{"id":107238,"date":"2025-01-08T03:03:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T03:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/01\/08\/stars-john-cena-the-rock-return-to-wwe-in-netflix-debut\/"},"modified":"2025-01-08T03:03:02","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T03:03:02","slug":"stars-john-cena-the-rock-return-to-wwe-in-netflix-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/stars-john-cena-the-rock-return-to-wwe-in-netflix-debut\/","title":{"rendered":"Stars John Cena, The Rock return to WWE in Netflix debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

WWE was one of the more popular shows on KBC from the 90s and early 2000s<\/em><\/h3>\n

Hollywood stars John Cena and Dwayne Johnson better known as The Rock made an appearance on WWE\u2019s flagship Raw show which aired on Netflix for the first time.<\/p>\n

The much-anticipated programme saw superstars including The Undertaker make appearances during the three-hour event in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Pro-wrestling\u2019s most popular weekly show had previously been shown on broadcast TV around the world for 31 years. The show was broadcast on KBC in the 90s and early 2000s and was one of the station\u2019s most popular shows.<\/p>\n

In 2024, TKO bosses \u2013 the company formed when WWE merged with UFC \u2013 announced that Raw would be exclusive to streaming.<\/p>\n

The company says RAW brings in 17.5m viewers each week in the US, and that WWE boasts one billion followers across various social media platforms.<\/p>\n

Reviews and show breakdown<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reviews of the first show suggested it \u201cwas far from perfect\u201d but that there were \u201clots of special moments to cover\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another noted the \u201camazing production values and improved visuals\u201d but criticised \u201cthe sameness of the promos\u201d delivered by stars such as Triple H, The Rock and John Cena.<\/p>\n

There was praise for the in-ring action, but widespread agreement that bringing out WWE to use Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan was \u201ca mis-step\u201d after loud boos from the California crowd during his appearance.<\/p>\n

John Cena \u2013 Getty Images<\/p>\n

The show also marked the start of John Cena\u2019s \u201cfarewell tour\u201d, with the star announcing 2025 will be his last year as a competitor.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He told cheering fans he \u201ccould not think of a better place to start\u201d his goodbye, while stating his intention to \u201cwin the Royal Rumble\u201d event in February.<\/p>\n

Fans were also treated to the return of Dwayne \u2018The Rock\u2019 Johnson, who is a director of TKO.<\/p>\n

The Rock on RAW \u2013 Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Rock has previously played the villainous role of \u201cThe Final Boss\u201d, but on this occasion he spoke about the \u201chistory\u201d of the night and, to the surprise of many, praised and embraced former rival Cody Rhodes.<\/p>\n

He later appeared at the conclusion of the Tribal Combat Match between Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa, embracing Reigns following his victory.<\/p>\n

The night also saw the brief return of The Undertaker at the end of the Women\u2019s World Championship match between Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley.<\/p>\n

Undertaker makes an appearance on RAW \u2013 Getty Images<\/p>\n

It was the culmination of a long-term storyline which saw Ripley win the championship.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

It was a match widely recognised as the highlight of the night\u2019s in-ring action, with the sometimes divisive Punk coming out on top.<\/p>\n

What the Netflix deal could mean for WWE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Netflix agreed to pay more than $5bn (KSh. 654.7B) for rights to show Raw and other WWE programming, including archive content.<\/p>\n

Viewers outside the US will be able to watch all weekly shows such as SmackDown, NXT and live events on the service.<\/p>\n

The company said that would include pay-per-view specials including WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cSo many people use Netflix and they\u2019ll put it on and see WWE prominently,\u201d says Brandon Thurston, editor of wrestling site Wrestlenomics.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that [could] have a great positive effect for their business.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going away from traditional TV [to] the most popular streaming platform. So it should increase that 18-49 audience even more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raw had a three-hour runtime for 12 years, before cutting down to two at the end of 2024.<\/p>\n

WWE\u2019s chief content officer Paul \u2018Triple H\u2019 Levesque says the streaming platform gives them \u201cflexibility\u201d when it comes to timings.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have the freedom to not be bound to a time slot\u201d, unlike normal TV timings, he says.<\/p>\n

While Brandon thinks there are overwhelming positives to the deal, he notes the reliance on the streamer could potentially be a negative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s definitely a possibility that Netflix could start to lose subscribers for one reason or another.<\/p>\n

\u201c[But] I think it\u2019s important emphasise just how far ahead it is of everybody else in the streaming market.\u201d<\/p>\n

RAW will be available to stream in Kenya, later in the year.<\/p>\n\n

The post Stars John Cena, The Rock return to WWE in Netflix debut<\/a> appeared first on KBC<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WWE was one of the more popular shows on KBC from the 90s and early 2000s Hollywood stars John Cena and Dwayne Johnson better known as The Rock made an appearance on WWE\u2019s flagship Raw show which aired on Netflix for the first time. The much-anticipated programme saw superstars including The Undertaker make appearances during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107238\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}