WWE forced to censor The Rock’s iconic moment for shocking reason and fans are furious-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

Not everyone heard what The Rock had to say (Picture: WWE)

WWE viewers were left fuming during SmackDown as censoring and blackouts ‘ruined’ an epic opening with The Rock.

Dwayne Johnson is back in the world of professional wrestling in the buildup to WrestleMania 40 and he set the stage for a dream match pitting himself and Roman Reigns against Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.

However, fans across the United States watching on Fox missed out on big chunks of the opening segment as the screen blacked out and audio was cut.

It’s seen been revealed the reason for the ‘technical issues’ – which didn’t impact fans watching in the UK on TNT Sports – was because of a sign being held in full view directed at Dwayne himself.

The sign read ‘Die Rocky Die’ – a reference to his early, much less popular, stint in WWE – while it’s believed some offensive chants were also cut out where possible.

It’s safe to say fans weren’t happy with the situation.

This sign was deemed too much for TV (Picture: WWE)

Instead, fans in the US saw blackouts on screen (Picture: WWE)

‘One of the most important segment of this era ruined by this technical issues 😭 #SMACKDOWN,’ ranted one fan on X, as another viewer complained: ‘Fox having these technical difficulties during the Rocks promo is criminal #SmackDown’

‘Smackdown gotta fix these technical difficulties,’ added a third person, with a different fan tweeting: ‘Either my tv keeps cutting out or WWE needs to fire some technical people #Smackdown’

Others pointed out it was a ‘horrible time for technical difficulties’, with yet another fan writing: ‘@WWE just know yall ruined an iconic segment with the censoring #SmackDown’

The Bloodline’s epic moment didn’t go as planned for many viewers (Picture: WWE)

Fans were baffled and frustrated by the situation, as The Rock was in his element embracing a villainous role for the first time in decades, while there were intense developments in The Bloodline saga.

Just as the People’s Champion was about to complete his memorable ‘If ya smell what The Rock is cooking’ catchphrase, Roman interrupted him and urged his cousin to ‘acknowledge him’.

To the dismay and shock of fans around the world, The Rock did just that, referring the champion as his Tribal Chief.

Some fans had then urged WWE to help out viewers in the US, with one person writing: ‘Hopefully @wwe posts the uncut version of @TheRock and @WWERomanReigns! Legendary promos are being ruined by blackouts and muted audio. #SmackDown’

Roman Reigns will be wrestling twice over WrestleMania weekend (Picture: WWE)

Thankfully, the company has done so with the whole segment available to watch for fans around the world on YouTube.

Hopefully the issues will be ironed out for next week, when Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins are set to answer The Rock and Roman’s challenge.

In a dramatic twist, if Cody and Seth win on night one, then the former’s title match against Roman will be free of interference from The Bloodline, while a loss will mean he’ll challenge the champ under Bloodline Rules where anything goes.

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