- Multichannel News has an article up on WWE's attempts to boost PPV buys by rebranding their PPV events and by offering video-on-demand content and prizes to people who buy PPVs. Check out the article here.
- The New Zealand Herald has an article up on WWE's Friday RAW show in Auckland, NZ. Check out the article here.
- WWE Classics 24/7 On Demand has now started editing any match with blood in it, as the match turns to black and white when blood appears. [Credit: PWInsider]
Gees no blood now??? This is ridiculous....pretty soon when they make contact they are just going to go to a black screen. Also how about just lower PPV prices to $30 like they were before.
Posted By: Matco (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 05:04 PM
Oh no.. y would wwe 24/7 do such a thing as to edit the blood stuff?? I think that is what hurts wwe 24/7 the most is the editing stuff (taking out Benoit, now this) I loved that channel when I had cable because I wanted mostly to enjoy the shows as I remembered them.. not this edit this, edit that.. wwe needs to not tinker too much with its history because the sell of this product is based on the this history
Posted By: sdmcc (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 05:05 PM
"WWE Classics 24/7 On Demand has now started editing any match with blood in it, as the match turns to black and white when blood appears"
I am canceling this service. I get the whole music copyright stuff, but editing blood is a joke. Screw you WWE.
Posted By: Guest#4908 (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 05:05 PM
- WWE Classics 24/7 On Demand has now started editing any match with blood in it, as the match turns to black and white when blood appears. [Credit: PWInsider]
That's what PG will do to you
Posted By: Bill (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 05:15 PM
Nothing ticks me off more than having to watch blurred out old WWF scratch logos in black and white!
If WWE starts dicking around too much with footage on a PAY channel, I can't see this working out too well for them.
Most subscribers are paying to see the blood... not edited footage.
Posted By: Neil (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 05:28 PM
The Gray scaling is nothing new...but it's annoying and I might cancel my subscription if they keep it up
Posted By: The Rev (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 05:33 PM
Seriously? That was cool in Kill Bill because it kept it from getting an NC-17 rating, but c'mon! It's not like the WWF/E has ever been the NWA with Flair and Dusty and Muta bleeding buckets. There have been some tremendous blade jobs, absolutely, but this is a little much.
Posted By: Wyatt Beougher (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 05:40 PM
- WWE Classics 24/7 On Demand has now started editing any match with blood in it, as the match turns to black and white when blood appears.
WEAK
Posted By: T (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 05:48 PM
- WWE Classics 24/7 On Demand has now started editing any match with blood in it, as the match turns to black and white when blood appears.
they do know kids aren't pussies right? oh wait this is america if its relativly dark or challenges kids its auto-matically bad
Posted By: Guest#7279 (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 05:49 PM
B7W blood is really no reason to cancell the service. Now if they were deleting any scene of blood whatsoever, then I'd cancel.
What the need to do is stop editing out Benoit. I don't care who he killed, I wanna see his fued with Raven on Nitro, godamnitt!
Posted By: WetOREO (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 06:11 PM
The pussyfication of america continues...in fucking pro wrestling?! Wtf?!
You know who should be pissed? The wrestlers that have mutilated their bodies to enhance the product and now their hard work is being dismissed. So shawn bleeding buckets in the hell in a cell will be edited, flair COVERED in blood and green mist at bash 89 is gone now? Bret staining the ring at WM 8 is erased from history? Austin trapped in the sharpshooter with blood pouring into his mouth is now relugated to B&W? There are hundreds of iconic images in wrestling are bloodstained.
Posted By: EddieChicago (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 06:17 PM
This is bullshit!! If I'm paying 9 dollars a month for a particular product, how are they gonna change it. I think I'm gonna cancel it. I understand they're rated pg but this really pissed me off. Parents are the one paying for it so its their decision. I don't know any 9yr olds paying a cable bill. If they don't be careful, a lot of people are going to revolt. U can't go backwards, only forwards!!!! This really sucks!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted By: young don (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 06:25 PM
"It's not like the WWF/E has ever been the NWA with Flair and Dusty and Muta bleeding buckets. There have been some tremendous blade jobs, absolutely, but this is a little much."
Uh, they own the NWA library and play that footage on the channel all the time.
Anyway, I'm as pissed about this as the rest of you. For one thing, we pay good money for that service, but more importantly, IT'S NOT THE WEE, LITTLE CHILDREN WHO PAY FOR IT. In fact, I can't imagine that many kids watch or even know about the service.
I was already going to cancel my subscription next month, but now there might be a nasty letter to go along with it...
Posted By: The REAL MP (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 06:37 PM
HEY WWE!!
DON'T JUST STOP AT BLOOD & BENOIT!!
- Show nothing with 'Crow' Sting b/c Owen fell off the scaffolding
- Forget any match that ever had a piledriver b/c of Droz & Stone Cold
- We can't show matches with dead wrestlers, especially if they lose, b/c it's disrespectful to their memory
- Can't have Honky Tonk Man b/c he reminds us of Elvis, who is also dead
- Never show a Shawn Michaels match from before 2002. Watching him perform before he found God disturbs me greatly...
Posted By: Kids Suck! (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 07:26 PM
It's bad enough that we can't get any blood now, even when the feud and the match stipulations should call for it (Jericho/HBK streetfight at Unforgiven being a prime example). But to retroactively edit it? That's bullshit no matter how you call it.
The editing of the blood was the kind of shit that pissed me off about WCW in the 90's, and it's certainly. I remember WCW did something similar for a Flair/Savage cage match on the VHS release of Superbrawl 96, and that just looked awful.
I'm glad I don't get 24/7 b/c I would certainly cancel it if this was the new policy. Let's hope they don't start doing this with DVD compilation releases--if so, it would pretty much cost them a huge chunk of change.
Posted By: Michael L (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 07:27 PM
wow editing the blood, that sucks soo for all those people that talked about PG not mattering and being no big deal well suck it cause this is the dumbest shit ever and i think it'll turn a lot of people off of the whole 24/7 thing (and i loved the old matches)
Posted By: Guest#2245 (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 07:33 PM
Bullshit, editing benoit is enough, 90 percent of the reason i got WWE 24/7 was to hopefully see some of the matches i cant get on dvd like The raw 10 man tag, Benoit and Austin smackdown classic, Benoits old WCW stuff and NWA older matches that i never seen before but heard alot about such and stuff like the 92 WarGames.... but now i dont get none of that at all. I say we complain we write and complain to WWE.com and say if all this editing doesnt stop then we cancal are wwe 24/7 subscriptions..... if enough people complain and cancel they will have to do it
Posted By: WhatTheHell (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 07:38 PM
canceled the service, now, im glad I did
Posted By: Bones (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 07:44 PM
That's nothing, I bet they use the Canadian broadcast Batman-like "POW" and "WHAM" soon ;-)
Seriously...this isn't new...I thought they were doing it for awhile now. But isn't it just for the more recent stuff? Isn't the older school stuff usually exempt? (Flair blading isn't de-colored on Macho's DVD, which is PG. And don't they just put a warning on ECW television? Or will that soon be pulled off of 24/7? It's all but extinct on the upcoming DVDs as it is)
Anyway, unless it's not intrusive on certain DVD releases, while I respect the attempts to keep the classic footage alive, I see myself seeking the original broadcasts first and foremost.
And the Benoit stuff...not again. Just "not again." It just makes us look like we lack perspective (ooooh, a wrestling match is more important than a real situation!) And isn't Benoit the one who caused all this to happen? Since WWE wanted to distance themselves from an environment where this riff-raff happens, that's why they went PG, isn't it?
Posted By: Guest#6487 (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 08:11 PM
Oh yeah, I say we write in mass to them about this, and suggest alternatives (they could just use the Parental Guidance warning on other programs besides ECW, no?) Keep it polite though, and thoughtful. Better to do so than just complain all day here.
Posted By: Guest#3870 (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 08:12 PM
Oh yeah, in before "they won't care what we want." You MAKE THEM do that with your support for uncensored products.
Posted By: Guest#7405 (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 08:13 PM
"Dad I want WWE On Demand"
"Son shut up, we are paying for dental insurance"
You know how a movie on TBS is edited, but not edited on HBO...thats cause its a premium channel. What kids are paying for/watching a premium like WWE. If they think going family-safe will save them, they have another thing coming. They were at their raunchiest when they were most popular.
Posted By: Guest#9969 (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 08:33 PM
They started doing this a few months ago. Back when Wrestlemania 17 was being shown, they kept going from color to black & white during Rock vs Austin. Instead of just leaving it black and white, they would show color even if it was just for a few seconds. The combination of that and all of the blurring made the match unwatchable. Austin vs Rock being unwatchable...pathetic.
Posted By: Talley (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 08:51 PM
Fuck you WWE. That's some bullshit
Posted By: Dwayne (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 09:10 PM
The edits are almost as fucking bad. They bleep anything that may even be misconstrued as a curse, like "jackass," a word that can be used on most children's cartoons!
Wow, when they get to reviewing 1999 RAW with "Mr. Ass", boy will that be a treat to watch.
I'll keep my $7.99 thanks. Let me know when this PG FOR KIDZ~!~ initiative shit is out the window so I can go back to watching.
Posted By: Brad B (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 10:09 PM
Some of you people who are threatening to cancel your subscriptions must not watch it too often... They've been doing this for a few months now. I agree though its such a joke. The overediting the product from removing blood, editing benoit, editing old music and themes, and even editing the commentators is just overkill.
They even edited out Michael buffer in the roadwild 98 PPV currently on demand. Had some terrible and lame anouncer dubbed in.
Posted By: Jim (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 10:28 PM
Remember when Wrestling tried to present itself as "sport" rather than male ballerina's putting on a show?
Man, those were the days....haven't watched wrestling in about 7 years, and I don't miss that shit one bit.
Posted By: Greendale (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 10:48 PM
The real kicker about the black and white is that it's completely random. I'd say half the footage of Flair bleeding in the GAB 89 match with Funk they're showing now is still in color, which makes it even more of a distraction.
Posted By: Guest (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 11:59 PM
Guest 6487 here again...now let me restate that I understand why they want to be PG now, and I don't begrudge the younger viewers today for getting an accessible product. Hey I was a younger viewer at one time, of course. But I still say there are easier ways to get around this blood issue; see: said ECW treatment, if they still indeed do this.
I also understand the music issue (WWE isn't the only one to do this, it's a BIG problem in this DVD age...coughWKRPcoughCBSDVDcoughcough) and they can't really do anything about the "WWF" issue. And the commentators and Buffer are either more royalty issues/result of past lawsuits (see: Jesse Ventura, though they got better with him) or because the tapes don't allow them to remove copyrighted music while retaining the voice tracks. I even understand the Benoit thing...like I said, some of you need perspective. He did the crime, so unfortunately his legacy (and those who still care about such things) has to do the time.
But yeah, I still like my classic footage to be as true to the original as possible, and this would be the straw that breaks the camel's back, as I said. You know, I don't mind if the current product isn't that great to me, so long as I can enjoy the product I remember fondly. But this is just like what George Lucas did to Star Wars fans. Hate the prequels? Well at least you have the original movies...except they're gonna be the Special Editions...and he'll keep on changing even THOSE depending on how he feels.
I can't suggest writing criticisms to WWE themselves enough.
Posted By: Guest#1294 (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 01:32 AM
Lol. Soon WWE will change their name to World Wide Entertainment cause what they show now is not wrestling so no need to be associated with a sport.
Posted By: Lucid (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 02:31 AM
Sarcasm mode on:
Typical ignorant hater: No more blood will be the end of the WWE. It is over. No more Wrestlemania, No more Raw. No more Smackdown. No nothing. TNA will wipe them off the face of the earth now and it will be a great day when it happens. And it will be great to see all you little brats cry when the WWE closes it's doors. You brats don't deserve to have the WWE anyway. Now all there will be is TNA weather you like it or not. Learn to live life without the WWE because it will happen.
Sarcasm mode off.
All jokes aside, The real ironic thing is that all the haters who complain about the WWE "catering to kids" whine and cry about it worse than the kids that they "caters" to.
And those people obviously forget that the WWE catered to us when we were kids.
The sad part is that they say what WWE does "isn't wrestling". Why? Not alot of high flying? Not alot of hardcore. The style they use is old school technical mat wrestling. How sad is it when that gets frowned on?
Posted By: Guest#3260 (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 07:04 AM
This is nothing new, WWE/F does this every few years, tries to be less violent and bloody. It doesn't last very long, I give it a year at the most before we go back to normal.
Posted By: Quinny (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 07:44 AM
No one is paying to see the blood, idiots. It's annoying, but it's not going to cost them money.
Posted By: MDK (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 08:17 AM
Wow, consider my subscription canceled. I'm not going to pay to watch classic NWA almost entirely in black & white, hell no. Fuck you WWE, fuck you right in nostril. >:(
Posted By: Mr. G "Frowny Emoticon Face" E (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 08:25 AM
This is why I trade tapes and don't bother with there service (plus I'm not able to get it on my cable so who am I kidding) lol
Posted By: Jerry (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 08:51 AM
"Remember when Wrestling tried to present itself as "sport" rather than male ballerina's putting on a show?
Man, those were the days....haven't watched wrestling in about 7 years, and I don't miss that shit one bit.
Posted By: Greendale (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 10:48 PM"
Well, you're either a liar about not watching it or you're a liar about not missing it. Why else would you come to a wrestling site if you didn't either watch or miss it?
Posted By: Liar (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 11:39 AM
People wonder why pro wrestling fandom is looked down upon...
Then we get 30 complaints from people unhappy that they can't see blood and a guy who murdered his family.
Posted By: Good Robot Cena (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 01:08 PM
" Forget any match that ever had a piledriver b/c of Droz & Stone Cold"
I think you mean a powerbomb in the case of Droz, not a piledriver.
Posted By: G-Walla (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 02:08 PM
I have WWE 24/7 and they DO NOT do this!
Posted By: The Rev (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 02:33 PM
I was already going to cancel my subscription next month, but now there might be a nasty letter to go along with it...
Posted By: The REAL MP (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 06:37 PM
I bet the WWE will take you REAL serious.
Will you REALly lay into them??
I mean, you're paying REAL money!
You want to see what REALly happened!!
The WWE needs to get REAL like the REAL MP!
Posted By: Get REAL! (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 02:37 PM
uh......guys?
It's $8 bucks a month!
What do you want for that price??
The IWC acts like a bunch of spoiled children!!
No wonder WWE went PG! The way most of you act, you shouldn't even be let in to an R rated movie!!
I've never seen so much bitching over an $8 dollar-a-month service in all of my life!!
Do you guys bitch when USA shows Goodfellas all chopped to shit or do you just buy the DVD??
Well here's a sugestion: If you want to see BLOOD, buy the DVD!!!!
And before you come at me with:"They didn't release THAT match on DVD!!"
It's all on DVD out there somewhere!!
I just bought the ENTIRE Starcade collection the other day on DVD. Blood and all!!!
and yes, it was more than $8 bucks!
Posted By: Give it a rest! (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 02:43 PM
You didnt buy the entire Starcade collection bc it doesnt exist. Starrcade with two "r"s is available on DVDs only in a "Best of" format, so if you own the entire collection, it is a bootleg and you are a criminal.
Dont judge us for being pissed.
Posted By: Guest#4464 (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 06:04 PM
Whenever ive seen blood footage taht is black and white , it seems to bring more attention to the blood than when its in color. It seems to highlight it or is it just me?
Posted By: Guest#9087 (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 06:48 PM
" Forget any match that ever had a piledriver b/c of Droz & Stone Cold"
I think you mean a powerbomb in the case of Droz, not a piledriver.
Posted By: G-Walla (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 02:08 PM
Great, we'll ban all matches with those as well!
Posted By: Kids still suck! (Guest) on July 06, 2009 at 08:42 AM
i am so pissed right now....FUCK YOU WWE!!!!!!!
Posted By: Seduso (Guest) on July 06, 2009 at 05:09 PM
You didnt buy the entire Starcade collection bc it doesnt exist. Starrcade with two "r"s is available on DVDs only in a "Best of" format, so if you own the entire collection, it is a bootleg and you are a criminal.
Dont judge us for being pissed.
Posted By: Guest#4464 (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 06:04 PM
Sorry Mr. Self Righteous, I bought EVERY SINGLE STARRCADE from a tape trader on DVD-R converted straight from the original PPV's on VHS.
*looks out window for F.B.I.*
Hell, I could have bought the original VHS and converted them myself, but this way was faster and cheaper!
All I'm saying is, if you want the real thing, it is VERY EASY to find it!
If you are only going to spend $8 bucks a month, you can expect the quality of the product to be far less superior to the original.
$8 for 40 hours of programming comes to about 20 cents an hour.
So when you watch a PPV on 24/7 you're paying about 60 cents! Compared to either the $40 for the broadcast of the PPV or $20 for the DVD!
At 60 cents a view, I'm gonna bet the PPV won't look like the original.
But go ahead and cry every time you spend $8 and don't get what you paid for. I could care less.
You're the cheapskate, not me!
Posted By: Put ur $$$ where ur mouth is! (Guest) on July 06, 2009 at 05:10 PM
Since it's pay per view, you really should be able to choose whether what you're watching is edited or not. I don't know why they can't have it the way it is now, as well as an unedited version for those of us who want to watch the shows as they were, blood, swearing, Benoit, and everything else.
How many 6 year old Cena fans really give a shit about Classics on Demand, anyway?
Posted By: Steve307 (Guest) on July 07, 2009 at 12:07 AM
