WWE announced earlier today it has entered a multi-year partnership with Twitch that will bring new content to WWE’s Twitch channel outside of simply broadcasting reruns of content streamed on the company’s other social media channels.
The press release noted that this partnership will include “live and exclusive content,” such as a sidecast for Monday Night Raw, which will begin tonight at 7pm CT.
This follows a move made by WWE during the pandemic that restricted its contracted superstars from earning revenue from third-party services such as Twitch, a platform in which a number of superstars had established presences, with some having even done so before joining WWE. This policy was reversed last year under the leadership of Paul “Triple H” Levesque, the chief content officer of WWE, giving its popular faces more ways to grow their brand and express themselves outside of television programs.
“The weekly viewing experience will be led by a rotating cast of hosts,” WWE said in the press release. “[It] will regularly feature appearances by WWE Superstars, unique and exclusive content such as backstage interviews, and more.”
It is not clear if WWE’s other live weekly programs—NXT on Tuesdays and Friday Night SmackDown—will also receive sidecasts akin to Monday Night Raw, as it appears WWE is attempting to test the waters of what content to feature on Twitch. Press conferences for premium live events, normally held after these monthly shows conclude, will now also be streamed live on Twitch.
WWE previously dove into the gaming and streaming spaces with its ongoing UpUpDownDown programming, which features various superstars partaking in challenges in popular video games. The company was also involved in several shows with G4 that featured superstars and G4 personalities teaming up to defeat others in various challenges, though that partnership ended with the shutdown of the network last year.
The first Monday Night Raw sidecast will debut exclusively on Twitch tonight at 7pm CT, though it is uncertain as to who and what will be featured.
