NBC’s streaming service Peacock, now home to WWE Network, is expanding its pro wrestling programming with a new series focusing on the bad guys of the WWE universe.
WWE Evil touts a “psychological exposé” into the minds of the WWE’s most infamous villains and the outreach their tactics made into pop culture. The show was created by John Cena, who will also executive-produce and narrate each episode.
Few details are currently available on WWE Evil, including when we can expect a premiere on Peacock. But as Cena alluded to on Twitter, a docuseries focusing on WWE heels is an untapped mine of material.
Sure, fans root for the good guys, the faces who are like comic book superheroes come to life in the ring. But without the bad guys, there wouldn’t be compelling conflict. Rulebreakers who fans love to hate drive storylines and the drama that keeps viewers coming back.
Also, wrestling documentaries are riding the wave of popularity lifting all sports documentaries right now. VICE TV has a hit with its Dark Side of the Ring series and A&E’s Biography: WWE Legends series is drawing solid numbers as well.
Those networks can cover figures and stories from an outside perspective that WWE likely won’t take with its in-house content. But other outlets attracting viewers with wrestling content must surely rankle WWE producers and executives.
For Cena, this might be the closest he gets to a return to wrestling right now. As Deadline’s Erik Pederson points out, the star is busy right now with several movie and TV projects, including his role as Peacemaker in this summer’s The Suicide Squad and a spinoff series for HBO Max.
Peacock’s new WWE series joins several new documentaries that the streaming platform is producing, including an upcoming docuseries on Joe Montana, in addition to productions covering Olympic athletes Jordan Burroughs, Ryan Lochte, and Michael Phelps.
About Ian Casselberry
Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.