WWE’s announcement earlier today (Aug. 20) that premium live events are moving to ESPN’s new platform effective with next month’s new Wrestlepalooza show included official word of a “blockbuster headline attraction with John Cena” and a report than Peacock would get some exclusive content in exchange for losing PLEs earlier than the end of this year.
The press release announcing that Saturday Night’s Main Event is that exclusive content comes along with the announcement of Cena’s retirement match.
And it turns out that whatever discussions may or may not have been going on at WWE and parent company TKO about running that episode of SNME opposite AEW’s December Worlds End PPV? That won’t be happening.
Cena will hang up the jorts on Dec. 13, as one of Peacock’s four annual SNMEs. The presser also says that the WWE library will remain on the NBCUniversal-owned streamer in the U.S. until the end of 2025. Questions will remain about its long-term future, however. We also learn that NXT PLEs are only guaranteed to be on Peacock domestically through next March.
Here’s that press release:
PEACOCK AND WWE AGREE TO MULTI-YEAR PARTNERSHIP TO EXCLUSIVELY LIVE STREAM ICONIC SATURDAY NIGHT’S MAIN EVENT SERIES
• Featuring WWE’s Top Superstars, Championship Matches and More, Saturday Night’s Main Event to Stream in Primetime on Peacock Four Times Each Year
• Saturday Night’s Main Event on Dec. 13, 2025, Headlined by WWE Superstar John Cena’s Retirement Match, Streams Live Exclusively on Peacock
• Peacock Continues to Host WWE Network Library Through End of 2025 and NXT Events Through March 2026
• Peacock Remains Home of Encore SmackDown Library, and USA Network Continues as Exclusive Live Home of SmackDown on Friday NightsSTAMFORD, Conn. – Aug. 20, 2025 – Peacock and WWE®, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), today announced a multi-year partnership agreement to exclusively stream the iconic Saturday Night’s Main Event series live on Peacock.
Saturday Night’s Main Event will stream in primetime exclusively on Peacock four times each year, featuring WWE’s top Superstars, rivalries, championship matches, and more.
Peacock will exclusively stream two nights of Saturday Night’s Main Events this year, with the first taking place on November 1. Additionally, Saturday Night’s Main Event on Dec. 13 will feature John Cena in his retirement match.
The WWE Network library will remain available on Peacock through the end of 2025, and NXT Premium Live Events will be available on Peacock until March 2026.
Throughout the term of the partnership, the SmackDown library will remain on Peacock on a 30-day delay and USA Network will continue as the live exclusive home of SmackDown on Friday nights.
“We’re excited to bring Saturday Night’s Main Event exclusively to Peacock beginning this fall,” said WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque. “NBCU have been terrific longtime partners, and we look forward to continuing to work with them for years to come.”
“Peacock has had a wonderful relationship with the WWE and we’re excited to see it continue far into the future,” said Rick Cordella, President, NBC Sports. “Saturday Night’s Main Event is some of the most premium content the WWE produces, including John Cena’s upcoming retirement match, and it will be all live and exclusive on Peacock.”
Saturday Night’s Main Event originally premiered on NBC in 1985, and ran on the network until 1991. The popular event returned to NBCUniversal in September 2024 with a special Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC and Peacock from Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island, N.Y., the site of the first-ever Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Let us know what you make of this, and the entire late Wednesday newstorm, in the comments below.
