Freddie Prinze Jr. Claims He’s Heard From a Friend at Disney That ESPN Isn’t Happy With the WWE Deal

Is there trouble in paradise between WWE and premium live event partner ESPN? According to actor and former WWE writer Freddie Prinze Jr., ESPN officials aren’t happy with the WWE partnership.

During the latest edition of the Wrestling With Freddie podcast, Prinze revealed that a friend at ESPN’s parent company, Disney, informed him that ESPN isn’t happy about the deal with WWE.

Ahead of last weekend’s WWE Survivor Series: WarGames, Prinze previewed the event, which was the final WWE premium live event for John Cena, who is currently awaiting the final match of his career. Prinze stated (via Fightful), “It’s his final pay-per-view on ESPN. ESPN, by the way, so unhappy with the deal.”

The actor continued, “I was talking to a friend of mine who works for Disney, and he was just like, ‘Yo, they better make their money back on this deal.’ He just said, ‘They’re hot.'”

The WWE and ESPN partnership kicked off in September with the inaugural Wrestlepalooza event. ESPN is now the streaming home of WWE PLEs in the U.S., with Netflix streaming the events internationally.

It was originally reported by The Wall Street Journal that the deal is valued at $325 million annually, or $1.6 billion overall for five years.

The deal was originally expected to begin in 2026. NBCUniversal’s Peacock reportedly gave approval for the early launch, with the deal brokered by WWE, Peacock, and Disney-owned ESPN.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, WWE fulfilled its obligations to Peacock early by splitting WrestleMania and SummerSlam into two nights each.

WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event, featuring the final match with John Cena, will stream on Peacock on December 13. The next major WWE PLE on ESPN will be Royal Rumble 2026. The PLE is slated for January 31, 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.