In a landmark event for sports entertainment, WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” made its debut on Netflix on January 6, 2025, achieving unprecedented success. The premiere episode garnered 4.9 million global views within the first day, marking a significant milestone in WWE’s partnership with the streaming giant.
In the United States, the event attracted 2.6 million households, reflecting a 116% increase compared to Raw’s average U.S. audience of 1.2 million households in 2024. This viewership surge also surpassed any other Monday Night Raw broadcast in the past five years.
The premiere, held at the sold-out Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, set a company record as the highest-grossing WWE arena event to date. Additionally, it achieved record merchandise sales, becoming the highest-grossing non-premium Live Event in WWE history.
The event featured high-profile matches, including Rhea Ripley reclaiming the Women’s World Championship by defeating Liv Morgan, Roman Reigns overcoming Solo Sikoa in a tribal combat match, CM Punk besting Seth “Freakin” Rollins in a grudge match, and Jey Uso securing a victory over Drew McIntyre. Notable appearances included Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, The Undertaker, Logan Paul, Travis Scott, and John Cena, who commenced his year-long farewell tour, set to be prominently featured on Netflix.
Social media engagement was robust, with #WWERaw becoming the number one trending topic on X (formerly Twitter) in the U.S., Brazil, Australia, and the UK as soon as the event began. In the UK, #WWERaw maintained the top trending spot for 14 consecutive hours and occupied six of the top seven trending topics in the U.S. Additionally, #RAWonNetflix and #WWEonNetflix trended in Brazil, Mexico, Spain, and the U.S. WWE generated 223 million social views across platforms on the day of Raw’s Netflix premiere, surpassing the social views of any Raw episode in 2024.
This debut marks the beginning of a 10-year partnership between WWE and Netflix, valued at over $5 billion. Netflix now serves as the exclusive home for Raw in multiple territories, including the U.S., Canada, the UK, Australia, and Latin America. The streaming platform also holds exclusive rights to SmackDown, NXT, archive content, and all WWE Premium Live Events—such as WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and SummerSlam—in most international markets.
