WWE has announced one of its flagship shows will air for free on YouTube next month.
The professional wrestling giant is making the jump to Netflix in January 2025, with UK fans seeing all content – including Raw, SmackDown, NXT and every monthly premium live event – moving to the streaming service.
Its current deal with TNT Sports will expire at the end of the year, with the January 6 episode of Monday Night Raw marking the official Netflix launch.
This means WWE fans are in for a treat, with the January 3 episode of SmackDown coming to YouTube for free.
The episode will air live at 1am as usual, and will mark the end of an era as the sports entertainment juggernaut officially moves off traditional television for the first time.
This will be the first time the show has been available live in this way, and fans can get the link saved here.
It comes hot off the heels of Saturday Night’s Main Event last weekend, which also aired on YouTube outside the US, where it was an NBC special.
The show racked up over 873,000 views as an unlisted video on the company’s channel, and featured plenty of nostalgia as they brought back the iconic 1980s event.
In the main event, current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes successfully defended his title against Kevin Owen, albeit in controversial circumstances.
KO had the champion beat but the referee was knocked out, only for the American Nightmare to hit his signature Cross Rhodes move onto a chair before a second referee counted the pin despite not being fully in the ring.
Owens immediately got revenge as he laid out his rival with a Package Piledriver, which has been long banned in WWE due to its risk.
Rhodes was stretchered out, while the Prizefighter got into an altercation with real life boss Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque as he left the arena with the stolen Winged Eagle WWE Title.
WWE has since provided a storyline update on Rhodes, as they said: ‘Cody Rhodes suffered cervical swelling and was kept overnight at a local hospital for observation.
‘While X-Rays were negative for a fracture, Rhodes has been officially diagnosed with axial compression of the cervical spine, as well as a cervical strain with spasm.’
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It remains to be seen what SmackDown will look like when it airs on YouTube on January 3, as KO is currently calling himself the true WWE Champion, and Rhodes looks to have been written off TV.
Cody Rhodes to read CBBC Bedtime Story on New Year’s Day
However, Cody Rhodes will be appearing on UK TV on New Year’s Day as he joins CBBC Bedtime Stories for the first time.
He will be reading Gigantic by Rob Biddulph, a tale about about a very small and determined blue whale.
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The story was filmed during WWE’s recent UK tour, which also saw Rhodes appear on Blue Peter.
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