Former Spike TV Exec Recalls Conversations With Vince McMahon, Spike Censoring WWE Before Move To USA Network

A passage from the ‘BEYOND NITRO’ book.

The former Spike exec said McMahon would tell him he did not know what he was doing in his role.

Guy Evans is promoting his book titled ‘BEYOND NITRO: Untold Stories from the WCW era (NITRO Book Collection 2).’ 

A passage from the book was sent to Fightful and it had to do with WWE’s relationship with Spike TV before the sports entertainment company moved to USA Network. On the final Monday Night Raw on Spike broadcast, then-CEO Vince McMahon attempted to address the change in networks but was censored.

WWE commentators were censored as well when talking about the switch. Below is the write-up from the book which includes comments from former Spike exec Kevin Kay:

ON APRIL 4, 2005, WWE announced it had struck a three-year deal to move Monday Night Raw back to USA Network, its original home from 1993 to 2000. As a result of the change, Spike TV – previously known as the TNN Network at the time the deal began – suddenly found itself out of the wrestling business, just five years after making a major financial commitment for the program. In the entertainment press, it was framed as an empowering move for the now-displaced network: Spike TV smacks down WWE, shouted one Variety headline. “After several months of negotiations,” a network representative told the publication, “we have decided to end our discussions about extending our relationship with the WWE beyond September 2005. Moving forward, Spike TV will expand its investments in original programming and new acquisitions for its core audience.”

The relationship – as evidenced on the final Spike-hosted episode of Raw – had not ended well. In an ostensible show of pettiness, WWE decided to use its remaining airtime on Spike to flagrantly ‘promote’ its upcoming return to USA, mentioning the switch at every possible turn. The stunt led to frequent audio dropouts and a makeshift graphic declaring “technical difficulties” to be at the root of the problem.

In a statement later issued to WWE.com, McMahon claimed it had merely been an act of self-defense:

Last night’s final broadcast of Monday Night RAW on Spike TV was marred by a senseless decision by the network. At the top of the show, Vince McMahon acknowledged that both Spike and WWE had come a long way in the last five years and thanked Spike for its successful partnership with WWE.

During McMahon’s speech, the audio mysteriously dropped out in mid sentence. For the first time in a five-year relationship, Spike censored WWE. Not for language, nudity or violence, but for an apparently more grievous offense, the utterance of the phrase ‘USA Network.’

When WWE attempted to inform fans that McMahon’s full comments could be found on WWE.com, Spike again censored the content.

Then the battle began.

Executive Vice President of Television Production Kevin Dunn was shocked by the continuing censorship and decided it was time for the gloves to come off.

“At the end of the day, it was our job to tell our fans where they can watch next week’s Monday Night RAW,” said Dunn. “It was an obligation we took very seriously. Initially, we were going to inform the fans of the move to USA in a very judicious and fair fashion. But Spike started censoring us right from the beginning. And then they censored us again later on when we attempted to inform our fans that Vince McMahon’s comments were available on WWE.com.

“At that point, we began to fight back.”

What followed were several back-and-forth conversations among RAW commentators Jim Ross, Jerry The King Lawler and Jonathon Coachman where the three mentioned USA Network on numerous occasions.

“We went overboard,” admitted Vince McMahon. “But we did it in a very entertaining fashion. What we did was not mean spirited in any way. What Spike did, however, was mean spirited. At no time leading up to Monday night did Spike TV ever call us and say, ‘Okay, this is what we won’t allow.’ We had no warning whatsoever. So for us it was business as usual.”

As if the parting of ways hadn’t been messy enough, WWE revealed it had contacted Spike with three parting questions:

WWE.com contacted Spike TV Tuesday morning in an attempt to get their views on censoring Vince McMahon, as well as their overall relationship with WWE. Robert Pini of Spike TV was asked the following three questions:

1. What did you think of the final RAW on Spike TV?

2. Do you have any comments on the five-year partnership between Spike TV and World Wrestling Entertainment?

3. Why did your network censor Vince McMahon’s comments on RAW?

The only answer WWE.com received from these three questions was, “We had a good five years with WWE and we wish you well.”

“It turned ugly,” acknowledges Kevin Kay, then the General Manager/Executive Vice President of Spike TV and later, President of the Network. “First of all, we never saw anything until it was delivered to the NOC [Network Operation Center] out of Hauppauge, Long Island. They basically did the show live, so we didn’t know what the hell they were going to do. We had a standards and practices person sitting out in [Long Island] who would bleep stuff, but that was the extent of our creative involvement in WWE. They just did the show – and it happened [just like that].

“Every once in a while, I would go up to see Vince in Connecticut, just to be a good partner and basically…have him tell me that I didn’t know what I was doing!”

Another passage from the book had to do with the designer of the n.W.o. logo. To read more, head over to this link.