WWE is no longer waiting until next year to bring premium live events to ESPN‘s new direct-to-consumer streaming service and will instead kick off the recently announced partnership next month.
The wrestling promotion announced Wednesday that the first live event offered on ESPN platforms will be the inaugural Wrestlepalooza on September 20.
The event, which will take place in 2025 Royal Rumble host city Indianapolis, will begin streaming live on the new ESPN service at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
This means that, as of September 20, ESPN will become the exclusive domestic home for all of the WWE’s premium live events. The rest of this year’s PLEs, including Crown Jewel and Survivor Series, will also stream on the new platform.
Starting next year, marquee titles like WrestleMania and SummerSlam will also move to ESPN after concluding a five-year run on NBCUniversal’s Peacock this year.
“On September 20, WWE and ESPN are coming together for a can’t-miss event to kick off our new partnership,” WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque said in a statement Wednesday. “The biggest Superstars in WWE. The biggest brand in sports media. Are you ready?”
Wrestlepalooza is expected to be a big one for WWE. John Cena is headlining the event, which will also feature Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, CM Punk and Drew McIntyre in major matches. This will officially mark Cena’s last time wrestling in Indy.
ESPN is launching its DTC streaming service on August 21.
