Wrestling Without Cable: Top Streaming Services & Devices to Watch Online

As a professional wrestling fan, whether it’s WWE, AEW, or other promotions, you know that cable TV isn’t necessary to watch your favorite events. In fact, you can access even more wrestling content online than traditional television offers. I provide all the details below.

In a hurry? If you aren’t interested in the details and just want to start live streaming NXT and Dynamite, these services will suit you well:

• Sling TV: A low-cost service with great customizability. Save 50% on Sling TV now!
• Fubo: A great streaming service with 150+ channels. Fubo allows you to try out its service with a free trial.
• DIRECTV STREAM: Full cable replacement service with the best selection of RSNs in the industry. A 5-day free trial is now available for DIRECTV STREAM.

Looking for info on amateur and college wrestling. See below.

Since the late 19th century, professional wrestlers have been entertaining crowds throughout the world. Until the 1930s, professional wrestling was generally just a sport like boxing or mixed martial arts (MMA). However, for almost 100 years, it has been sports entertainment — scripted but still very much athletic events.

This has worked out well because people get to see great athleticism along with events and even season-long stories. And they are most definitely not fake. In fact, very real conflicts and disagreements have a way of showing up in the storylines.

Professional wrestling sells out arenas around the world. Its pay-per-view (PPV) events generate millions of dollars in revenue each. And pro wrestling merchandise is huge too.

If you are a fan, read on to learn how to see all the important pro wrestling events without cable.

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Streaming Services for Pro Wrestling

Because of the diversity of events, fans have a lot of options in terms of streaming professional wrestling. Broadly speaking, you can go with a general content provider that gives you wrestling along with a diverse set of other channels. Or you can go with more focused providers, which are normally less expensive.

Live TV Streaming Services for Pro Wrestling

The major streaming services provide at least some coverage of professional wrestling. All of the following plans provide you with everything you need to enjoy the professional wrestling year.

Specialized Streaming Services for Professional Wrestling

There are a couple of other ways you can watch wrestling online.

Peacock allows you to watch WWE content both live and on-demand. You will need to pay for one of its premium packages. For $7.99/month, you can watch all programming made available on the platform with ads. If you are willing to pay an extra $6 per month, the content will stream without any commercial interruptions.

The Triller TV+ package allows you to watch shows from a variety of MMA, pro wrestling, and similar promotions 30 days after they air live. You can watch content without ads for $7.99 a month or $69.99 per year.

You can also subscribe to NWA All Access through Triller TV for $4.99 per month to receive new and past episodes of Powerrr and NWA USA per month in addition to other exclusive content. See our Triller TV review for more information.

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TVs and Streaming Devices to Watch Pro Wrestling

To fully appreciate professional wrestling events, you really need to view it on the proper hardware. The streaming services I’ve highlighted support most of the TVs and devices currently in use. These include:

Gaming consoles are a popular way to stream video. All the services (except DIRECTV STREAM) support the Xbox One. Hulu also supports the PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. And Sling TV even supports Oculus.

Brief History of Wrestling on TV

Throughout much of the 20th century, Saturday night meant that the family gathered around the TV to watch their favorite WCW superstars in action. Primarily, WCW TV shows aired on superstations such as TBS or WGN throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s. However, WCW would bring Nitro to TNT on Monday nights starting in 1995 and Thunder to TBS on Thursday nights in 1998 in an effort to compete with WWE.

In 1993, WWE began airing a show called RAW IS WAR on USA Network. From 1996 to 1999, WWE and WCW engaged in what was known as the Monday Night Wars. Nitro won the ratings battle for 83 straight weeks thanks to the NWO storyline featuring Hulk Hogan. However, stars such as the Rock and Steve Austin would eventually help WWE defeat WCW. The war was over for good when WCW was purchased by the WWE in March 2001.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) offered a niche product that also appeared on minor cable TV networks. Although it was also purchased by WWE, the company developed a cult following that still exists to this day. In fact, the WWE revived the ECW brand for several years alongside Raw and Smackdown before shutting it down for good.

Major Pro Wrestling Organizations and Where to Watch

When most people think about professional wrestling, the first name that comes to mind is Hulk Hogan who is symbolic of the rise of pro wrestling in the 1980s and 1990s. He was a popular performer with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Between 1994 and 2000 he was also a headline act for World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

However, there are several mainstream companies that feature top performers who attract large followings. Let’s take a look at a few of these organizations and how you can watch their shows.

World Wrestling Entertainment

WWE has been around so long, its various brands and series have moved around a lot, so figuring out where you can watch them can be a headache. Here’s a breakdown of where you can find all the most popular stuff.

• WWE Smackdown live events are on Fridays on Fox.
• WWE Smackdown replays are on Fox Sports on-demand for 30 days.
• Monday Night Raw and NXT, the company’s developmental brand, are live each week on USA Network.
• WWE Superstars, Raw, Smackdown, NXT, NXT Level Up, WWE Main Event, and WWE 205 Live are all available for streaming next-day on Hulu.

Don’t miss the WWE Official Podcast WWE After the Bell with Raw commentator Corey Graves on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Series on Peacock Premium:

• Raw and Smackdown are on-demand 30 days after they air live.
• NXT replays are available the day after they air.
• You can watch WWE NXT Level Up, a spin-off of NXT, live weekly. Replays are available 15 days after they air.
• WWE The SmackDown Lowdown, a review and analysis program post-SmackDown with Matt Camp and Jackie Redmond.

Also available are replays of NXT Takeover.

All annual events that used to be PPV or on the WWE Network are now Premium Live Events on Peacock, included in your Premium subscription. You can also find lots and lots of archival fights from WWE, WCW, and ECW going all the way back to the 1980s with old-school faves like Hulk Hogan, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, the Undertaker, and more.

• WWE Extreme Rules
• Crown Jewel
• Survivor Series
• Hell in a Cell
• WrestleMania
• SummerSlam
• Royal Rumble
• Money in the Bank
• WWE Clash of Champions

You can get more info on our complete guide watching the WWE without Cable.

All Elite Wrestling

Fans of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) can watch its signature show Dynamite on TBS each week (note that it used to be on TNT). The company also has a show on TNT called AEW Rampage that typically airs on Friday nights. Finally, you can find AEW Dark and AEW Dark Elevation on YouTube, totally free.

New Japan Pro Wrestling

If you are watching in Japan, this organization can be seen on TV Asahi, Fighting TV Samurai, and Abema TV. In the United States, you can watch most content on The Roku Channel with certain major events being broadcast on Triller TV. Triller TV+ has also made available over 158 hours of the “greatest moments in recent New Japan Pro Wrestling history” to subscribers.

You can find special PPV events like NJPW Let’s Go Glamping with Chaos Part I and Part II on the site njpwworld.com.

Typically, broadcasts shown in the United States are dubbed with commentary in English.

NWA

The NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) has two main programs that air on a regular basis. Each Tuesday, NWA Powerrr is shown on Triller TV while NWA Shockwave is in the process of becoming a weekly PPV event. Shockwave is currently broadcast on the promotion’s Facebook and YouTube pages, but it is planning on being shown on the United Wrestling Network (UWN) in the future.

Others

• Formerly TNA, you can watch Impact Wrestling events on Anthem’s Impact!+ service for $7.99/mo.
• Ring of Honor (ROH) can be streamed live or replays through its OTT service Honor Club for $9.99/mo.
• PWG (Pro Wrestling Guerrilla) does not air any of its events on television or social media outlets, preferring to distribute DVDs of events, including its flagship event, Battle for Los Angeles, held annually in August or September.
• Though not strictly speaking wrestling, UFC Fight Night, along with all other UFC events, is on ESPN+, which you can subscribe to for $10.99/month.
• Bare-knuckle events such as the recent BKFC 30 Monroe bout are on Triller.
• Bellator MMA fights, including Hungarian #1 Featherweight Ádám Borics, are shown on Max.

Our Choice

Professional wrestling has been a part of society for roughly 160 years, and that is because it has found ways to entertain and thrill audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Whether you like to watch acrobatic moves from the top rope, a more technical style of wrestling, or something in the middle, there is certainly going to be something for you to enjoy.

If you live in an area where FOX is provided, I recommend signing up for Sling TV, since it has all the channels you need and is very inexpensive. Save 50% on your first month of Sling TV.

Save 50% on Sling TV Now

FAQs

What wrestlers will I see on Peacock’s WWE?

All the same Raw, SmackDown, and NXT wrestlers you know and love are still on their respective shows. Big names include:

What happened to Evolve?

Between 2015 and 2020, Evolve and WWE had a working relationship. During this time, WWE would send wrestlers and scouts to Evolve events as a test run to see if the promotion could be used as a developmental territory. In 2020, Evolve was purchased by WWE, which meant the company was essentially defunct. However, WWE retains the right to revive the brand in the future if it wishes to do so.

How can I watch amateur and college wrestling?

Pro wrestling is big business with enormous audiences, which can make amateur wrestling all but invisible. But this is actually a great time for amateur wrestling fans. Competitions from the major college teams like Penn State, Iowa, and NC State are commonly broadcast on league channels like B1G and ACC Network, which can be accessed with live TV streaming services like Fubo.

Additionally, a lot of matches, including the NCAA Wrestling Championship, appear on ESPN+, which now comes with Hulu + Live TV. Also, FloSports has a whole channel dedicated to wrestling, FloWrestling. It doesn’t just feature college; you will also find high school events there. You can find out more in our FloSports review.

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Frank Moraes

I am a Senior Content Editor at Hotdog.com, specializing in sports streaming and regional programming issues. With a PhD in Atmospheric Physics from the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and extensive experience in remote sensing technology, including early video streaming, I bring a unique technical perspective to the streaming industry.

My expertise in sports coverage, particularly for out-of-market games and regional sports networks, stems from years of hands-on experience as an early adopter of streaming services and my work addressing fans' viewing challenges. As a longtime cord-cutter and subscriber to multiple streaming platforms, I combine my technical knowledge with practical user experience, making me a leading expert in the field of sports streaming and entertainment technology.

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