WWE has already figured out how to prevent inappropriate images from airing on their shows.
As noted earlier this week, a fan says he was banned after he displayed a “Fire Velveteen Dream” sign at SummerSlam on Sunday night. On Monday, fans watching at home spotted an image of Chris Benoit during the opening segment and KKK imagery in the closing segment.
Bryan Alvarez noted on Wrestling Observer Live that WWE will look to trusted fans to be shown in front of the hard camera.
Alvarez said, “I have been told that they are going to be making some changes and I don’t know this for sure but the impression that I get is – when they’ve been doing this for a while, they are going to find some fans that are going to obey the rules no matter what. Maybe they’ve done it for 3 shows already and we’ve had Jesse who was in our chat who was on Raw.”
“She’s not going to hold up some goofy sign,” Alvarez continued. “She can be trusted and they’re finding other people that can be trusted and I believe what they’re gonna do is they are going find all of the people that they can trust who have done this before and are trustworthy and they are going to be in the lower bowl and then everybody who they don’t necessarily trust, the first-timers, they are gonna throw them into the upper bowl. They could put a volcano up on the screen and you’re not gonna be able to see it because it’s way up there in the upper bowl.”
One of WWE’s trusted superfans, “Sign Guy” Rick Achberger, could be seen in front of the hard cam this past Monday on Raw. You can expect to see more of the same faces on shows in the coming weeks.
You can click here to see the Benoit image shown on Raw and click here to see the KKK imagery. The Velveteen Dream sign can be seen at this link.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Wrestling Observer Live with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription