[drave]

@Gertner - your tape trading may become insanely more valuable..... as WWE DVDs will no longer be a thing in 2022.

It’s with a very heavy heart we must pass on the news to our readers that WWE DVDs and Blu-rays will no longer be offered in the United States beginning 2022. WWE Home Video has had a physical media presence with DVDs since 1999, dating back further with VHS since 1985 (taking into account Coliseum Video). Over the years WWF/E would release their content on physical media via several formats; VHS, Betamax, Laserdisc, DVD, Blu-ray and even UMD. The update sadly means 2021 will have been the last year for WWE Home Video in the home market, which includes Canada too since those releases were closely aligned with the US. As for reasoning behind the move, while specifics haven’t been stated to us, the why is probably the obvious and in the end will boil down to revenue, coupled with the company putting less emphasis on DVD and Blu-ray in recent years and more of a focus on new content for the WWE Network and Peacock, whereby WWE content is streamed online. The final releases The first WWE DVDs ever released were WrestleMania 15 and one on Stone Cold Steve Austin. As it stands now, Survivor Series 2021 will be the final US WWE DVD release, which will be available on December 28th. Drew McIntyre’s DVD is also still to come this month, which will mark the last Superstar-themed DVD release in the US, scheduled for December 14th. Australia Unfortunately, no more US offerings means the same for fans in Australia. Like Canada, the Australian WWE DVDs closely followed the US; WWE in the US produced assets and carried out authoring for both the domestic and Australian DVDs, which we hear will not be taken on by the Australian licensee. Madman.com.au will be releasing the remaining PPV DVDs of 2021 though — Extreme Rules in December, Crown Jewel in February and Survivor Series, Australia’s final DVD, in March. In the UK, however… There is a glimmer of hope in this otherwise not-so-festive December update — the UK appears to be carrying on alone with new WWE DVD titles in 2022, until March at least. As we’ve reported, Fremantle have new PPV DVDs scheduled beyond Survivor Series, including Day 1 and Royal Rumble. That hasn’t changed. It’s unclear what happens after those, but potentially due to better performance of WWE DVDs in the UK and Europe, we may be seeing a situation whereby WWE Home Video actually continues on in that region (at least this is the hope).