Over the years, names like John Cena, Roman Reigns, and Brock Lesnar have worked their way from WWE’s developmental territories like Ohio Valley Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling to the main event of WrestleMania. Those three first-ballot WWE Hall of Famers, and countless others like them, fought tooth and nail to not only become some of the biggest names the sport has ever seen, but also earn a contract that set them on their paths of glory.
The upcoming wrestling documentary series, WWE: Recruits, will center on a new crop of potential superstars as they follow in the footsteps of their heroes and make their squared circle dreams come true. At some point in the near future, we’ll meet a group of fresh faces who could potentially become a WWE Champion one day. Here is what we know about the Roku original docuseries, including what it’s about, which WWE superstars will be appearing, and everything else…
What Is The WWE: Recruits Premiere Date?
At this time, no one from Roku or WWE have come out and said when WWE: Recruits will premiere. However, with the documentary series having already been announced and production having already kicked off, we’ll surely hear much more about this project in the coming weeks and months.
Whenever WWE: Recruits does eventually premiere, it will be streaming on the Roku Channel, a free service that hosts a variety of shows like Kevin Hart’s Die Hart and Die Hart II, as well as some of the Quibi shows that were almost lost after the failed platform ceased operations a few years ago.
WWE: Recruits Follows A Group Of Aspiring Wrestlers As They Compete For A WWE Contract
WWE has long produced shows that follow aspiring wrestlers fighting for their shot at a contract, with non-scripted programs like WWE: Tough Enough as well as series like the original version of NXT, though the latter was very much still in the realm of kayfabe. By the sounds of it, WWE: Recruits will be more like the former in that it will feature young men and women who are aspiring to become WWE superstars.
Though Roku has yet to reveal the specifics of the show’s format, the streaming platform has announced that the docuseries will follow a group of aspiring wrestlers as they compete to earn a spot on the WWE roster. This could mean the show ends up being something like UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter or the wrestling documentary series WWE Breaking Ground, which focuses on NXT wrestlers like Bayley, Sami Zayne, and Carmella before they became household names.
John Cena, Triple H, Shawn Michaels And Ric Flair Are Some Of The WWE Legends Set To Appear On The Docuseries
In addition to the various aspiring wrestlers competing for a shot at glory, WWE: Recruits will also feature some of the biggest names in professional wrestling from yesterday and today. Roku has announced that WWE Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair, former WWE Champion Big E. (who’s been out of action since he suffered fractures in his C1 and C6 vertebrae in early 2022), and current part-timer John Cena will all appear throughout the docuseries. But, that isn’t all, as Triple H and WWE Hall of Famers Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels will participate as well.
The addition of Michaels makes sense, considering “The Heartbreak Kid” is currently the Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative at WWE, where he oversees much of NXT. The same can be said for Triple H, as “The Game” has been WWE’s Chief Content Officer since 2022, and NXT has long been viewed as his passion project.
Cena, Who Is Also One Of The Show's Producers, Is Pumped For The 'Exciting Endeavor'
John Cena’s involvement with WWE: Recruits doesn’t end with the multi-time WWE Champion appearing in the docuseries, as the wrestler-turned-actor is set to serve as one of the show’s producers. Shortly after the series was announced, Cena, who has a massive and outrageous social media presence, took to Twitter to share his excitement:
#WWE, much like life, is not about the heights of success, but the journey to get better each day. Excited for the opportunity to partner with @WWE and @Roku on this exciting endeavor to find the generation of Superstars!
Cena, who most recently wrestled against WWE United States Champion Austin Theory at WrestleMania 39, is going to be a rather busy guy for the foreseeable future, considering his return for the upcoming Fast X, a mysterious role in Barbie, and so much more.
WWE: Recruits Will Consist Of Eight Episodes
When WWE: Recruits eventually lands on Roku, it will consist of eight episodes. But despite knowing how many episodes will make up the show’s first season, we don’t yet know if they will be released all at once, or the runtime of each chapter. Be on the lookout for more on both of those concerns in the near future.
Production On WWE: Recruits Took Place At WrestleMania 39
Production on WWE: Recruits has already begun, and a portion of it took place during the two-night WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles, California, just days before Roku revealed the docuseries to the world. It hasn’t been revealed what was shot during “The Granddaddy of Them All,” so we don’t know if the production crew shot mass tryouts, interviews with current WWE superstars and legends set to appear, or portions of the competition.
With WWE’s habit of filming content pretty much around the clock, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for the series to be shot over the next few months as the WWE calendar picks back up again.
This Is WWE's First Competition Series Since Tough Enough Ended In 2015
When the series lands on the Roku Channel at some point in the near future, it will become the first competition series set in WWE since Tough Enough ended its sixth and final season back in the summer of 2015. There was speculation that the company would bring back the show that helped launch the careers of The Miz, Ryback, and Maven, when Fightful reported in 2021 that the company had filed a “Tough Enough” trademark. However, the show has yet to return.
Expect to hear much more on WWE: Recruits in the coming weeks and months. But in the meantime, check out our breakdown of all the upcoming WWE events that will soon be available for anyone with a Peacock Premium subscription.
