By Wade Keller, Torch editor

WWE fans had all of their home made signs confiscated at a recent UK tour stop. The UK Sun detailed the circumstances, citing that security just decided to confiscate all signs because WWE's list of dos and don'ts were too long. Story Excerpt:

Despite WWE claims that the mass confiscation was not their fault, a worker at the National Indoor Arena told us the banners were removed due to a draconian list of do's and don'ts provided by the federation.

It is believed the federation were particularly sensitive about posters for King Booker and Sharmell - who officially left the company this week.

The NIA insider revealed: "Our security team were given a massive list of very specific names and phrases that people could and couldn't have.

"Obviously lots of families were bringing four or five signs with them, and with the long queues and more than 10,000 fans attending we couldn't look at them all.

"The security team don't know about wrestling, and the WWE weren't helping on the door.

"That meant the only way to get people in for the start of the show, but not let through any banned names, was to take all signs away."

The story also talks about Andy Simmons, a wrestler with the IPW:UK promotion, getting a lot of TV exposure against Umaga.

Full Article Link

WK ANALYSIS: I understand why fans get upset when their homemade signs get confiscated at the door. I also understand WWE's perspective. I doubt "The Price is Right" would allow fans to bring in signs that said, "Bob Barker = Creepy Sex Fiend" or "We Want Rosie, not Drew!" WWE is running a TV show and the fans are part of it, and by attending a show, WWE has a certain latitude to control what amounts to part of the set - the fans, who are a cross between observers and extras in the TV show.

The problem comes in with hypocrisy, because Vince McMahon talks in and out of character about "freedom of speech" and wanting to hear from the fans. That message encourages fans to show up with signs WWE may not want on TV.

Obviously, confiscating all signs at the door is not what WWE wanted, but it sounds like the demands placed on security were overwhelming for them, whose first concern is guns and knives. WWE should hire a few extra spies to just check out fan signs during the show and confiscate the obviously disruptive ones that are on the hard camera side before going live.

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