After WWE fans noticed matches and segments missing from replays of classic WWE events last week, both the wrestling promotion and NBCUniversal confirmed that it would be removing any offensive content from Peacock after purchasing the WWE Network library (and pay-per-view rights) for the streaming service. Before Wednesday, the only things that had been pulled were the Roddy Piper vs. Bad News Brown match at WrestleMania VI (Piper was in partial blackface throughout) and the Survivor Series 2005 segment where Vince McMahon casually says the n-word.
On Wednesday another change had been found. The July 6, 1998 episode of Monday Night Raw famously features a promo where Triple H and the rest of D-Generation X pretend to be members of the Nation of Domination. X-Pac goes so far in his imitation as to wear blackface while pretending to be Mark Henry. The segment has already been pulled from the WWE Network as well, jumping from a match with Dustin Runnels and Val Venis to Ken Shamrock squashing King Mabel.
“NBCUniversal said that Peacock was ‘reviewing WWE content to ensure it aligns with Peacock’s standards and practices,’ as it does other shows and films on the platform,” The New York Times reported on Monday
WWE told the outlet — “Peacock and WWE are reviewing all past content to ensure it fits our 2021 standards.”
The WWE Network will oficially shut down here in the United States on April 4. After that, the only way to watch the Network’s library or live pay-per-views will be via Peacock. Next week the streaming platform will host three events — the WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (April 6), NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night Two (April 8) and both nights of WrestleMania 37 (April 10-11).
