What WWE Don’t Want You To See On TV

4. The Genuine Reactions For Certain Talents

Becky Lynch
WWE.com

WWE has been known to use false fan reaction footage to accompany a segment or match, and one thing that the company doesn't want its TV audience to see is the genuine reaction to certain stars - particularly, of course, if that reaction doesn't match the WWE narrative.

For the past year, WWE has been able to construct entirely their own narrative. If they want a superstar to be cheered, that person gets unanimously cheered. If they want somebody booed, that person gets aggressively booed.

That's the joys of having piped-in audience reactions at your fingertips, with the ThunderDome setting and lack of real fans meaning wrestlers have been perceived 100% in the exact same way WWE wants them to be perceived.

When fans are in attendance, though, that is a totally different situation. Even dating back to the days of Hulkamania running wild, brother, WWE has skewed its TV output away from what really happened during a TV taping.

Over the decades, many a purported top babyface - particularly one who has spent years on top - has started to see a once-positive crowd response dwindle to a mixed bag reaction or outright boos, yet you'd never have guessed it from watching WWE programming.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.