WWE Officials Were Unhappy With Fox’s Censorship On Smackdown This Week

Many were unhappy. This week’s episode of Smackdown emanated from Madison Square Garden in New York and involved segments intended to cater to the hometown crowd. The crowd responded in kind, which caused Fox to have to do something about it.

There were several heavily censored and edited moments during the show this week, including a “f**k the Pacers” chant and blacking out part of a segment where a kid flipped off Nia Jax.

In reporting for Fightful Select, Sean Ross Sapp revealed that multiple WWE sources expressed frustration regarding the extensive censorship and editing during the recent SmackDown broadcast. The issue gained attention when Sapp tweeted his anticipation for SmackDown’s upcoming move to USA Network, citing concerns over FOX’s “egregious” censorship practices. This sentiment was echoed by a veteran WWE performer who, despite not appearing on the show, took note of Fightful’s social media commentary about the impending network change.

The source said: “It’s a chore to watch sometimes. I understand censoring ‘f*** the Pacers,’ but it feels like every segment is edited and it makes us look like it’s our production.

The move to USA Network is expected to alleviate some of the censorship concerns, although Sapp acknowledged that some level of content moderation may still occur on the new network. Triple H has already mentioned that Raw will be uncensored when it moves to Netflix in January.

 

Editor’s Opinion:

I see both sides of the story in this situation. Since FOX is a nationally broadcast network on cable television, there are a certain set of standards and practices that must be adhered to, partciulary since children are watching. That being said, this makes for a very difficult listening environment for older viewers and takes away from the aesthetic that WWE is trying to produce.

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