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It never hurts to double check. That might just be one of the lessons WWE needs to revisit this week as they now face real backlash from fans, casual observers and especially the Auschwitz memorial after they included a picture of the Auschwitz concentration camp in the promo pack for the have game between Dominik and Rey Mysterio. The Auschwitz Memorial released a statement on the matter early Wednesday morning. tweet “The fact that the image of Auschwitz was used to promote a WWE match is hard to qualify as an ‘editing error.’ The exploitation of the site, which has become the symbol of a tremendous human tragedy, is shameless and an insult to the memory of all victims of Auschwitz.” NPR reached out to WWE for comment and received no response as of the morning of April 6.
While the promotional footage featured Dom talking extensively about his time in prison, WWE used copious amounts of b-roll and archival prison footage throughout the video package. Unfortunately, a picture of Auschwitz appeared, which was immediately noticed by fans. However, when the same video package was played back later that night, the same image of Auschwitz had already been removed. It also no longer appears during any of the highlights narrating WrestleMania 39, particularly Night One.
Of course, this isn’t the first time WWE has sparked controversy related to Nazis or the Holocaust. Recently, they briefly brought back former superstar Brian Kendrick, despite his past comments on the Holocaust. Meanwhile, as late as last month, Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER denied that Imperium had anything to do with fascism. Months earlier, WWE had moved to trademark the name “Gunther Stark,” which also happened to be the name of a Nazi submarine commander during World War II, before abandoning its attempts after learning that context .