WWE Is Making It Miserable To Be a Fan

There was a time — gather ‘round, kids — when being a WWE fan wasn’t a full-time job. You watched Raw, you caught SmackDown, and once a month you grabbed a PPV without needing a PhD in Streaming Services. Life was good. Simple. Fun.

Now?

Trying to follow WWE in 2025 is like trying to escape an escape room designed by corporate executives who hate you.

WWE has somehow made watching their product more expensive, more annoying, and less accessible than at any other point in the company’s history — and they’re proudly patting themselves on the back while doing it.

Let’s break down the disaster.

WWE Is Actively Sabotaging Its Own Fan Base — And Acting Like We Should Thank Them

1. The ESPN Deal… Proof WWE Hates Convenience

Remember the golden era of the WWE Network? I do – it was glorious.

Ten bucks.
One app.
Every PPV.
Every archive.
Every documentary.
No drama.

It was so perfect you’d think WWE would protect it at all costs.

Instead, they blew it up like they were trying to erase evidence.

Now we get:

An overpriced ESPN+ subscription
PLUS an experience that crashes more often than Vince McMahon dodges accountability and has more ads then a NASCAR event.

(yes… I realize that depending on what cable subscriber you have, you may have ESPN+ included. I’m a YouTube TV guy, so I get screwed)

It’s 2025 and trying to stream a WWE show still feels like playing “Will It Work?” roulette. The Network solved this a decade ago. WWE un-solved it with enthusiasm.

This is progress… allegedly.

2. Overseas PLEs: Great for Their Wallet, Terrible for Every U.S. Fan

WWE LOVES bragging about being “global.” Awesome. Great. Fantastic.

But when many of the the PLEs are in:

England
Saudi Arabia
Germany
Perth, Australia

…it starts feeling less like global expansion and more like WWE is running away from its American fan base.

Because guess what?

U.S. start times for these shows are HORRIFIC.

You get:

5 AM kickoff shows
7 AM main events
Mid-morning Saturday title matches
A full day of spoiler dodging if you actually have a life

Watching a WWE PLE used to be a fun Sunday night event. Then it turned into a Saturday night event (which pissed me off) or sometimes a Saturday AND Sunday night event. Now it’s a breakfast activity. Nothing says “sports entertainment” like pouring a bowl of cereal while Roman Reigns defends the title.

But hey, WWE gets their big international site fee. So apparently that’s all that matters.

3. WWE’s Barrier to Entry Is Higher Than Ever — Because Why Not Make It Miserable?

Let’s say you’re a kid today and you want to get into wrestling.

First, you need to figure out:

What airs on actual TV
What airs on cable
What’s streaming
What’s streaming but also costs extra
What’s on ESPN
What’s on Netflix
What’s on whatever new app WWE signs with next week

By the time you finish figuring out where the product even lives, you’ve aged into the target demographic for AARP.

WWE has crafted the most confusing ecosystem in sports or entertainment. It’s like they took one look at how simple the WWE Network was and said, “Yeah, let’s never do that again.”

4. Ticket Prices Are Laughably Out of Touch

Want to take your family to a WWE show?

Lower bowl: “There goes the mortgage.”
Floor seats: “Time to refinance the house.”
Merch for the kids: “We’re eating ramen for the next two months.”

A family of four can easily drop $600–$1,000 for one night of wrestling – for merely halfway decent seats. WWE used to be the affordable alternative to concerts. Now it costs less to fly to a concert in another state than to sit ringside at a WWE show.

And WWE wonders why fewer parents are bringing their kids?

5. WWE Is Slowly Killing Its Future Fan Base

WWE’s entire business model seems to be:

Make the product hard to access
Make the product expensive
Make the schedule inconvenient
Hope people keep watching out of spite

But here’s the truth WWE keeps ignoring:

If kids aren’t fans today, they won’t be paying fans tomorrow.

No nostalgia = no future revenue. And we KNOW how much WWE loves its nostalgia acts. Want to talk about the aging roster? That’s a discussion for another day.

Kids won’t jump through hoops. They won’t wake up at sunrise to watch a title match. They’re not paying for three streaming services. They’re not asking their parents for $500 live event trips.

They will just… pick something easier.

And there are thousands of things easier.

6. The Long-Term Fallout Is Coming — Whether WWE Admits It or Not

Sure, the company is rolling in cash right now. Massive streaming deals. Mega-money international events. Corporate chest-thumping all around.

But when your U.S. fan base gets sick of:

Paywalls
Bad start times
Glitchy apps
Insane ticket prices
And an overall “screw you, we’ll do what we want” attitude

…it won’t matter how much money Perth or London is giving you. Fans will leave. The passion will fade. The next generation will never join.

You can’t build a stable future by constantly cashing in the present.

Final Thoughts: WWE Needs to Wake Up — Fast

I realize this is me coming across as a disgruntled, old, bitter wrestling fan. And that’s exactly what it is. And yes, I realize there are other wrestling companies out there to watch and enjoy. I was a HUGE WCW fan back in the day. I’ve tried many times to get into AEW and TNA and I just can’t. I’m a WWE fan.

And as a fan, it’s exhausting watching WWE trip over itself trying to squeeze every last dollar out of the people who kept this company alive for 40 years.

WWE is choosing: