WWE’s television landscape is shifting with new deals. Monday Night RAW is set to relocate to Netflix beginning in January, while Friday Night SmackDown will make a return to its former home, the USA Network, from FOX. Meanwhile, NXT will change its broadcast from USA to the CW Network in the upcoming month.
While these shifts are taking place, NBCU retains a streaming contract with WWE for WWE Network’s broadcast in the United States through Peacock. The entire previous-seasons’ WWE SmackDown library is at viewers’ disposal on Peacock, with new episodes being added after a 30-day gap from airing on the USA Network.
Similarly, new WWE RAW episodes will also be available on Peacock a month after their USA Network telecast. Notably, though, after 9/19 and 10/1, Peacock will lose the respective NXT and RAW libraries.
Fans might observe countdown clocks for NXT and RAW programming on Peacock, indicating impending expiration of their library post the specified dates.
News from WrestleVotes Radio suggests that NXT Level Up, which has been aired on Fridays on Peacock since February 2022, will be drawing its curtains soon. According to a report, “While we’re talking about NXT, with the WWE Hulu contract coming up next week, the NXT secondary show Level Up will be discontinued. We’re hearing they will no longer continue filming the Level Up show that airs on Peacock. It predominantly features many of the younger NXT talent… going forward a lot of moving parts are involved, but, yes, Level Up will be bid adieu.”
The question of whether the entirety of the NXT library will be excised from Peacock once the CW agreement comes into play remains unanswered. The addition to the report suggests, “It’s plausible that everything from NXT 2.0 till now will be phased out and shifted to the CW app. But, the uncertainty about Takeovers being included continues. It might be limited to 2.0 content, which would entail Deadlines and No Mercy. But the more recent NXT content will be erased from the WWE Network/Peacock…it all boils down to the rights that CW now holds over NXT. These rights were formerly with Peacock and USA Network. The way these contracts are penned certainly influence why past episodes will be inaccessible going ahead.”
Amid possible discontinuation of NXT Level Up, WWE has plans of increasing SmackDown’s running time to three hours from January 2025 onwards.