Peacock, the new home of the WWE Network in the United States is editing some of WWE’s more controversial content out of its offering on the platform – and that has seemingly also been represented in changes on the global version WWE Network.
WWE is known for its family-friendly entertainment. However, the company used to cater to more mature audiences. The ‘Attitude Era’ of the late nineties introduced edgier content on to programmes including swearing and occasional nudity.
The NBC Universal-owned streaming platform that acquired the rights to WWE’s content in a $1 billion deal, has now started the process of removing some of the more questionable content.
Notably, ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper’s WrestleMania VI match with Bad News Brown has been edited from that show. As well as an interview with Piper. Piper painted half his body black for the match against African-American Brown. Fans have also noticed that the moment featuring Vince McMahon has been cut. McMahon – playing a villainous, out of touch character – uses the ‘N’ word when speaking to John Cena. That moment no longer appears on the Survivor Series from 2005.
Former WWE star Lance Storm has taken to social media to point out that some of Peacock’s cuts have made it to the WWE Network that is still available globally. Storm is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada so still uses the original WWE Network.
Storm tweeted:
“I just checked, the Peacock edits are on the regular WWE Network too. Mania six skips from Beefcake to the Hart Foundation match. If you select the Piper/Bad News match it goes right to the Hart Foundation. I hope everyone kept the their Box Sets of DVDs of VHS tapes.”
I just checked, the Peacock edits are on the regular WWE Network too. Mania six skips from Beefcake to the Hart Foundation match. If you select the Piper/Bad News match it goes right to the Hart Foundation. I hope everyone kept the their Box Sets of DVDs of VHS tapes. pic.twitter.com/KCSgFUr7Ob
— Lance Storm (@LanceStorm) March 26, 2021
As more content is added to Peacock’s offering, wrestling fans will be curious to see what makes the cut, and which content is resigned to history.