WWE’s flagship Raw show has aired on Netflix for the first time with the return of multiple big names.

The much-anticipated programme saw superstars including The Rock, John Cena and The Undertaker make appearances during the three-hour event in Los Angeles.

Pro-wrestling’s most popular weekly show had previously been shown on broadcast TV around the world for 31 years.

But last year bosses of TKO – the company formed when WWE merged with UFC – announced that Raw would be exclusive to streaming.

It’s claimed that it brings in 17.5m viewers each week in the US, and that WWE boasts one billion followers across various social media platforms.

Reviews of the first show suggested it “was far from perfect” but that there were “lots of special moments to cover”.

Another noted the “amazing production values and improved visuals” but criticised “the sameness of the promos” delivered by stars such as Triple H, The Rock and John Cena.

There was praise for the in-ring action, but widespread agreement that bringing out WWE to use Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan was “a mis-step” after loud boos from the California crowd during his appearance.

The show also marked the start of John Cena’s “farewell tour”, with the star announcing 2025 will be his last year as a competitor.

Cena is regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time and has achieved world champion status a joint record 16 times since joining WWE in 2001.

He told cheering fans he “could not think of a better place to start” his goodbye, while stating his intention to “win the Royal Rumble” event in February.

Fans were also treated to the return of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, who is a director of TKO.

The Rock has previously played the villainous role of “The Final Boss”, but on this occasion he spoke about the “history” of the night and, to the surprise of many, praised and embraced former rival Cody Rhodes.

He then later appeared at the conclusion of the Tribal Combat Match between Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa, embracing Reigns following his victory.

The night also saw the brief return of The Undertaker at the end of the Women’s World Championship match between Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley.

It was the culmination of a long-term storyline which saw Ripley win the championship.

The action ended with CM Punk and Seth Rollins following up a much-praised back-and-forth promo on the final televised episode of Raw.

It was a match widely recognised as the highlight of the night’s in-ring action, with the sometimes divisive Punk coming out on top.

Netflix agreed to pay more than $5bn (£4bn) for rights to show Raw and other WWE programming, including archive content.

Viewers outside the US will be able to watch all weekly shows such as SmackDown, NXT and live events on the service.

The company said that would include pay-per-view specials including WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble.

It said the deal would affect fans in the USA, Canada, UK and Latin America first, before being expanded to other countries later.

“So many people use Netflix and they’ll put it on and see WWE prominently,” says Brandon Thurston, editor of wrestling site Wrestlenomics.

“So that [could] have a great positive effect for their business.”

With streaming on the rise and television numbers shrinking, Brandon feels WWE has the opportunity to enter more households around the world and attract newer, younger audiences.

“We’re going away from traditional TV [to] the most popular streaming platform. So it should increase that 18-49 audience even more.”

Raw had a three-hour runtime for 12 years, before cutting down to two at the end of 2024.

WWE’s chief content officer Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque says the streaming platform gives them “flexibility” when it comes to timings.

And Brandon feels it can have an impact on the style of content too, being able to have more or less from week to week.

“They have the freedom to not be bound to a time slot”, unlike normal TV timings, he says.

While Brandon thinks there are overwhelming positives to the deal, he notes the reliance on the streamer could potentially be a negative.

“That’s definitely a possibility that Netflix could start to lose subscribers for one reason or another.

“[But] I think it’s important emphasise just how far ahead it is of everybody else in the streaming market.”

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