other content available on Peacock, which makes it such a great value for just $5 per month. Or $10 if you’d rather not deal with ads. Here’s some of what is available on Peacock.
Peacock’s Themed Channels
Peacock also has some themed channels. Which is what makes it a big differentiator from other streaming TV services out there. These channels are not actually live streams, but instead act as curated, themed feeds.
One of the more popular ones is the Today All Day channel. Which is an extension of its daily morning show. It combines show clips with Peacock-exclusive segments from Today show hosts.
There are also curated channels for The Office, SNL and Keeping up with the Kardashians. These channels are great for those that just want to watch these shows, and don’t really care about watching them in order.
TV Shows on Peacock
Peacock has every episode of Saturday Night Live, The Office, Keeping up with the Kardashians, among many other popular shows. Here are some of the more popular shows that are available to stream on Peacock right now:
- 30 Rock
- Bates Motel
- Battlestar Galactica
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Cheers
- Chicago Fire
- Chicago P.D.
- Chicago Med
- Chrisley Knows Best
- Covert Affairs
- Downton Abbey
- Everyone Loves Raymond
- Frasier
- Friday Night Lights
- The George Lopez Show
- House
- Law and Order
- Law and Order: SVU
- Law and Order: Criminal Intent
- Married…With Children
- Mr. Mercedes
- Monk
- Parenthood
- Psych
- Royal Pains
- Superstore
- The Real Housewives franchise
- Top Chef
- Two and a Half Men
- Will & Grace
- Yellowstone
Movies available on Peacock
Most Universal-made movies are available on Peacock. The only exception is if they are licensed to other streaming services. For example, most of the Fast and Furious franchise are licensed to other streaming services right now. Including HBO, FX, and STARZ. Once those deals run out, they will be available on Peacock to watch.
Here are some of the more popular movies available on Peacock right now:
- Lost in Translation
- Shrek
- Seven
- The Sting
- Ted
- Trolls World Tour
Peacock Originals
As is the case with any streaming service, Peacock also has a ton of originals that are available to stream, exclusively on Peacock. Here are some of them.
- Brave New World: A series based on the classic sci-fi novel from Aldous Huxley starring Alden Ehrenreich and Demi Moore.
- Saved By The Bell: The teen comedy series now has a reboot, featuring original cast members Elizabeth Berkley and Mario Lopez.
- The Capture: A crime drama from the UK about a soldier who gets accused of a murder.
- Cleopatra in Space:An animated series about the previously untold teenage stories of the great Egyptian leader Cleopatra.
- Curious George: An animated series based on the classic children’s books about a curious monkey named George. You can also watch the feature film Curious George: Go West Go Wild.
- Five Bedrooms:This is an Australian import comedy series. It focuses on five people who meet at a wedding and decide to buy a house and live in it together.
- Hitmen:Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, the hosts of the popular reality series The Great British Bake Off, play best friends who also happen to be paid hitmen.
- Intelligence:A UK comedy import starring Friends’ David Schwimmer as an NSA agent who is the US liaison to the UK cyber crimes unit.
- Psych 2: Lassie Come Home:The second TV movie based on the classic comedy-mystery series about a man who pretends to be a psychic to help solve crimes.
- Where’s Waldo:Another animated series, once again based on classic children’s books about finding a man named Waldo.
- Anthony: Anthony Walker was a real black teenager in Liverpool who was killed in 2005 by white racists. This movie imagines what Anthony’s life would have been liked had he lived.
- Departure: This series stars Christopher Plummer, as he investigates the mysterious disappearance of a passenger plane.
- Code 404: Yep, it’s another UK import. This is a comedy about a cop who is shot and dies, but is revived with the help of computers.
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