WWE to stream premium live events on ESPN Unlimited starting Sept 20

WWE will begin streaming its premium live events on ESPN’s new direct to consumer service on September 20 with the inaugural Wrestlepalooza, the company announced this week, accelerating a move that had been scheduled for next year. The kickoff show is set for Indianapolis at 7 p.m. Eastern and will reportedly feature top names including John Cena and Seth Rollins. The shift to ESPN comes as part of a multiyear media rights arrangement worth roughly 1.6 billion dollars over five years and marks a major redistribution of WWE’s biggest events away from Peacock earlier than planned.

Wrestlepalooza will serve as the first pay per view to stream exclusively on the ESPN app and the start of what WWE executives describe as a broader integration with ESPN’s sports coverage. WWE Chief Content Officer Paul Triple H Levesque said the partnership is “the perfect partnership,” adding, “nobody presents big events bigger or creates big events bigger than the WWE, and nobody presents them to fans better than ESPN.” He confirmed that commentator and personality Pat McAfee will appear at Wrestlepalooza and described the Indianapolis event as the beginning of a run that will extend through Crown...