Views From The Turnbuckle: Is PG Really The Problem?

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There is a popular idea floating around that WWE being rated PG is what is holding back the product. This isn't a new idea, people have been saying it since WWE first switched to PG programming, and it is easy to see why it causes a problem. WWE built their audience to record numbers during the late-1990s/early 2000s using a crash TV philosophy that epitomized adult-content like swearing, blood, sexual content and over-the-top levels of violence. WWE has no problem admitting this as their past, in fact they pimp that time period out all the time on their network. Conversely, as WWE has gone into a very family-friendly environment, their popularity has declined.

Some fans will connect the dots and determine that the decision to make the product more family friendly is the reason for the companies decline. However, I find that to be a very easy scapegoat that covers up the company's problems in other areas. Anytime a wrestler cuts an intense promo but doesn't swear, anytime there is a Hell in a Cell match that lacks blood, anytime someone hits their opponent over the back with a chair, it leads to grumblings that WWE really needs to go back to being more adult-oriented. The problem with that thinking is that while some of those ideas would make the product more entertaining, they are at the bottom of a long list of other issues that plague the product.

No matter what anybody else tries to claim, regardless of the amount of blood and sex and violence that is on television, it will never catch on unless you have big stars to build the company around. It is the only way to be successful on a national or international stage. Some people will try to claim that the Attitude Era was successful because of the blood and the sex and the violence. Those aspects certainly added some value to the product, but they were hardly the driving force behind the company's success. The reason WWE peaked during that time period is because they were lucky enough to come across some generational talent. Steve Austin and The Rock came along and WWE was wise enough to come up with solid storytelling and the right pushes at the right time. Those guys would have succeeded in any era, it just so happened that they came along at the same time WWE was pushing over-the-top violence and sex appeal.

Take a guy like The Rock, who had so much charisma and natural speaking ability that he could literally read the phone book and it would be entertaining to watch. An example of this is on RAW a couple weeks ago when The Rock appeared and referred to The New Day's unicorn horns as "Llama Penises". That is a terribly written, corny line that really only relies on gross-out humor. 99 percent of talent say that same line and everyone pans it as idiotic, but The Rock has just so much charisma that he powers right through all of that and actually gets fans to repeat the line in the audience. The reason the WWE was so successful during the Attitude Era was because they had guys that were so talented that it didn't really matter what the content was, those guys were so naturally gifted and over with the audience that they were going to make anything sound exciting.

A frequent comment made in regards to watching the WWE Network is that in retrospect some of the stuff from The Attitude Era was not really that good. Some of the antics with DX were entertaining at the time, but in retrospect they are kind of stupid and childish. The idea of crash TV was interesting when it was first developed and there was nothing else really like it on television at the time, but times have changed and that isn't necessarily the case anymore.

Since The Attitude Era, cable TV, along with subscription based services like Netflix and Hulu have dramatically changed the industry. When WWE programming was pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable on television, there was not nearly anything else on cable like that. Now the industry has changed, with shows like The Soprano's and The Wire pushed the limit of television violence that was shown on cable, making the violence on wrestling programs seem tame by comparison.

I think a great example of this is the evolution of women in WWE. During the "glory days" with women like Sable and later Trish Stratus and Lita, WWE hit on the formula that showing attractive women in skimpy clothing and making them be b—–s to each other was going to lead to increased ratings. Today that formula seems badly outdated, because half of the cable industry is attractive women being mean to each other. WWE struggled for a long time to adapt to the changing facets of the cable industry in that regard, although it seems that they have finally found a serviceable new strategy, pushing the division as a combination of the athleticism and abilities of women, something that is fairly unique to professional wrestling, differentiating it from the rest of the cable universe.

A big complaint that bounces around online is that wrestling simply cannot have quality and dramatic storylines in a PG environment. While they are limited with what they can do in regards to the amount of violence and bad language they can have on a show, it's so silly to believe that the only way to have success is to copy the Attitude Era. Outside of a very brief period in wrestling history, wrestling has always been very family friendly and relied on children to help generate revenue. WCW was the biggest company in the world at one point, and they succeeded despite being on a network that was so politically conscious that they forced announcers to refer to outside items as "international objects" because "foreign" was a word that was associated with xenophobia. WCW made a ton of money during their peak because they had solid booking, big stars, and storylines that captured the attention of fans. Sting vs Hulk Hogan was a storyline that didn't involve a ton of swearing, blood or outrageous amounts of violence, but somehow it overcame all of that and became one of the most successful angles in wrestling history. Numerous other examples can be dug up throughout the annals of wrestling history that match the same criteria.

I understand the frustration that wrestling fans have sometimes with the politically motivated culture that WWE operates in. WWE is trying to be politically correct in an industry that really shouldn't be. Part of the appeal with professional wrestling is that it isn't politically correct. However, the fact of the matter is that storylines and matches that rely too much on sex, blood, violence and swearing has been a crutch for wrestling and creative for too long. A writer who relies too much on the over-the-top aspects of wrestling is a writer who doesn't have the ability to engage the viewer in an interesting and exciting storyline, and instead attempts to shock them into viewing. The downside of this strategy is tremendous because when this is attempted it can go horribly wrong, leading to some of the worst wrestling angles in history (just look at the end of WCW and some of the stunts TNA has pulled over the years). In addition, talent that relies on bleeding on matches is masking the fact that they are not skilled enough at selling to generate fan response. A wrestler who has to swear during promos is a wrestler who has run out of intelligent and poignant things to say.

The crash TV philosophy had its moments, but wrestling has evolved beyond the need for it under most circumstances, and ultimately the product should be the better for it. It isn't, but that is less because WWE isn't pushing the envelope with programming, it is because WWE has done a terrible job building new stars, as it is no surprise that WWE's great success in the past came during periods when they pushed older talent out and ushered in a new generation of stars. They haven't given fans nearly enough engrossing storylines, instead relying on the same old formula for years. These issues can easily be corrected without resulting in greater amounts of blood and violence on television, WWE just has to get back in the game creatively.