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Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, home-made WWE fan signs were often seen in WWE arenas around the world.
Granted, signs are nowhere near as popular in modern-day WWE compared to previous generations, particularly the Attitude Era, but dozens of signs still used to make it onto WWE television on every show when fans were allowed into arenas.
Interestingly, WWE Hall of Famers Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard revealed on a 2020 episode of Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast that WWE instructed security to take Four Horsemen signs away from fans in the late 1980s, simply because the group was associated with the rival NWA promotion.
While the majority of WWE signs make it past security with no issues, plenty of others have been taken away from fans before and during shows.
In this article, let’s count down five more signs that security took away from WWE fans.
#5 “Boo the woo” signs were confiscated at a WWE show
In August 2018, Becky Lynch underwent one of the most incredible character transformations in WWE history.
Having previously struggled for television time and meaningful storylines, The Irish Lass Kicker attacked Charlotte Flair following their SummerSlam Triple Threat match (also involving Carmella) in a post-match moment that was originally supposed to be viewed as a heel turn.
It soon became clear that fans were not going to let the popular Lynch turn heel, but that did not stop WWE’s decision-makers from booking her as a villain in the weeks that followed SummerSlam.
At Hell in a Cell 2018, Lynch defeated Flair to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
As you can see below, Twitter user @kimberlasskick placed “Boo the Woo” signs on seats in the arena before the show and prior to the Lynch vs. Flair match.
Although security confiscated many of the signs, some of them were still visible during the match.
Lynch, who became known as The Man around this period of time, was still being booked as a heel three weeks after Hell in a Cell when she got herself disqualified in a rematch against Flair at Super Show-Down.
Then, as the all-women’s Evolution pay-per-view approached, WWE had little choice but to let Lynch become the top babyface on the roster.
#4 Curtis Axel signs were removed from a WWE show
In 2016, Curtis Axel joined forces with fellow WWE Superstars Adam Rose, Bo Dallas and Heath Slater to form the Social Outcasts faction.
The group only lasted from January to July before they were forced to disband after the WWE Draft, with Rose (released) and Slater (free agent) being separated from Axel and Dallas (RAW).
The future B-Team members faced each other on the October 24, 2016 episode of RAW, which took place in Axel’s home state of Minnesota and in the city that he resides, Minneapolis.
Even though Axel cut a babyface promo and received loud cheers from the Minnesota fans, several signs for the former Intercontinental Champion were confiscated by security.
Writing on Twitter after the show, Axel made it clear that he was unaware why the signs were taken away.
After his Battle Royal appearance on the following week’s episode of WWE RAW, Axel only competed in one match on the show in the next five months.
He then became part of The Miz’s Miztourage alongside Dallas in June 2017, bringing an end to an eight-month spell which saw him hardly feature on RAW.
#3 Bayley signs were removed from a WWE show
WWE fans have various different ways of supporting their favorite Superstars.
During Cesaro’s run alongside Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter in 2013-14, hundreds of “Cesaro Section” signs could often be seen in the first few rows at WWE events.
A couple of years later, “Hugger Section” signs frequently appeared on RAW after Bayley moved to the red brand shortly after the 2016 WWE Draft.
In January 2017, PW Torch’s Benjamin Tucker tweeted that Bayley signs were being removed from floor seats prior to the post-Royal Rumble episode of RAW because they were not WWE merchandise.
That RAW episode saw Bayley join forces with Sheamus and Cesaro to defeat Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and Charlotte Flair in a six-person tag team match.
Bayley, who was being built up at the time as the person to end Flair’s 16-match winning streak in PPV singles matches, also appeared later in the show to save Sasha Banks from being attacked by Nia Jax.
#2 A “Where’s Hogan?” sign was removed from a WWE show
Hulk Hogan was immediately fired by WWE and removed from the Hall of Fame in July 2015 after audio emerged of him using racist language in a tape from 2006.
Although he was reinstated into the Hall of Fame and welcomed back by WWE in July 2018, Hogan was essentially erased from WWE’s history books for three years.
Midway through Hogan’s absence from WWE, a sign saying “Where’s Hogan?” appeared in the third row during a Big Show vs. Braun Strowman match on the February 20, 2017 episode of RAW.
As you can see in the video below, a member of the security team took the Hogan sign away from the fan after it could clearly be seen on television.
Hogan’s first televised appearance back in WWE came in November 2018 when he hosted the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia.
Since then, he has made sporadic appearances on WWE programming, including at Crown Jewel 2019, where he led a team of five babyface Superstars to victory over Team Ric Flair.
#1 Albert signs were removed from a WWE show
Before he became the head coach at the Performance Center in 2015, Matt Bloom performed under the names Prince Albert, A-Train and Lord Tensai during two spells with WWE.
In April 2012, Bloom returned to WWE as an in-ring competitor for the first time in seven-and-a-half years. However, instead of reverting back to his Albert or A-Train characters, he reinvented himself as Lord Tensai, and his previous gimmicks were not referenced by WWE’s commentators.
While WWE could do nothing about fans chanting “Albert” during matches, Wrestling Inc. reported that security at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. removed any signs that alluded to Bloom’s past personas.
Bloom initially received a huge push after his 2012 return, with his most notable victory coming against John Cena in an Extreme Rules match on the April 16, 2012 episode of WWE RAW.
Former WWE producer Arn Anderson revealed on his ARN podcast in 2020 that Bloom’s push came to such an abrupt end because fans did not instantly react to his new gimmick.
