10 Banned Segments WWE Had To Censor
3. Mae Young’s Striptease
Channel 4 signed an exclusive agreement with the WWF and bagged themselves a slice of the company hubbub in late-1999. For the first time ever, a bunch of company pay-per-views would air on terrestrial television in the UK, which thrilled the domestic audience. They'd also get Sunday Night Heat every week at 4pm.
Then, the 2000 Royal Rumble happened.
It was C4's first real taste of what they'd bought into, and executives were bloody horrified. They must've been thankful that they were airing the Rumble on a slight delay, which meant they could live edit some of the more salacious moments if they needed to.
Case in point, pensioner Mae Young whipping off her clothes and exposing prosthetic breasts during the 'Miss. Rumble 2000' swimsuit contest that took place on the midcard. That, in addition to all of the hardcore violence during Triple H vs. Cactus Jack, left Channel 4's decision makers reeling.
Here's the most amazing thing though: Censoring that nudity was the WWF's call, not C4's.
Even so, they decided in a flash that they needed to get out of the deal as soon as possible. They didn't want to give up the money though, so they simply de-emphasised WWF programming instead. Viewers complained about poorly-inserted ad breaks that'd often interrupt the action, and there was more censorship to come on future events.
That all started with a giant red 'X' and "CENSORED" text overlay during Mae's spot at the Rumble. Again, that hadn't been the UK network's decision, but going black and white to hide blood or quickly cutting to ads elsewhere certainly was.