THIS JUST IN: WWE Is Incredibly Thin-Skinned! (WWE News)

WWE gets ESPN's ratings of PLEs "killed".

Mar 11, 2026 March 11th, 2026

Following some less-than-favourable reviews of WWE PLEs by ESPN, such reviews will now no longer have a grade attached to them.

Per Wrestling Observer Newsletter and POST Wrestling, ESPN has put a stop to using letter grades for WWE events due to WWE's "objections". As the Observer bluntly put it, people in WWE got those grades "killed".

While an ESPN spokesperson declined to comment to POST Wrestling, one source with knowledge of how ESPN operates was adamant that this decision was an ESPN one, with no request from WWE on the matter. Upon being pushed on why ESPN would remove these grading metrics, though, that source declined to comment any further.

Of course, ESPN is the exclusive home for WWE PLEs these days for US fans. Since that relationship came into play last summer, ESPN reviewer Andreas Hale gave Wrestlepalooza a C rating, and followed that up the next month by giving Crown Jewel a B. After that, all WWE reviews have been devoid of a letter grade, be that a grade for individual matches or the overall show. It's also worth noting that Hale's UFC reviews have continued to use letter ratings, including last weekend's UFC 326 event, headlined by Charles Oliveira defeating Max Holloway for the BMF Title.

Last week saw the WWE and ESPN relationship described as a "DNA mismatch", with early WrestleMania 42 ticket sales not inspiring confidence from ESPN - all as that 'Mania 42 card remains a little up in the air right now.

Backstage Update On WWE's Plans For Tiffany Stratton, Giulia At WrestleMania 42 (WWE News)

Ranking EVERY Roman Reigns WWE WrestleMania Main Event From Worst To Best

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

See more from Andrew