WWE fans have been catching some very different versions of Raw when they go back and watch on Netflix — and Eric Bischoff says the whole thing feels painfully familiar.
During a recent episode of 83 Weeks, Bischoff and Conrad Thompson dug into WWE footage being changed after the original broadcast, including blood disappearing from replays. For Bischoff, that immediately brought back memories of Turner executives putting the clamps on WCW and ordering bloody footage cleaned up after the damage was already done.
This isn’t some hypothetical issue for WWE fans either. Ringside News previously covered how Royce Keys’ blood was removed from the August 3 WWE Raw replay, giving fans another example of something appearing during the original broadcast only to look different later. When Thompson brought up blood being altered after the fact, Bischoff immediately started connecting the dots to what he personally dealt with during WCW’s run under Turner.
“Now, now we’re back to the post-production potential. Could it be because they have no real way to digitize it live, but going forward? And I — because I’ve done it with pay-per-views. WCW used to do it in pay-per-views. So, I mean, that’s where I’m kind of pulling this from.”
Bischoff then went straight back to the days when Turner executives could suddenly decide that blood wasn’t welcome on their airwaves. It didn’t matter if the match had already happened or if the footage was already in the can — WCW still had to answer to the people signing the checks.
“Is this a streaming version of what I was faced with at Turner, where Turner corporate policy said, ‘I don’t care, no blood,’ at various times, and then they reverse it or quit caring?”
Bischoff said those orders weren’t subtle. If Turner decided blood had to go, WCW’s job was basically to grab the digital mop and start cleaning.
“But essentially, you would get the mandate, there will be no blood. We do blood on a pay-per-view. Well, guess what? We’re still Turner Broadcasting. We don’t do blood. Make it go away. We make it go away. So, it could be some version of that.”
That comparison gets even more interesting considering WWE has already been caught giving fans cleaned-up versions of major shows. Ringside News covered how WWE’s Night of Champions Netflix replay featured additional censorship, including Bron Breakker’s bloody face being blurred and certain camera angles being swapped out.
Blood isn’t the only thing getting the post-show scrub either. The Netflix replay of Roman Reigns’ Raw entrance was also altered after a fan flipped him off, with the replay cutting away to an overhead shot instead of leaving the original footage untouched.
Bischoff wasn’t claiming somebody at Netflix handed WWE an official Turner-style order to wipe blood from the screen. Both he and Thompson made it clear they were trying to figure out what could be happening based on what fans are seeing. Thompson spelled that out before the conversation went any further.
“And again, you and I have no inside knowledge. It’s not like either one of us have picked up the phone and asked anybody. We wouldn’t do that. That’s not our style. So, we’re just — we’re going to be fans here and talk about it and discuss it.”
Still, Bischoff knows exactly what it’s like when a giant media company decides wrestling has crossed one of its lines. WCW could bleed first and ask questions later, but once Turner wanted that footage cleaned up, Bischoff says there was only one answer — make it disappear.
Now WWE fans are seeing their own version of that problem on Netflix, where the Raw they watched live might not be the Raw sitting there the next morning. Whether that’s WWE, Netflix or somebody else making the call, the days of assuming the replay will preserve everything fans saw live are clearly getting a lot more complicated.
What do you think about Eric Bischoff comparing WWE’s Netflix edits to the old Turner crackdown on WCW? Should WWE leave Raw replays exactly as they originally aired, or do you think cleaning things up afterward is fair game? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
