What Is Going On With WWE's Tape Library?! (WWE News)

What the future holds for WWE's vast media library.

WWE Network
WWE

For many a wrestling fan, they love nothing more than diving into WWE's vast library, which, for those in the US, is currently housed on Peacock. However, with that Peacock deal up at the end of 2026, there's been plenty of uncertainty over where this content may be accessible in the future.

On that topic, Fightful Select has reached out to WWE "a number of times" in an official capacity, but hasn't been given an answer on the library's future. That said, the outlet has spoken to various sources "around the company" about what they expect to happen.

The belief is that content will be slowly rolled out to YouTube and the various Vault channels WWE has nowadays, with the size of WWE's YouTube "footprint" meaning they likely have a favourable deal with Google. As has been seen with how they've handled such content previously, it's now expected that WWE won't upload the entire library in one hit, with the company happy with the buzz those Vault channels have received, not to mention the financial returns generated.

Advertisement

A slower drip-fed approach to uploading content is viewed as a way to "cultivate" fans, with a more methodical approach to the upload process being to keep fans coming back in the hope of seeing new content rather than throwing everything online at once. As for those Vault channels, this Fightful report notes how they've not been told of any real change coming to them, just that there's a chance of more content being uploaded.

Previously, the WWE media library was packaged with PLEs and Saturday Night's Main Events as part of this Peacock deal, and that part of the agreement is set to expire soon. While the vast library was a big drawing point initially, and was seen as a nice extra to include as part of that Peacock deal, it was viewed as not being likely to receive a high rights fee on its own, though a WWE source told Fightful that, should they receive an offer for the library that makes sense, they'll reserve the right to take it.

Advertisement

For fans in the UK and various other international territories, elements of the WWE media library are available on Netflix, though it's a somewhat erratic collection in terms of the shows and PLEs included - particularly when compared to the incredible amount of content available on the WWE Network prior to that Netflix move.

In this post: 
WWE News
 
Posted On: 
Senior Writer
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.