WWE Main Event Delay Reduced

As long as the WWE Network existed, WWE Main Event did as well, airing live weekly at the start of the Network as a road test for live airings. However, for most of its lifecycle (from the UK launch in 2015 onwards), the show aired on a 2.5 week delay to respect international deals, until now.

At the time the November 28th 2024 episode of Main Event was scheduled to be released this morning/afternoon, WWE released the December 5th and December 13th episodes right with it. Normally, those episodes would’ve been released on December 21st and 28th respectively, with the December 20th and 27th episodes, on an international level, likely either moving over to Netflix with the switchover or being lost to time/piracy outside of the United States, but instead will air instantly or a day later instead of 2.5 weeks later.

This 2.5 week delay was in effect from January 2015 until last week (December 7th 2024). The show started as a supplemental one-hour in-ring show for the post-first-brand split WWE main roster on Ion Television for its first two years in October 2012, before moving to the then-starting WWE Network to air live as a stress test from its launch until January 2015. The live airings stopped in the aforementioned month due to their launch in the UK, which would’ve violated their agreement with then-rights holders Sky Sports, opting for a 2.5 week delay instead. The show changed formats as it grew older, now being Raw’s supplemental show thanks to the second brand extension, but having its original output limited to two matches a week. After Triple H took over creative in the summer of 2022, Main Event also became a testing ground for NXT superstars’ first experiences with bigger crowds. Reverting back to the broadcasting topic, after the Sky Sports deal ended in 2019, WWE didn’t return Main Event as a first-run show on the Network, nor brought the show to BT Sports (now named TNT Sport) in the UK, but used it as their exclusive Hulu show until their rights expired earlier this year. After the Hulu rights expired, WWE didn’t revert the delay until today.

Below is a screenshot of the triple release of Main Event episodes, courtesy of the internet browser version of the international WWE Network:

The timing of the surprise drop is curious as most international WWE deals will carry over to Netflix starting January 1st. Although it’s likely (and reasonable to estimate) that WWE Main Event will switch to Netflix starting on that date as well and carry on as it goes, we cannot fully confirm if that will be the case. We will keep you in the know of this situation when more comes to light.

What are your thoughts? Are you glad that WWE Main Event has ended its delay or don’t you care that much about that show? Sound off in the comments down below.

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