WWE Issues Statement Regarding Peacock's Removal Of Archive Content
WWE and Peacock have issued statements regarding the continued screening and removal of content from the WWE Network.
The move of the WWE Network to Peacock is underway. We say underway rather than complete since the platform has decided to review everything on the Network to deem whether it is appropriate for audiences in 2021. So far, segments confirmed to have been removed from archive footage include Roddy Piper infamously painting half of his body black, and Vince McMahon using a racial slur when passing Booker T back in 2005.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Peacock's parent company NBCUniversal currently has employees combing through everything the Network has to offer. Since that includes somewhere in the region of 17,000 hours of footage, it could take a while. WWE and Peacock have now both issued short statements updating fans on what is happening and why (via Fightful).
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WWE's statement reads, "Peacock and WWE are reviewing all past content to ensure it fits our 2021 standards." Peacock's own statement offers little more information than that reading, "reviewing WWE content to ensure it aligns with Peacock’s standards and practices," adding that it needs to be in keeping with other content on its platform. There have also been reports content removed by Peacock will also be leaving the Network in other countries where it remains under the WWE banner.
Some of the moments disappearing from the Network suggest which others might well leave the platform in the coming days and weeks. D-Generation X dressing up and mocking the Nation of Domination on Raw during the Attitude Era is one segment that springs to mind. It also depends on what those at NBC deem to be unsuitable. Whether it's all distasteful and offensive content or just scenes and segments that are problematic when it comes to issues surrounding race.
If everything deemed unsuitable for present-day audiences is getting removed, then shows that took place during the Attitude Era might be about to get pretty short. Even the scenes in which Mae Young gives birth to a hand and Triple H simulates sex with a corpse (yes, that really did happen) might not make it past NBC's team of censors. They will probably be very pleased to discover Right To Censor's run once they reach the early 2000s, though.
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