WWE is leaving the home video business.
Fremantle, which had the license for WWE DVDs and Blu-rays in Great Britain, announced that WWE has decided to leave the Home Video category, and no licensing deals will be renewed after 2023. The last WWE Home Video release from Fremantle will be WWE Crown Jewel on December 18 for the United Kingdom and December 18 for Germany.
From WWE Home Video UK:
With great sadness we must announce that WWE have taken the decision to withdraw from the Home Video category. No licensing deals will be renewed after 2023.
This means the very last WWE Home Video release from Fremantle will be CROWN JEWEL 2023 (2 disc-DVD) on 18th December (UK) and 22nd December (GER).
WWE Home Video has been releasing VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray for 36 years, the last 11 through Fremantle in Europe, but this will come to an end on 31st December with no further WWE DVD or Blu-Ray stock manufactured.
Everyone at WWE Home Video UK would like to thank all of our collectors and fan for their many years of support and passion.
— WWE Home Video UK (@WWEHomeVideoUK) December 5, 2023
WWE Home Video has been releasing VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray for 36 years, and the last 11 had been spent with Fremantle. The announcement noted that as of December 31, no further stock will be manufactured.
Update: Haus of Wrestling reported that, in reaching out to WWE about the announcement, they were told it marks the end of future WWE DVDs, VHS tapes, and Blu-Rays coming out of the UK, but the general future of the products is not known. Wrestling DVD Network reported that WWE Home Video itself will be "done" at the end of 2023, and there will not be any new releases once 2024 begins.
Haus of Wrestling later provided an update, with the following statement from a WWE higher-up:
“The home video business has long been in decline, and it will no longer be a place where the company dedicates time and resources.”
In recent years, WWE has shifted to more of a digital model for its content library, first with the WWE Network and later with Peacock.
Fightful will provide more information as it becomes available.
TKO President Mark Shapiro recently commented on potentially pairing WWE Network and UFC. Click here to see what he had to say.
