The debut of WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” on Netflix garnered 4.9 million views globally, marking a significant milestone for the popular wrestling show. According to Netflix’s Live+1 data, a view is calculated by dividing the total hours viewed by the program’s runtime. The viewership came from countries such as the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Latin America, excluding 92 countries, including France, Germany, India, and Japan, where WWE is not yet available on Netflix.
The U.S. audience alone contributed 2.6 million households, according to VideoAmp data, a sharp increase from the 1.2 million households “Raw” averaged in 2024 on the USA Network. “Raw” previously aired on USA Network until its final episode on December 30. While comparing Netflix’s streaming numbers to the linear TV ratings is difficult due to different measurement systems, the last episode on USA Network averaged approximately 1.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen Live+Same Day data.
The inaugural episode on Netflix featured high-stakes matches. Roman Reigns defeated his cousin, Solo Sikoa, in a Tribal Combat match for the ula fala and the title of Tribal Chief. Rhea Ripley reclaimed the women’s world championship title by defeating Liv Morgan, and Jey Uso triumphed over Drew McIntyre. In the main event, CM Punk secured a brutal win against Seth Rollins.
The episode also marked the start of John Cena’s 2025 retirement tour. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson opened the show and made another appearance alongside Reigns. WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan appeared later but was met with boos from the crowd.
This event is part of Netflix’s increasing focus on live streaming. Earlier, the platform aired a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, which drew an estimated average minute audience of 108 million live viewers globally. The event peaked at 65 million concurrent streams worldwide, with 38 million of those in the U.S. Over the Christmas period, Netflix also broadcast NFL games, including the Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans, which averaged 24.3 million viewers, and the Chiefs-Steelers game, which attracted 24.1 million viewers.
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