Netflix has now addressed how much it actually gets involved with WWE when it comes to blood, profanity and other content standards. Despite the recent controversy over RAW being heavily censored, the company says those conversations with WWE don’t happen very often.
While speaking on The Sports Media Podcast, Netflix Vice President of Global Live Sports and Entertainment Gabe Spitzer was asked whether the streaming platform ever tells WWE there’s too much blood or cursing on its programming. Spitzer acknowledged there are still ratings standards WWE has to follow, but said Netflix generally tries to give the company a little more freedom.
“Not often, you know, obviously there’s rating standards that anyone has to adhere to. We’re Netflix, so we’re try, we try to be a little looser on that.”
Spitzer then explained that when Netflix does get involved with WWE, the conversations are usually about something completely different. One area where the two sides regularly communicate is where WWE holds events and how Netflix can help promote bigger episodes.
“I think the place where we’ve had conversations with ’em, like I said around locations, I also think it’s helped us.”
Netflix also wants more advance notice when WWE has a major match coming. Spitzer pointed toward an upcoming RAW featuring Roman Reigns in a World Heavyweight Championship match as an example of something the platform can promote much more effectively when it knows about it several weeks ahead of time.
“There’s been examples where even with the Raw coming up in a couple weeks, right, it’s, it’s leading to a big Roman Reigns heavyweight championship match after this tournament that they’ve done.”
That kind of advance planning is much closer to the involvement Netflix wants to have. Spitzer explained that knowing about major matches three or four weeks ahead gives the platform a chance to promote RAW beyond WWE’s usual week-to-week cycle.
“The ability for us to promote three, four weeks out for a big Raw, you know, starting off the year I think it was, it was Bron Breakker and CM Punk and our first Raw of the year, that’s the type of conversations we’ve had…”
Sometimes Netflix would like even more time. Spitzer said the platform has asked WWE to give it three, four or even five weeks of notice when something significant is coming so Netflix can build a larger promotional campaign around it.
“…where either it’s, heck, you potentially go to this city or, hey, if there’s a big matchup, can you let us know three, four, five weeks in advance so we can start promoting that outside of the platforms as you normally do, you know, on a Raw. And they’ve been very receptive to that.”
Those comments come at an interesting time considering what happened on the August 31 episode of RAW. Netflix heavily censored several bloody moments on the taped show, including Royce Keys and OTM leaving The Usos bloodied following a parking lot attack. Large pixelated blocks were placed over the blood when the episode eventually aired.
The censorship apparently frustrated people inside WWE as well. WrestleVotes Radio previously reported that some members of WWE’s post-production department felt “handcuffed” by Netflix’s restrictions and hadn’t expected them to be quite as intensive.
WWE also made it clear that it wanted people to see the original version of the Usos angle. The decision to upload the uncensored footage to social media was reportedly unanimous internally, with Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Roman Reigns and The Usos all helping circulate the footage afterward.
Blood wasn’t the only thing affected that night either. Jacob Fatu’s F-bomb during the opening segment was also censored, adding to questions about exactly how much freedom WWE really has on Netflix.
Spitzer’s explanation suggests Netflix isn’t regularly sitting down with WWE and asking the company to clean up its product. There are still standards that can come into play, as August 31 made obvious, but Netflix appears far more interested in getting enough advance notice to properly promote WWE’s biggest matches and shows.
Do you think Netflix should give WWE more freedom with blood and profanity on RAW? Let us know 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.
