Dazz Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 So PWInsider have a column where the site creator Dave Scherer or his number 2 Mike Johnson answer questions from wrestling fans cocnerning various things about the business, past, present and even future (things like "do you see Austin vs Punk happening" etc). I just read today's and it had an interesting question from a fan (which I will bold) and then the answer from PWInsider, with the interesting part also bolded just to help give another perspective on why WWE is PG now. Q. I've been out of touch with wrestling for a while. Watched it religiously until a few years back. I keep up with it enough to know what a few of my favorite stars are up to but I'm not 'in the know' anymore. My question is what caused this shift in target audiences - going from a pretty mature product to this current PG rating. It just seems like such a drastic change to me. The Attitude Era was wildly successful for a long time. Sure, you have to change the formula to keep things fresh but like I said, a full shift in the targeted demographic seems drastic. A. Vince McMahon made the decision to change the direction in a effort to get into relationships with big companies, such as Mattel. Also keep in mind that this kind of product has always been his view of the business. The Attitude Era was largely forced on him by the fact that WCW was beating him. Now with no competition, he is going back to what he is comfortable with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avenger. Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 I think people forget that before the AE, WWE was PG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clique Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 Makes sense, it wasn't all about sex throughout the 70's and 80's. People freak out over the whole PG thing, it's still wrestling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King RyderFan Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 I think people forget that before the AE, WWE was PG. This. Even the start of the AE was PG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazz Posted September 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 Exactly you guys and like I keep saying elsewhere, CHIKARA is even MORE PG than WWE is but they still have awesome matches, cool gimmicks and great storylines. PG isn't killing WWE, it's the horrible booking and matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poe Øhlin Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 That's probably the best explanation for it really. Heck, I've seen a few mid Attiude Era shows that were rated PG, so it's not like they went from being R to PG. It's just the way it's presented, written, and performed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEGION Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 Exactly you guys and like I keep saying elsewhere, CHIKARA is even MORE PG than WWE is but they still have awesome matches, cool gimmicks and great storylines. PG isn't killing WWE, it's the horrible booking and matches. The matches are pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Evil Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 Exactly you guys and like I keep saying elsewhere, CHIKARA is even MORE PG than WWE is but they still have awesome matches, cool gimmicks and great storylines. PG isn't killing WWE, it's the horrible booking and matches. The matches are pretty good. I enjoy them as well for the most part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Generations Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 Which is why Vince needs to let HHH have control of the product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazz Posted September 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 Exactly you guys and like I keep saying elsewhere, CHIKARA is even MORE PG than WWE is but they still have awesome matches, cool gimmicks and great storylines. PG isn't killing WWE, it's the horrible booking and matches. The matches are pretty good. I enjoy them as well for the most part. I honestly haven't enjoyed a WWE match in years. They look like they're going through the motions and there's no excitement but that's just my opinion. Hell, I don't even watch WWE any more, gave that up full time in October 2009, just watched maybe 6 shows total since then and haven't been very impressed. Anyway, the subject is the PG stuff and not how I feel about WWE. Which is why Vince needs to let HHH have control of the product. This. Triple H and Regal both campaigned not to have the Diva Search cause they wanted to get actual wrestling talent and not models. Triple H helped scout Sara Del Ray, widely regarded as one of the best women wrestlers in the world today. I'd probably start watching once he's had a few months in charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HellHammer Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 I liked WWE when it was PG before the Attitude era, but that was at a much less politically correct time. Even Bret Hart recently said that it wasn't really defined back then, now you have so many rules, guidelines, and other things..I guess it's the sponsors who are very sensitive nowadays if something goes wrong. Wasn't it an investor that called, and complained to Vince about Daniel Bryan choking out Justin Roberts with the tie? Or was that proven false? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Dreadful Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 i read a couple years ago, that another reason why WWE went PG was because they were loosing sponsors and the sponsors Vince was trying to get turned them down. I liked WWE when it was PG before the Attitude era, but that was at a much less politically correct time. Even Bret Hart recently said that it wasn't really defined back then, now you have so many rules, guidelines, and other things..I guess it's the sponsors who are very sensitive nowadays if something goes wrong. Wasn't it an investor that called, and complained to Vince about Daniel Bryan choking out Justin Roberts with the tie? Or was that proven false? i do remember hearing that. i think that was true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muur Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 I honestly haven't enjoyed a WWE match in years. They look like they're going through the motions and there's no excitement but that's just my opinion. Hell, I don't even watch WWE any more, gave that up full time in October 2009, just watched maybe 6 shows total since then and haven't been very impressed. Anyway, the subject is the PG stuff and not how I feel about WWE. Then you cannot have an opinion on it then. If you haven't watched in years, then obviously you haven't seen a good match in years. Duh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mango kid Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 jay z once said men lie women lie numbers dont and the numbers say sense wwe went pg the revenue has gone up compare to before then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raddad88 Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 Exactly you guys and like I keep saying elsewhere, CHIKARA is even MORE PG than WWE is but they still have awesome matches, cool gimmicks and great storylines. PG isn't killing WWE, it's the horrible booking and matches. YOU WIN. Seriously, I don't know how people don't understand this kinda thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mango kid Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 yeah and look at the 80s some of the best matchs in wrestling history and they didnt need blood or cursing honesty idont no if anyone bled in the 80s but i nver watch it so idk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soap Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 Cheesehead wrote some good post a long time ago on PG in this AW thread. I ignored ir because it had nothing to do with what I was talking about in that thread but it would make sense here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broski Barrage Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 Exactly you guys and like I keep saying elsewhere, CHIKARA is even MORE PG than WWE is but they still have awesome matches, cool gimmicks and great storylines. PG isn't killing WWE, it's the horrible booking and matches. Try telling that PG isn't killing wwe to the stupid youtube wrestling community and the Spoiled Attitude Era Smarks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarGreymon77 Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 WWE seems to forget, the PG rating can be stretched A LOT farther than they push it. They don't even try to do anything with it. Just look at WCW and even the WWF at one time. That said, to hell with PG. I'll take my (unfiltered) WWF Attitude anyday. Oh wait. WWE pulled a lot of the footage from the internet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faster Than Light Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 Exactly you guys and like I keep saying elsewhere, CHIKARA is even MORE PG than WWE is but they still have awesome matches, cool gimmicks and great storylines. PG isn't killing WWE, it's the horrible booking and matches. Try telling that PG isn't killing wwe to the stupid youtube wrestling community and the Spoiled Attitude Era Smarks Agreed. You can do a lot of good things with the PG rating, hell you don't need to stretch it. WWE could be better if they utilized talent better, didn't employ failed sit-com writers or what ever other monkeys they have during creative meetings. Terrible booking is also a big problem as well. The PG era could be better then the Attitude Era by a wide margin if they fixed all these problems. "Vince is a millionaire that should be a billionaire" - CM Punk If anything, people will look back and say the PG era is terrible, but they will point out the wrong reason why the PG era is terrible. Not the rating, but the incompetence at corporate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
★CrossRhodes★ Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 I don't care that it's PG. I enjoy the product. They just need better creative writers and better gimmicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scott Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 WWE seems to forget, the PG rating can be stretched A LOT farther than they push it. They don't even try to do anything with it. Just look at WCW and even the WWF at one time. That said, to hell with PG. I'll take my (unfiltered) WWF Attitude anyday. Oh wait. WWE pulled a lot of the footage from the internet. That's a bit of a misnomer. TV didn't even have a rating system until January 1, 1997. In the early days of the system, the networks themselves determined what rating a show would have. So the WWF could just say they were TV-PG and could get away with it, as long as they blurred out Austins fingers and bleeped out certain words. As the ratings system got older, more and more groups popped up that called the ratings into question. WWF shows were one of the biggest targets of family groups. In response, the rating was changed by the WWF to TV-14. It's not that they could get away with more at the PG rating, it's that if they tried it again, the complaints would come right back. But as others have said, it's not the PG rating that holds them back. It's the writing, booking, and their cookie cutter philosophy with new talent that makes the current product so bland. They won't let someone break out and get over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirky Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 The writers don't seem to realise that PG can be stretched. It looks as though they see the rating "PG", and automatically think it HAS to be kid-friendly with everything they do. If they took a few risks with their booking/writing, then I'm sure it would pay off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy. Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 That seems fair enough, although I'd have preferred a little bit more description into it. The reason why the Attitude Era was so successful, was because everybody was at their absolute best, and they NEEDED to be. There was cut-throat competition, and 'taking it lightly' was never really a safe option. Hence, it was so hectic, and the competition so difficult to overcome. I mean, there's a reason why WCW went out of business, and the reason was the situation which was prevalent during those times. WCW went out of business simply because they didn't live up to the WWE's standards at the time. The same could have happened with WWE, if they didn't live up to WCW's standards instead. Edgy television, more interesting storylines, blood, swearing, hardcore stuff... All that wasn't a choice, it was a necessity. Today, the environment is completely different. The WWE finds absolutely no competition near themselves, and are damn confident about not having any of it for a long time. Hence, all that hectic overload isn't a requirement. Vince knows, the WWE has monopoly in the wrestling business. Even if their product is at their absolute best or absolute worst, it will still be more watchable, more profitable, and better than those of other companies. So, why take the risk in making all the guys, as well as the creative, undergo the same unnecessary hectic schedule? Why put unnecessary pressure on them, and risk injuries or other stuff when they can avoid all that by making the same profit, achieving the same progress, and making the same point come across through a much, much lighter approach? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorpion™ Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 I LOVE the current product so I don't care if they are PG or tv-14 or MA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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