10 Misconceptions WWE Has About Their Fanbase
5. Fans Are Free To Express Their Opinion!
A quick glance at any RAW or WWF Pay-Per-View from 1997 will show a big difference in attitude towards wrestling fans and their first amendment right.
In '97, fan-created signs and posters were everywhere! The WWF encouraged this type of participation. In fact, part of the storyline feud between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart involved the fans' decision to stop supporting the Hitman (in the United States, at least). Commentators were heard touting fans' freedom to express their opinion. Through signs, costumes, chants, cheers, and boos, fans could support whomever they wanted, and WWE encouraged that.
How times have changed.
Nowadays, stories about WWE confiscating signs, moving ticket purchasers' seats, and fans being asked to change their clothing have circulated. For a company that once supported fan creativity and freedom of expression, it's a big turnaround. In the current world landscape, respectful fans have been asked to take down their signs (despite containing no vulgar or foul language), change their shirts, remove their costumes, or risk moving, or in some severe cases losing, their seats altogether.
WWE will still say their fans are encouraged to express their opinion, so long as that opinion matches the company's status quo.