It appears the ‘PG Era’ for Raw will be coming to a close on July 18.
Andrew Zarian of The Mat Men Podcast reported WWE will move from a PG rating to a TV-14 rating on for Monday Night Raw on July 18. WWE’s era of PG television began on July 2008, and for many fans, the move marks a return of the “Attitude Era” — a period around 1997-through-2002 that marked arguably the peaks years for WWE that included the “Monday Night Wars” with WCW and big stars like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Cody Rhodes posted a winking emoji tweet in response to the news. Rhodes was previously an in-ring talent and executive for All Elite Wrestling, where talent have the freedom to bleed during their matches or say whatever they want during promos, including spouting expletives.
However, fans should hold off on their excitement over a rating change. Looking at the move in context, there will likely not be any significant change that comes out of this.
One reason, outside of WWE, is a cultural shift. What’s deemed “appropriate” to be on television nowadays has changed over the decades.
Despite being a “PG product,” wrestlers will occasionally swear in their promos. Granted, they are sometimes bleeped on air, but the live crowd can certainly hear an expletive being heard.
Internally, WWE’s current problems are not related to its PG rating. WWE has a star and storytelling problem that more blood and expletives cannot fix. It goes into a huge misconception of the “Attitude Era.”
Nostalgia has many remembering that era fondly, and while there were exciting moments, those moments came from the big stars like Austin and The Rock because of the storytelling involved and the massive star power they brought. What many forget are the bad and sometimes outright offensive moments from the era, even for that time.
To list a few:
— Big Boss Man, in storyline, tricked Al Snow into eating his dog Pepper.
— The lack of respect for the women’s division, in particular the objectification of the women.
— Mark Henry (29 at the time) and Mae Young (77 at the time) engaged in a storyline relationship which resulted in Young giving birth to a hand.
— Hawk, who suffered from real-life drug and alcohol addiction, had those real-problems used in a storyline to the point where he climbed on top of the titantron and threatened to kill himself. Michael Hegstrand died in 2003 due to a heart attack.
— Vince McMahon forced Trish Stratus to strip down to her underwear, crawl in the ring and bark like a dog.
McMahon’s current investigation could possibly play a part in this. McMahon is alleged to have sent “hush money” payments to a former paralegal, and he is alleged to have had a sexual relationship with a former wrestler, who he also sent “hush money” payments to. The investigation could force McMahon to step down, but the big splash moves of signing people like Pat McAfee and Logan Paul, as well as this change in TV rating, could serve to try to put his investigations under the public eye.
Even if that were the case, it would not be a successful one for WWE due to McMahon’s inept booking over the past decade. The company is focused on one star: Roman Reigns. The current undisputed Universal Champion has been positioned as the top star of the company after John Cena started to step away for Hollywood.
However, Reigns’ rise has led to a demotion of everyone else. His push has been too good to the point where everyone else isn’t built up as on-par or close to Reigns’ level. Even when a wrestler comes close, they are taken down and made to look like a joke.
WWE’s releases over the past three years have not helped either as the talent pool dwindles. It is why WWE looks toward McAfee, Paul and Bad Bunny to boost interest in WWE since they are not as scripted as regular in-ring talent are. They are given more freedom to showcase their personalities, while other talent are left to the whims of McMahon or have to earn their spot through many years in the company.
While the news of a TV-14 rating for Raw will be treated like a big deal, and it would not be a surprise if the effects are felt right away with a quick expletive, but the long-term results will be negligible until WWE can make a dramatic shift in how it books stars.
