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Wrestling fans might be used to hearing occasional strong language on WWE shows, but Brits were left celebrating after one word slipped past the bleepers on this week’s Raw.

While WWE is still said to be in the midst of a PG Era, there have been notable exceptions in recent weeks and months.

Rhodes was insulting The Rock and Reigns when the expletive slipped past the censors
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Rhodes was insulting The Rock and Reigns when the expletive slipped past the censorsCredit: WWE

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, for instance, has regularly had the censors with their fingers on the button after stinging blasts to the likes of WrestleMania opponents Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.

Rhodes, by contrast, is so often the mild-mannered, family friendly jewel in the WWE crown, so it would have come as a surprise last week to hear the former All Elite Wrestling star brand Johnson an a******.

While that outburst was duly blanked out by censors who were quick to momentarily cut the audio to avoid the word being broadcast,  there was no such occurrence on the most recent episode of Monday Night Raw when Rhodes again had the mic in hand.

Criticising his Mania foe, WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Rhodes chucked in a swear word famed mostly in the UK – and it escaped uncensored.

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Referring to Reigns, the real life cousin of The Rock, Rhodes said: “Clearly I respect the Tribal Chief.

"But make no mistake about it, I am aware that Roman Reigns is the man who screwed me out of the biggest dream I ever had in my life at last year's WrestleMania.

"So although I respect you Roman Reigns, please understand - I hate your guts. And it's totally fine with me if you hate me too. 

“I mean, it's my fault that you and your cousin can't have this w*** fest at WrestleMania that you wanted to have."

The Rock went on to enter the ring and more words were exchanged
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The Rock went on to enter the ring and more words were exchangedCredit: WWE

Rhodes was referring to the reportedly planned clash between Rock and Reigns for Mania, which Johnson himself is said to have shelved following backlash from fans.

But while censors may have missed the curse in question, Brits took incredible delight in it.

Cameras cut away as abusive banner aimed at The Rock is spotted in the crowd at WWE Smackdown

“Did Cody Rhodes just mention a…w*** fest? Did I just hear that right?,” while another added: “This line really made me chuckle.”

“cody rodes sayin w*** fest LIVE on wwe monday night raw WAS PRICELESS,” read another.

Another poster on X said: “A W*** fest!!?? Cody speaking my language,” with a further user saying: “pretty sure that’s not PG.”

If WWE are producing PG content on its television programmes currently, there will undoubtedly be a shift in tone and styles next year when the company heads to Netflix. 

In the UK, Raw, SmackDown and all major Premium Live Events such as WrestleMania and SummerSlam will be shown via the streaming giant.

It comes as Netflix secured a mammoth deal to secure the rights to wrestling’s biggest brand, which is said to be worth $5bn (almost £4bn) over ten years.

The move will also see Raw pulled from linear television broadcast for the first time in its 30-plus year history.

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