At last week’s NXT tapings at the WWE Performance Center, a representative for the Wrestling Observer/F4W website was escorted out of the building after tweeting about the tapings.
JJ Williams is a well-known fan at the NXT tapings going back to 2014 and has been a correspondent for the Observer/F4W site throughout the years.
Williams tweeted about the incident on Thursday outlining that security had photos deleted from his phone and was escorted off the property noting his social media was being monitored. Williams believed he was singled out for his affiliation with the website while others tweeted results.
Last week I was singled out and removed from the tv taping due to my association with WONF4W.
Security took a picture of my ID, had me delete the photos from my phone and escorted me off the property.
My time and devotion will no longer be given to their company going forward.
— JJ Williams (@JJWilliamsWON) July 29, 2021
POST Wrestling has reached out to WWE asking about this situation and has yet to receive a response. The following questions were sent to a WWE representative:
– Is there a specific protocol in place for people tweeting out results?
– Are media members exempt from such protocols?
– Is there any official statement regarding this person being escorted out of the Performance Center and having photos deleted from his phone
POST also spoke with Williams who stated that there has never been a clear policy for anyone except him especially regarding videos being captured on his phone.
He said his first major issue occurred during the second Mae Young Classic tournament in 2018 where he was told he would be thrown out if he tweeted results. Later, the site reached out to WWE officials and was told that Williams was not an issue and there was no edict to shut him down and it had been a misunderstanding.
Regardless, Williams told us he did not tweet out results after that.
Last week’s taping was a rarity for NXT that moved away from bulk tapings once they launched on the USA Network in September 2019.
At last week’s taping, Williams had been tweeting each match-up and then added to the tweet with the result after the match finished without using the hashtag.
During the taping, he was approached by a ticket operator and security member, who Williams said was just doing their jobs as an unknown producer oversaw that the photos were deleted from Williams’ phone and was escorted off the property.
Williams was not credentialed as media as he always went through the e-mail process to obtain tickets that other fans go through.
If we receive a statement and response from WWE, we will update this story.
