WWE apologizes for utilizing Auschwitz picture in preview present

LOS ANGELES — World Wrestling Entertainment apologized Friday for utilizing a picture from the Auschwitz focus camp to advertise certainly one of its matches in the course of the first evening of WrestleMania 39 final weekend.

The picture was utilized in a promotional bundle for the match between Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio on a preview present on April 1.

“We had no knowledge of what was depicted. As soon as we learned, it was removed immediately. We apologize for this error,” the WWE stated in a press release.

The storyline between father and son included Dominik Mysterio going to jail after being concerned in an incident together with his father throughout Christmas. The picture of Auschwitz appeared as Dominik stated within the promo “You think this is a game to me? I served hard time. And I survived.”

The picture from the focus camp in Oświęcim, Poland, the place 1.1 million folks had been murdered by the Nazis throughout World War II, was changed by inventory footage of barbed wire and an empty jail cell within the promo earlier than the match and in replays.

Some wrestling followers observed the usage of the Auschwitz picture. It drew extra consideration after the Auschwitz Memorial museum posted on Twitter on Wednesday that utilizing the picture “is hard to call an editing mistake.”

“Exploiting the site that became a symbol of enormous human tragedy is shameless and insults the memory of all victims of Auschwitz,” the memorial stated in a press release.

Rey Mysterio, who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame final week, defeated his son within the match.

WrestleMania 39 at SoFi Stadium drew 161,892 and set stadium single-day data on each nights. It additionally was the most-streamed occasion on Peacock since final yr’s Super Bowl.

The two-night present additionally got here on the eve of the McMahon household agreeing to a merger with the corporate that runs Ultimate Fighting Championship.