It has been just over a week since the WWE Network switched to Peacock’s streaming service, but some wrestling fans are already dissatisfied with NBCUniversal for removing some segments of WWE’s past that were objectively in bad taste.
Viewers noticed that the version of WrestleMania 6 on Peacock no longer includes an interview and a match in which one side of “Rowdy” Roddy Piper’s body was painted black. Another short clip in which the on-screen character of WWE President and CEO Vince McMahon used a racist term was completely cut from the Survivor Series 2005.
The WWE, particularly in the late 1990s, when the “Age of Attitudes” made professional wrestling a cultural phenomenon, exhibited many questionable segments that only get worse when viewed through a 2021 lens. Some were clearly offensive, openly racist and they should never have happened at the time. Others were absolutely bizarre.
If you think you’re having a bad day, remember that there’s an NBC intern going through the entire WWE video library, editing offensive content for the Peacock Network, which hasn’t yet found Mae Young giving birth a hand for the first time turn …
– Wrestling trip (@WrestlingTravel) March 25, 2021
Some fighters are amused by the news:
I’m sure none of my WWF promotional parents are going to make it to Peacock
– Brian Pillman Jr. (@FlyinBrianJr) March 25, 2021
Hey #Peacock if you want to edit any of my dance tricks from 2003, fine.
– Lance Storm (@LanceStorm) March 26, 2021
On the WWE Network, these programs were all available in their original form, without obvious cuts or censorship. Rather than deleting the track record, fans suggested that Peacock should follow the same path as Disney Plus and show a disclaimer before programming that is particularly questionable.
This does not seem to be the approach that Peacock is taking. According to The Hollywood Reporter, NBCUniversal is reviewing the entire WWE video library that it won with the WWE Network agreement. This partially explains why only a portion of WWE’s previous pay-per-views and programs are available for broadcast as of now; Peacock said he plans to have the entire vault in service by the end of August. WWE is being informed of any changes and editions, the report says. The Verge contacted Peacock and WWE for more details and context on how the first plans to address WWE content editing.
The WWE Network’s standalone service will end in a matter of days for customers in the United States: it will go offline on April 4. After that, Peacock will be the only destination with all this history of professional wrestling. Outside the United States, the WWE Network will remain operational, and that has led some fans to seek VPN options to maintain access to the service they are familiar with and that preserves the WWE past exactly as it happened – even the horrible bits and pieces.