WWE, after launching the industry-changing new WWE Network, has today addressed issues regarding the censorship of wrestler Chris Benoit.
Customers are said to be unhappy with the relatively light censorship the network currently has in place – a warning before all shows he appears in – though want something less extreme than phasing him out all together.
In a compromise, the WWE Network will now air slightly edited footage, where any occurrence of the wrestler will be replaced with Chris Benoi-aaaaaaah!
Michael Cole, WWE's lead announcer, had this to say: "It was always going to be a trying time going back and rerecording the commentary for all those matches, but it turned out pretty seamless in the end." Never missing an opportunity, he added "I guess it goes to show, with technology these days, you can do anything, like take the WWE App for instance, it's now possible to…" before being cut off for some reason.
It can also now be confirmed that the edit will occur each time a commentator utters Benoit's name out loud, each textual reference to Benoit's name – such as on-screen graphics or text of any kind – or any time a small child boy is shown on screen.
The WWE is also planning a similar edit, replacing all pre-July 2001 images of Stephanie McMahon.