10 Weird (But TRUE) Facts For WWE In 2025

8. The Netflix Era

WWE WrestleMania 41 Night 1 Jey Uso
WWE

WWE has done plenty of navel-gazing when talking about its different “eras” in recent years.

The company emerged from the never-speak-of-it-again Pandemic Era and ditched the McMahon Era in 2022 to launch what Stephanie McMahon called the “Paul Levesque Era” in 2024.

But 2025 saw WWE Raw begin the Netflix Era when the company’s flagship show left traditional television for the first time in its 30-plus years of existence. The show launched to great fanfare and speculation about what opportunities being free of the constraints of cable television would present the company.

As it turned out, the biggest changes were that Raw shortened to a two-and-a-half-hour runtime, with a 10-minute swing in either direction, and numerous stars of Netflix programming – with a heavy focus on chud comedians – appeared in the front row as the announces plugged their shows.

Oh, and those ratings? After touting how Netflix would bring WWE to a global audience and increase viewership, the data shows that Raw is faring no better than it did in recent years on USA Network. Viewership is less than half of what it was for its 6 January premiere, and Raw reportedly has fallen out of Netflix’s top 10 globally.

At least Netflix’s $5 billion check cleared.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.