Ever since 2001, the WWE has held monopoly status over the world of pro wrestling. Sure, there are companies such as TNA and Ring of Honor offering some degree of differentiation, but their respective shares of the market pale in comparison to that of Vince McMahons behemoth of a company. As a result, the WWE is afforded a tremendous amount of freedom over the product that it chooses to provide. We saw this freedom in full swing back in 2008 when the company adopted a PG rating, and still see it today with the way in which the newly-opened performance centre cultivates the archetypical WWE superstar. But one of the lesser known implications of this liberty is that the company not only controls the personas and gimmicks of its in-ring talent, but it has a surprising degree of power over the collective voice of the WWE fans. Though the company likes to promote the idea that the WWE Universe can support whomever it choses, the truth is a little more different. Over the past few years, weve actually seen a number of cases of WWE officials censoring audiences by confiscating signs and even removing fans from the arena on occasion. Straight away this seems rather unfair. But instead of feeding any conspiracy theories, its only right that we take a closer look at these instances of censorship. This article takes a look at some of the most notable cases of the past few years, analysing the situation in a bid to determine whether or not the WWE has been abusing its abundant power.
