Ex-WWE VOD Director Claims Blurring WWF Logo on WWE Network Was a Career Low

WWE is known as the global giant of wrestling, and it has been prevalent for over four decades. However, one of the most hardcore section of fans still remember the classic days of the company, known as WWF, in the 1990s.

Following a lawsuit, the promotion had to change its name in 2001 and was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Today, fans watching archived footage of WWE events on the WWE Network may have noticed that the old WWF logos are blurred out.

In a conversation with Conrad Thompson on Insiders, former WWE Director of VOD and Supervising Producer John Carlan explained the process behind blurring the logo. Carlan described it as one of the most challenging periods of his career. Due to a lawsuit from an overseas promoter with a similar promotion name, all WWF logos had to be removed from graphics.

The former WWE employee revealed that the process consumed hundreds of hours, with editors often working overnight to blur logos in numerous cuts, especially in ECW shows. He also stated that The Attitude Era footage was particularly difficult, requiring constant adjustments to ensure the logos were covered without being noticeable. In the end, Carlan described this period as torture, with blurring dominating their work for five years.

“Wrestling Challenge, there was a promoter overseas that had a promotion called Wrestling Challenge, and he sued us and won. Something like that. Any graphics, we had to take it out. I’ll tell you what. The WWF blurring was one of the most miserable times of my career. We spent hours upon hours upon hours. At one point, I think we got the fat WWF (logo) okayed at the beginning. That was our first step. Then, finally, everything got cleared. I’m talking hundreds of hours just on blurring. Not even producing the show. Just blurring the damn show with me or any of our staff or an editor. We would hand off five shows to the overnight editor and have him bang through them overnight. He would do a lot of ECW shows overnight. There were 10, 20, 30 cuts on an ECW show that would have to be done. I would set them up and have him mix them together overnight. Blurring dominated our lives for five years. It was that bad. Those Attitude Era shows? A disaster. Disaster. We had to cover up the bug. The bug to lineup was tricky because you didn’t want to see it pop, and it popped a lot. We had to make sure it covered and then it would (move around). It was torture.” 

While the classic days of WWF have been replaced by the modern era of WWE, fans will always have a special place in their heart for the classic product that featured the likes of Stone Cold, The Rock, The Undertaker and Triple H.

What are your thoughts on the process of blurring the WWF logo from an old video, as revealed by former WWE employee John Carlan? Sound off in the comments!