New Update Answers Questions About The WWE Library's Future

WWE's back catalog is set to leave Peacock at the start of 2026
WWE
WWE | WWE

The future of the WWE library has been a hot topic of discussion among wrestling fans over the past year. And now it looks as if the picture is clearer as to where the company's back catalog is going to end up once it leaves Peacock at the beginning of 2026.

Since WWE abandoned the WWE Network in favor of migrating all their content onto Peacock in a $1 billion deal in 2021, all previous Premium Live Events, episodes of Raw, SmackDown, NXT and content from WCW and ECW has lived on the NBCUniversal platform.

Where Next For The WWE Library?

In territories outside the US, the WWE library lives on Netflix, albeit minus the non-WWE programming. In the United States, the library has only a few weeks left on Peacock, leaving many fans wondering where it will land next year.

According to a new report from Fightful Select, “WWE sources say that they believe most of the library will be slowly rolled out on WWE’s YouTube channels. We learned a lot more about that decision, including how it will work financially.”

Fightful also reports that, due to the behemoth that is WWE's footprint on YouTube, the company probably has a favorable deal with Google.

The WWE Vault has already proved enormously popular with fans online, garnering 3.3m subscribers on YouTube. The channel's mixture of throwback footage, rarely seen gems, documentaries, podcasts, and full events from the likes of WCW, AWA and various territories has catered to those who delighted in reliving the past when said shows were available on Peacock and the WWE Network.

WWE Already Has Multiple Media Deals For Its Content

Triple H
Triple H | WWE

Over the last few years, WWE has worked hard to spread itself across several platforms, striking deals with Peacock (who will still host the quarterly Saturday Night's Main Event shows), Netflix, Hulu and ESPN, as well as the USA Network for SmackDown and the CW for NXT.

In markets such as the UK, Europe, and South America, WWE is primarily located on Netflix, with all PLE's and library content becoming part of the streaming giant's output in January of this year, as part of the agreement that saw Monday Night Raw leave cable for the first time in its 32-year history.

As well as WWE Vault, WWE also runs a designated WCW channel on YouTube, which has already amassed close to half a million subscribers. Much like the WWE Vault, WCW's version houses a myriad of classic matches, hidden gems, and full events, whether they be classic PPV's or old episodes of Monday Nitro, Thunder or editions of Clash of the Champions, among others.

Whether WWE's approach to utilizing YouTube for their historic content will see more new channels launched, such as vaults for the likes of ECW or the various territories WWE owns the library footage rights to, remains to be seen.

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Joe Baiamonte
JOE BAIAMONTE

Joe Baiamonte is a contributing writer for The Takedown On SI, joining the team in April, 2025. Joe has been covering professional wrestling, sports and entertainment for over a decade, serving as editor at SPORTbible between 2014 and 2018 - where he helped the team to three consecutive Football Blogging Awards - and as head of sport at Unilad. Joe has written for numerous outlets in the United Kingdom and United States, including The Sportsman, Sporf, Pubity, GiveMeSport and The Sportster, interviewing the likes of Neymar, Harry Kane, Ruud Gullit, Triple H, Ric Flair, Cody Rhodes, Becky Lynch, Rey Mysterio, Aaron Boone, Alex Cora, Chris Sale and Chase Uttley. He has a BA (Hons) degree in Journalism and Broadcasting from the University of Salford and currently resides in Manchester, England, having been raised just down the road in Burnley. He briefly moved to Croatia with his family after the birth of his son, where he spent an entire summer writing on the beach and eating squid.

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