Effective in September with Wrestlepalooza, WWE’s PLEs are, in the United States, transitioning from Peacock to ESPN. More than a platform change, the move comes with an upcharge. While lots of fans had access to Peacock through different bundles or special extended subscription deals that kept the price well under ten dollars monthly, ESPN’s new platform carries a $30/month price tag that has left a lot of fans cold.
Some have pointed out that in the traditional pay per view days, WWE charged upwards of $50 for even B-level PPVs, and the new price point still undercuts what AEW offers for its own specials. Indeed, the price is in some ways more consistent with the larger wrestling market and history. Still, it’s a tough pill to swallow for fans who aren’t otherwise invested in what ESPN has to offer to think about paying more than twice as much each month to follow the major shows.
Nobody wants to pay more for the same product, but is it possible that what WWE has planned will justify the the price hike?
The Move To ESPN Has Left Some Fans Miffed
In 2014, WWE launched the WWE Network. In what, in hindsight, feels like an inflection point between cable TV dominance and the age of streaming, a lot of fans weren’t sure what to make of the move, but the $9.99/month price point was undeniably a solid deal for monthly PLEs and a previously inaccessible library of past events.
While the general consensus was that Peacock was a poorer service for quality of live streaming, the fact that it came with a larger streaming platform of popular programming like The Office at essentially the same subscription price made the transition painless or even favorable to some fans. The move to ESPN comes with a price hike that may seem beneficial to wrestling fans who also follow other major sports at a serious level. For those who do not, however, the transition feels like more money for less content.
Triple H Books Well Under Pressure
The general consensus is that Triple H has performed well as the head of creative for WWE. As time marches forward, though, he does have his critics, who point out that weekly television has lost its momentum. Moreover, while fans were initially high on scaling back the marathon PLE format, shows with only five or even four announced matches have started to feel underdeveloped and like there’s too much filler in between the action. The COO has also come under fire for under-featuring black talent, particularly in the men’s singles ranks.
Some growing pains are to be expected. Triple H went from booking developmental where change was the name of the game with talents getting promoted to the main roster or released, while new names were always on their way in. In 2022, The Game had to pick up from everything Vince McMahon had already set in motion, which presented a mixture of its own advantages and challenges. 2023 saw Helmsley get to more fully pursue his own vision, but two years in some of the novelty has worn off, and new competing factors like TKO ownership and The Rock’s political stroke have added more layers of complication.
At the highest pressure moments, though, Triple H has tended to deliver. Whether it was sinking or swimming the first time he had his own territory to book in NXT, or elevating The Bloodline to greatness while also finishing Cody Rhodes’s story, The Game has lived up to the biggest moments in his creative thinking and leadership. This move to ESPN feels a lot like another inflection point, when fans hang from a precipice on whether they can justifying paying three times as much to follow WWE PLEs.
If The PLE Quality Meets The Price Increase, Everyone Might Win
Whether it’s the low match-count, the quality of the in-ring action, or the overarching creative, WWE has drawn mixed reactions for its PLE output in 2025. It’s hard to deny the product is much better than it was in the final stages of Vince McMahon’s leadership. Just the same, the overarching fanship’s honeymoon period with Triple H has come to a close.
Monthly PPV and monthly PLE streams have led to their share of lackluster major shows in between bangers. With fans paying thirty dollars a month, though, it stands to reason Triple H and his roster might feel the weight of responsibility to give fans their money’s worth.
No doubt, some fans will not make the jump to ESPN because the extra money simply isn’t in their budget. Meanwhile, other fans with some combination of the expendable income and diehard commitment to WWE will. As for everyone else in between, WWE can make the price hike worth their while with improved quality, slightly extending the match cards, finding their way to another hot streak of booking and delivering month in and month out.
How will WWE’s move to ESPN play out in the long run? Only time will tell. But while no one wants to pay more money to follow wrestling, WWE has a unique opportunity to make the investment worthwhile with some of its best output ever.