WWE Issues Apology Following Controversial WrestleMania Video Package

By Liam Crowley

As per tradition for its premium live events, WWE assembles video packages that serve as teaser trailers for upcoming matches, catching fans up on the weeks (and sometimes months) of build for the feud at hand. These promo packages are one of the many things that cement WWE as the global leader in sports-entertainment, as their production quality often rivals that of major film studios. While most promo package material is content from past episodes of Monday Night Raw and WWE SmackDown, WWE occasionally uses stock footage to set the scene or fill in gaps.

That occurred this past weekend at WWE WrestleMania 39 in the hype video for Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio. This storyline featured Dominik getting "arrested" at one point, leading him to adopt an ex-con persona into his character. As a result, WWE pumped in stock imagery of prisons for the promo package.

As noticed by fans on social media, the original Dominik vs. Rey promo package featured a snapshot of Auschwitz. This was shown on the WWE WrestleMania 39 pre-show but was quickly corrected by the time it aired on the proper broadcast.

WWE has since addressed this, issuing the following statement... 

"We had no knowledge of what was depicted. As soon as we learned, it was removed immediately."

This comes shortly after the Auschwitz Memorial Twitter account criticized WWE for the move, casting doubt on labelling it as an editing mistake.

Related:

"The fact that Auschwitz image was used to promote a WWE match is hard to call 'an editing mistake'. Exploiting the site that became a symbol of enormous human tragedy is shameless and insults the memory of all victims of Auschwitz," @AuschwitzMuseum wrote on Twitter.

For more information on the Auschwitz Memorial, you can visit its official website here.

Trending Now: