For the past few months, a strange unseen presence has been infiltrating WWE programming on the SmackDown brand, originally as a seeming glitch in the production. But on April 3, a voice (albeit distorted) was put behind the SmackDown hacker, who finally revealed “The Truth” behind the situation involving Mandy Rose and Otis – that ultimately uncovered the plot between Sonya Deville and Dolph Ziggler.
This past Friday on SmackDown, the Smackdown hacker returned to pledge their mission of uncovering the truth of what was really going on behind the scenes, showing clips of such SmackDown stars as Daniel Bryan, Miz & Morrison, the New Day, Bayley, and more.
Now that this SmackDown hacker has emerged from their shadows – at least vocally – they have now launched on Twitter, sending out yet another warning to the SmackDown brand on Tuesday afternoon.
꓅̵̦̺̼̐̀ꑛ̴̖̟̖̰́̆̍͆ꍟ̷̹̔ ̵͖̺̳̻́͆͛̔꓅̵̡̣̆̀꒓̸͕̥̋̚͠ͅꐇ̴͔̤̅͊̚͘꓅̶͎̍͆ꑛ̵͓̊̿̌ ̴̼̮͍̻̊̏͒̀ꅐ̶͇̂̚ꂑ̴̧͖͊̈꒒̶̧͇͚̃̀̆꒒̷̟͂̀̑͘ ̶̝̻͠ꃃ̵̱̦̩͇̈̏ꍟ̸̬̜́̋͜ ̸̤̞̠̿̕ꑛ̶͔̪̟͙̒̒̃̇ꍟ̷̥͉͆ꋫ̶̢̱̀꒓̷̮̔̽̒̄ꁕ̴̛͚͇̈̓.̵̨̡͉̥̈́̊͑͝ pic.twitter.com/j4ynaoyj1X
— The Message (@TheMessageWWE) April 21, 2020
What’s interesting about the Twitter account is that while The Message – as the SmackDown hacker has called their handle on the popular Social Media platform – only posted their first tweet on Tuesday afternoon, it clearly states that the account itself has been active since 2010. The coordinates on the profile, 33.1284° N, 107.2528° W, are those of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, but other more tech-savvy fans have uncovered that the original account belonged to the Stand Up For WWE campaign that WWE launched in 2010. This was also confirmed by Fightful‘s Sean Ross Sapp.
Yep. He's right https://t.co/N3r1rqU1g9 pic.twitter.com/Iu5YHeEd9K
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) April 21, 2020
On one hand, it’s an interesting plot development that the SmackDown hacker would hack into and take over a previous WWE account, but there’s also a haunting irony that the account they took over belonged to a WWE campaign in 2010 that was set in motion to deflect unkind media reports about WWE business practices. “The nearly 600 full-time WWE employees, as well as its 140 Superstars, all work for one reason – to put smiles on people’s faces,” Vince McMahon said during the Stand Up For WWE launch in 2010. “The inaccurate media reports about our company are not only an injustice but an insult to our millions of fans worldwide.” With growing media reports souring on WWE’s business practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Black Wednesday that saw dozens and dozens of WWE Superstars and hundreds of WWE employees lose their jobs, it’s fitting that the SmackDown hacker would choose to pick the account that was originally intended to soften the blows of the likes of recent events. The hacker even posted his message soon after it was revealed that a WWE employee had filed a complaint with the Orange County Board of County Commissioners about being “forced” to work despite health regulations and that they feared for their job. Of course, WWE was quick to dispute this report as well.
At Tuesday's Orange County Board of County Commissioners meeting, a #WWE employee named "John" submitted public comment they're being "forced to work" TV tapings despite stay at home orders. Says he's unable to speak out and feels he will be fired if he approaches his higher-ups. pic.twitter.com/UJTvX1RGc7
— Jon Alba (@JonAlba) April 21, 2020
As for the identity of the SmackDown hacker, fan theories have been popping up all week, but the circular patterns on the hacker’s screen sure look an awful lot like a symbol last seen on a WWE Superstar whose been off TV since December of 2019…
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. WWE fan? Turn to the WWE Network for all of your wrestling needs and catch SmackDown every Friday night at 8PM ET on FOX.
