Tag: The Cw Network

WWE, The CW announce domestic deal for NXT premium live events

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

WWE NXT’s premium live events will now air exclusively on The CW in the United States as part of a new multi-year deal.

The news was announced by WWE on Tuesday, beginning with the Great American Bash later this summer. The date of that event was not announced, but has aired in July in the past.

The partnership calls for 20 PLEs including Stand and Deliver, Deadline, and Vengeance Day. The amount of years is unknown with the possibility that the new deal aligns with their five-year broadcast deal that began in October 2024. Financials were not disclosed.

While the events will air live from coast to coast in the U.S., it’s unknown if they will air at night or during the afternoon as is the case with other sports The CW airs like college football.

The events will continue to be available on Netflix outside the U.S.

“WWE NXT has energized our Tuesday nights by consistently delivering a loyal and passionate fanbase to The CW every week. Adding WWE NXT Premium Live Events to our schedule is a natural fit, providing one broadcast destination for audiences to watch all their favorite Superstars, storylines and championship matches,” said Brad Schwartz, President, The CW Network.

The CW president explains why WWE NXT was a fit for network

Posted on by Joseph Currier

For The CW Network, acquiring broadcast rights for WWE NXT was a more realistic option than Raw or SmackDown.

WWE announced in November 2023 that it had agreed to a five-year deal to bring NXT to The CW. The deal begins this October with NXT moving over from USA Network. Today, it was confirmed that NXT will remain on Tuesday nights on The CW, airing live from 8-10 p.m. Eastern time.

Variety published an interview on Thursday with CW executives Dennis Miller and Brad Schwartz speaking about the network’s fall schedule. Miller, who is president of The CW, said Raw and SmackDown were a bit beyond The CW’s budget, but NXT was a fit both monetarily and with the network’s increased focus on sports properties.

We knew that Raw and SmackDown were a little bit beyond our budget here. Then if you look, we have a lot of sports where we have kind of that next tier moving into the first tier here, whether it’s the Xfinity races leading into the Cup, or it’s NXT leading into Raw and SmackDown. So it just started to fit. Then over the course of a couple of months, we went back and forth and got the deal done.

NXT has aired on USA Network since 2019 and will be on the channel until moving to The CW in October.

Raw and SmackDown are also moving to new television homes in their next TV deals. Raw will begin airing on Netflix in January 2025. SmackDown moves back to USA Network this September.

NWA issues correction for where upcoming reality show will air

Posted on by Josh Nason

This story has been updated.

The next step in the relationship between the NWA and The CW will soon be taken with a rumored reality show set to truly become a reality.

In a Thursday podcast appearance, NWA announcer Joe Galli initially revealed that the aforementioned reality show will air on The CW network as opposed to The CW streaming service where new episodes of NWA Power will begin to air in February.

However, the NWA issued a correction Friday night that Galli had “misspoke” and that the “as-yet unnamed and unscripted show” would soon premiere on The CW streaming platform instead.

Galli also tweeted a nearly identical statement:

“I will let you know that our secondary show, which I think a lot of podcasts and people have already talked about which is basically a reality show…is going to be CW on their traditional network,” he initially said in the interview, later adding “that will be really interesting to help tie people in and that’s more of a decision from CW to try to get people to migrate over to the app.”

No start date, nor the number of episodes, have been indicated.

Based on past reports, it’s assumed to be a reality series based on the life of NWA owner and Smashing Pumpkins founder Billy Corgan which will include a focus on his recent wedding. It’s unknown how much of a presence the NWA will have on the show.

Neither the NWA nor The CW have formally announced a relationship between both parties which was reported to have frayed and cost NWA Power a spot on The CW network due to a cocaine skit/stunt during an October pay-per-view. 

Eight older episodes of Power went up on The CW streaming application last year with an announcement last week that new weekly episodes were coming in February.

Galli also intimated that their 76th Anniversary pay-per-view would emanate from an East Coast-based city vs. St. Louis, Missouri, where the last few have taken place.

Report: CW executive approached Tony Khan about ROH deal in 2022

Posted on by Joseph Currier

In the summer of 2022, an executive from The CW Network reportedly approached Tony Khan about a potential Ring of Honor television deal.

Haus of Wrestling reports that “a high-level CW executive approached Khan at the LA Forum in June 2022 about bringing Ring of Honor content to the network.” While Khan enjoyed visiting with the executive, Khan did not want to pursue the talks because he doesn’t want to seriously entertain discussions about an ROH deal until AEW’s television rights are in play.

“We are unsure if this was before talks between The CW and the NWA or WWE NXT were underway,” Haus of Wrestling wrote. “From what we understand, Khan did not pursue talks with The CW as he refuses to seriously entertain new deals for ROH until AEW TV rights are in play, which will be in 2024. Khan feels that by waiting, he will have more options and leverage in the marketplace.”

It was announced earlier this week that WWE and The CW Network have agreed to a five-year deal to bring NXT to The CW starting in October 2024.

This October, it was reported that the NWA had signed two TV deals with The CW, one for NWA Power and one for a reality show. But a cocaine spot from the NWA’s Samhain pay-per-view could negatively impact those deals. It’s likely that NWA content will now air on The CW’s app instead of on TV.

Haus of Wrestling writes that they’ve heard of “at least two other notable pro wrestling promotions that are not the NWA or WWE NXT that The CW was in talks with recently” and that The CW “is open to hosting multiple pro wrestling products on their platform.”

Shawn Michaels appeared on NewsNation this week to discuss NXT joining The CW. Michaels said moving from cable to broadcast television is a huge deal for NXT.