Former WWE Network Employee Recalls Chris Benoit Policy Changes

A former WWE Network employee has recalled Vince McMahon changing policies relating to WWE content featuring Chris Benoit.

Following the events surrounding the deaths of Chris Benoit and his family, Benoit’s name has rarely been mentioned on official WWE programming. Speaking on the Perched on the Top Rope podcast, Marie Shadows noted that while she was with the company, policies surrounding the late talent were altered a number of times.

Explaining how rules could change from week to week, Shadows said:

“I understood where they were coming from. I was even frustrated with some of the rules they put in place. The first week I was there, you know how Chris Benoit is a very touchy subject. We have to go through lots and lots of footage.

“Depending on what they assign you, you have to be careful about what you put for the SEO. One week, ‘Chris Benoit’ is okay so make sure to tag it. Week two, the bosses come in and are like, ‘oh no, Vince doesn’t want that. Vince wants you to change it up.’”

“The workers didn’t have to do it, the supervisors had to do it, but we as the workers had to know that we couldn’t do it in the second week. The third week came and they were like, ‘Eh, it’s okay now.’ The fourth week they were like, ‘never mind, don’t worry about it, we’ll take care of everything.’

“I understood fans when they were complaining about the WWE Network and ‘this didn’t work’ and ‘that didn’t work.’ I had those frustrations over there working with them.”

Marie left WWE in October 2020. A lot of WWE employees were let go earlier this year during the company’s media department merger. The merger reportedly led to several WWE Network projects being shelved, or having their releases delayed.

Quote via Ringside News.

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• Policy
• WWE Network
• Chris Benoit
• Vince McMahon

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