How The Rock's "Rock Concert" Promo Managed to Navigate FOX Network Censorship

There has been a recent update on the situation surrounding The Rock's promo during WWE SmackDown and FOX's reaction to the language used.

In a memorable moment for WWE fans, The Rock delivered a special 'Rock Concert' in Memphis, TN, marking the first occurrence in over a decade. The Rock, also a TKO board member, is renowned for his unfiltered promos, but the choice of words this time may have caused some discomfort backstage.

Speculation has arisen about whether Rock's use of profanity caused discontent among fellow talent, though this has not been definitively confirmed. Rock himself hinted in an Instagram post that his language might have led to friction with "networks" and "standards & practices."

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio provided insight suggesting that the situation may not be as controversial as believed. According to Meltzer, The Rock's promos are reviewed by FOX in advance, allowing any necessary censorship of profanity before airing.

"The deal with the TV, what they have to do is, FOX gets the script ahead of time so they know when to bleep. Because the whole thing, the Rock promo, obviously it’s completely scripted. If it was anyone else, they would just be not allowed to say it, but with The Rock, it’s like, he can say whatever he wants, but they know what he’s gonna say and when he’s gonna say it, so anything they wanna bleep out, they will bleep out. And they know when to bleep it out because they’re told ahead of time. So that’s kind of the gist of the promo and why certain things were bleeped out and everything like that, and they didn’t miss on anything."

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— Ben Jordan Kerin Mar 18, 2024 09:27AM