WWE Monday Night RAW is in a transitional phase as it prepares to move from the USA Network to Netflix.
Despite the Netflix deal not taking effect until January 2025, WWE reached an agreement with USA to extend RAW’s run on the network after the original deal was set to expire this month. The deal between WWE and Netflix is worth over $5 billion and will last ten years.
As we previously reported here on eWn, WWE RAW will premiere on Netflix on January 6, 2025.
On a recent edition of his “Dirty Sheets” podcast, Billi Bhatti reported that WWE is having internal discussions on bringing Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Roman Reigns to Netflix.
Bhatti indicated that John Cena’s return and his one-year contract, which The Rock played a significant role in securing, are part of WWE’s efforts to address the situation involving The Great One’s appearances on the USA Network with Cody Rhodes.
Bhatti pointed out that even though The Rock was instrumental in finalizing the Netflix deal and assured that both he and Reigns would appear on the platform, neither are currently confirmed for Netflix in the long term.
However, since Roman Reigns is affiliated with the SmackDown brand and The Bloodline storyline, and Cody will be on SmackDown, it seems like the blue brand might be the initial destination for The Rock unless WWE comes up with a solution.
Bhatti said, “There are internal discussions in WWE about how they’re going to get The Rock and Roman Reigns on Netflix. There’s a strong belief that the reason John Cena has been brought back and put on a one-year deal—which The Rock was heavily instrumental in—is because WWE wants to combat the situation they’re in. That situation involves The Rock showing up on the USA Network for his program with Cody Rhodes.”
He continued, “While The Rock was instrumental in securing the Netflix deal and guaranteed that he and Reigns would be appearing on Netflix, at the moment, those two aren’t set to be on Netflix. I’m sure Rock and Roman will be on the first episode of RAW on Netflix, but we know Roman Reigns is on the SmackDown brand, with The Bloodline storyline on SmackDown, and Cody Rhodes will be there. That looks like the initial destination for The Rock unless they can find a way to work around this, and there are internal discussions about that.”
Moreover, Netflix might consider Cena as a viable replacement for The Rock and Reigns throughout next year.