Major Frustration Within WWE
Many within WWE were left frustrated after the most recent episode of SmackDown.
Following this week's SmackDown, there was said to be some major frustration within WWE about how this latest blue brand offering was handled by FOX.
As per Fightful Select, this frustration was due to the heavy censorship and editing seen on SmackDown, with several segments being either muted or just simply going to a black screen. Notably, this happened when the Indiana Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton appeared with Logan Paul, and during the show-closing angle where the Bloodline decimated Paul Heyman.
Fightful adds that one WWE talent - who didn't appear on SmackDown - saw the outlet's tweet on this censorship and said, "It's a chore to watch sometimes. I understand censoring 'f**k the Pacers', but it feels like every segment is edited and it makes us look like it's our production."
While USA Network does censor WWE Raw, that censoring is significantly less than what FOX implements. As such, SmackDown is expected to receive less editing once it moves to USA in October. Of course, Raw will be moving to Netflix at the turn of the year in the United States, and the entire WWE output will be moving to the streaming service for international audiences at that time.
It's worth noting, for someone who watched the latest SmackDown on TNT Sports in the UK, the Bloodline's attack on Paul Heyman was accompanied by loud, clear chants of "f**k you Solo".