8 Biggest Casualties Of The WWE Network
1. ECW's Heart & Soul
The bulk of ECW's tape library is present on the WWE Network these days, but much of it isn't in its original form. The company have made substantial edits to the footage, taking various steps to ensure that the shows' presentation doesn't compromise WWE's image. This means blurring countless anti-WWE signs, muting rowdy crowds, bleeping expletives, and more.
The removal of iconic entrance themes remains the most harmful alteration. WWE generally don't splash the cash for licensed music, with most of their own themes composed in-house by CFO$ and Jim Johnston, and have thus been forced to edit swathes of old footage to avoid paying royalties to those who composed the songs.
Such music was a huge part of ECW's presentation, but sadly, WWE have replaced most of the company's licensed songs with generic production tracks. Instead of Sandman entering to his iconic Metallica soundtrack, we get a generic, sludgy ripoff. It completely castrates the feeling, and while it's not enough to ruin the shows, the edits definitely make them feel less authentic.
At one point, the company even went as far as completely removing all New Jack segments from old ECW PPVs. His "Natural Born Killaz" theme would often play for the duration of his lengthy in-ring beatdowns, making for a hefty edit job, though WWE eventually restored the footage with forgettable overdubs.