Actor and former WWE writer Freddie Prinze Jr. has offered some eye-opening insight into how ESPN is feeling about its current broadcast deal with WWE. Speaking on Wrestling with Freddie, he said a friend inside The Walt Disney Company told him the network is far from thrilled with how things are going so far.

While recapping Survivor Series: WarGames, Prinze Jr. shifted to the business side and shared what he had been told about ESPN’s internal reaction.

“ESPN, by the way, so unhappy with the deal,” Prinze Jr. said. He added that Disney is feeling the financial pressure around the agreement. “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 partnership, now several months in, moved WWE’s Premium Live Events exclusively onto ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming platform. Since launching, the service has carried Wrestlepalooza, Crown Jewel, and Survivor Series: WarGames, all intended to help boost subscriptions. Prinze Jr.’s comments suggest those expectations may not be fully materialising yet.

He also mentioned John Cena’s timeline within the ESPN era, pointing out that Survivor Series marked “his final pay-per-view on ESPN,” a notable detail at a time when media rights remain central to WWE’s business strategy.

WWE is now heading toward Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, where Cena will compete in his final match against whoever wins the “Last Time Is Now” tournament.

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