WWE Apologizes To Fans After Offensive WrestleMania Video
WWE held its biggest event of the year with WrestleMania and it had some major highs and some devastating lows. However, on the first night of the event, there was a video played before a match that had an insensitive image included.
WWE has since apologized for the video, but some fans still wonder how the company allowed that specific image to be included at all.
WWE shows insensitve WrestleMania video
One of the most anticipated matches from WrestleMania this year featured luchador legend Rey Mysterio battling his son Dominik. Rey has been a legend in WWE for years and has become one of the most respected superstars in company history. His son Dominik, 26, has been involved in WWE since he was a child.
When he was just eight, he was involved in a storyline with his father and the late Eddie Guerrero. In 2020, at the age of 23, Dominik made his in-ring debut and he began working with and teaming with his father. They ended up becoming the first father-son tag team champions in company history.
However, in 2022, Dominik turned on his father and joined the Judgment Day faction. He started tormenting his dad, interfering in his matches, attacking him, and challenging him to fight. This led to some vignettes at the Mysterio family home where Dominik showed up at Thanksgiving to attack his dad and then showed up at Christmas.
In the Christmas vignette, Rey had Dominik arrested for trespassing, and that led to some hilarious moments for the next few months. While the storyline explained Dominik only spent a few hours in holding before getting bailed out, he came out saying “prison can change a man.” He then proceeded to talk about how bad he was after that experience.
Jumping ahead, Dominik finally got Rey to accept the match at WrestleMania when he disrespected his mother. That led to WWE giving Dominik an over-the-top entrance. It all started with a video. The idea was that a prison van drove Dominik into the stadium and he was led to the ring in handcuffs. Before this happened, there was a video that showed a prison to emphasize that Dominik was there.
WWE apologizes for Auschwitz in WrestleMania video
Unfortunately, the prison they showed was Auschwitz, a German concentration camp and extermination center. Over a million Jewish men, women, and children were killed there during World War II. There is no telling why WWE chose to include this image in the Dominik Mysterio WrestleMania video. The only thought is the person who put it together didn’t recognize Auschwitz. However, people watching at home noticed. Any WWE fan who had personal traumatic memories of this terrible place was surely shaken up when it appeared on their TV screen. After the video began circulating, WWE went into crisis mode and issued a public apology.
So WWE used footage of Auschwitz in the Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio video package that aired on its pre-show. Relevant shot is at about the 15-second mark. What an unforced error that is. pic.twitter.com/DbZY9BOOx5
— Kenny (@fusionaddict) April 2, 2023
WWE claims they had “no knowledge of what was depicted. As soon as we learned, it was removed immediately”(via The Washington Post). Despite the apology, someone had to sign off on the video for it to appear on WWE’s biggest show of the year. There is no word on who let this blunder slip by.
WWE has since replaced this image on its replays on Peacock with a generic photo with barbed wire. This comes at a bad time for WWE. Endeavor, the same company that owns the UFC, bought WWE the day after WrestleMania.
What are your thoughts on the Auschwitz footage appearing in a WrestleMania video? Was WWE’s apology enough? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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my opinion of WWE has really changed because of all the blatant cheating with Roman Reigns & the Jimmy & Jay Ooso’ & solo! Roman has yet to win Any match with interferences from them!;Even from Paul Hayman! Cody Rhodes was the rightful owner of that Championship!!