Superstar Billy Graham- "Linda McMahon's Senate Run is the reason WWE went PG".

[sevastra82]

I think Vince went "PG" for the money to be honest. As much as we all loved the Attitude Era, the figureheads of that era (Austin, Rock etc) where all on the verge of leaving/retiring, and there where a lot of things done during the Attitude Era that brought a negative light to the WWE. I feel Vince knew it was time to change things, as the profits of the Attitude Era was about to run its course. So whats the best thing to do? Freshen it up to reap the money from another demographic....Kids.

So since the main Attitude Era stars where doing other things, some negative attention that came along w/ the era, and just like everything else...the eras popularity was waiving....Vince decided to target Kids. Change things to PG, come out with kids magazines, get rid of blood, no more cursing, and make John Cena and Jeff Hardy champions...and force them down your throat.

Its actually pretty smart. Eventually though, the PG era will also run its course, and it'll be something else in a few years.

 

[Toroc102]

I don't get how anyone can say Vince is doing this for the money, I mean the attitude era was their first or second most successful era in history and since they've gone away from that, everything about the WWE is less. Crowds are less(oh and I tuned into Raw for the first time in about two years on Monday and man did that crowd SUCK I couldn't believe how quiet it was for most of the show), ratings are less, ppv buys are less, I don't know merch numbers but they can't possibly be as high as they were in 99, and this is all WITHOUT any real competition. They've slowly moved away from the things that made them the most successful and its shown in their overall decline.

Thinking about it now, going PG makes PERFECT sense for Linda’s campaign, because you can bet if the WWE were still running Bra and Panty matches and letting DX run wild she’d have no chance in hell. Actually I still think she has no chance in hell, I mean there’s about 10 years of TV material on record that her opponents can use to sling mud at her. In fact I think she’s really just wasting money since her main voters probably will be women, and between the aforementioned B and P matches, swimsuit competitions, degradations(I wonder if she remembers taking part in a certain storyline involving her Trish and Vince, maybe not), and her heavy involvement in one of the least respected businesses in existence have pretty much cemented her as a losing candidate in my opinion.

I think I'll end this rant there, except to say that just because Billy Graham probably is a bitter old man doesn't mean he's wrong. The WWE was at it's height when it had attitude and has receded heavily since becoming PG. If this is for the money I just don't see it.

Also, I'm new here, hey.

 

[Jetspete]

Billy Graham is right, to an extent. WWE is trying to go more mainstream (for a multitude of reasons, including but not limited to Linda's Senate run as well as getting celebrity hosts) and figure a pg rating is best way to do it. if you look back at the past year, the show has been pretty close to PG as it was. This firms it up and is trying to form a public trust that wrestling is safe for kids and tweeners to watch.

Also, wouldnt be surprised to see Dx break up just for that reason. I'm surprised Suck It is allowed

 

[Genius_Deadman]

Well first to be honest after these last couple vids im not a fan of his anymore. The way he is really trashing Ted D,Vince,and all them is just not really something i think it should be said. I am actually a christian so watching these comments from a guy that takes so much pride in his faith and all that,it just doesnt fit with these statements. I mean the whole i never want to talk to Ted again is deffintly not forgivness and the way he talks about vince is totally beyond slander. He seems like just another bitter veteren in shoot interview trying to get attention if you ask me.

Also i highly doubt its the reason because they had been going towards this for years. They have been really becoming more and more pg as the attitude era ended as many will agree. They would of had to known linda would run for many years to say that is a liable reason in my opinion

i am a christian too, i don't like the way he's bringing back old grudges. as a christian, you're not supposed to hold grudges! you're supposed to forgive the person and then pray that they return to their ways. him basically judging Ted DiBiase should not be condoned. he calls the WWE basically a devil (pro wrestling in general) because of what it does. as far as that goes, it all goes on what you do and what the product is. i agree with Ted Sr. saying that WWE has gone PG and changed some of its ways, if it goes back to Attitude type stuff, then i would have a problem with it. he criticizes WWE yet he doesn't mind the pretty penny he made from his book with them! if they did turn PG for the election, then who cares? if they turn back, you don't have to watch them. Graham was associated with WWE when it had the risky stuff, so he should check his stuff first.

 

[simplyry]

Put a few other things in to perspective , the economy itself is low so this would mean the buy rate would drop. The attitude era rode the tail feathers for a long time but all good things must come to an end. You must adapt and try something new, or old. Targetting kids just reminds me of when hogan was the huge draw, that is what cena basicallly is now a person who shows confidence and tries to be whole hearted, much unlike his original thug character. But they may rethink strategy once TNA blows up, they give attitude all the time and are making names for guys like styles and joe, even morgan. in my eyes the quivalent to sting vader and sid. we may see a change once tna is more popular until then let em stay pg, the more money they make the better wrestling we get to watch!
I would like to see this though, it seems the end of the attitude era stops when benoit goes down, steroids gets a huge push on getting cut down. take a character who has been "addicted" to these drugs and make his character sky rocket but only to see it all come crashing down due to the affect the drugs have taken on him. it would be a good dont do drugs skit for the young!

 

[MrLee]

WWE's PG has NOTHING TO DO with Linda's senate run!
Think about it!

WWE just promoted a PPV called Hell in a Cell!
There have been a ton of drug references in the Punk/Hardy feud!
Orton kicked Vince with full force in the head in the run up to WM!

How are politicians, who most know nothing about wrestling, gonna differentiate between blood AND the above mentioned examples.

Ratings are down, The USA TV deal is way lower then back in the attitude era, yet WWE inc. is making the biggest quartely profits EVER, because of SPONSERS and MERCH!!!
WWE have been able to branch out more then ever, due to the PG rating, and that in turn is resulting in a huge cash flow!

It's all about money, why should it be about anything else.
Wrestling is business, BIG business!

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

On the main page of our News site, WWE sent an official letter to Chris Cash about Superstar Billy Graham's allegations that the company planned to go in a PG rated direction because of Linda McMahon's impending run for the Senate.

Now, I said that I thought this was complete bullshit, although feel that this is even more a reason now for them to STAY PG.

But .... take a quick glance over the letter:

Dear Chris,

Coincidentally, it seems history is repeating itself in regards to Superstar Billy Graham making disparaging and unfounded comments about World Wrestling Entertainment and Vince McMahon after being removed from WWE’s payroll. His recent comments about the timing of WWE going PG are invalid and seem to be related to his ill will toward the company following his recent release.

Interestingly, please find attached a letter that Superstar Billy Graham sent to Vince McMahon in May 1996. Superstar Billy Graham states in the letter he regrets “all of the false statements and inappropriate actions” that he made against Vince after being released from the company in January 1989. Clearly, Superstar Billy Graham has a pattern of making false statements about WWE and Vince McMahon when he’s no longer on WWE’s payroll.

Superstar Billy Graham was on the WWE payroll from April 2004 - July 2009. While he was released in April 2009, he was also given severance pay for 90 days. It is also interesting to note that during this time Superstar Billy Graham benefited financially from various consumer products including a book and DVD.

Recently, his wife, Valerie, contacted WWE about securing WrestleMania XXVI tickets and inquiring if WWE would be able to use Superstar Billy Graham at WrestleMania XXVI. It seems odd to receive this type of request when Superstar Billy Graham is publicly trying to discredit WWE.

We thought it was important for you to have this information about Superstar Billy Graham in light of his recent comments about our PG rating. WWE continues to be committed to creating family-friendly, PG content across all of our platforms including television programming, pay-per-views, digital media and publishing. In recognition of WWE ' s family-friendly programming, our network partners rate WWE ' s weekly individual programs as PG. We strive to make our brand suitable and enjoyable to every member of the family regardless of age.

Now, after going over that, I certainly didn't see a denial of those allegations anywhere in that letter. I read that they strive for PG programming and family-friendly environments, and all that. And I also see them try to discredit Billy Graham. But I never see them outright deny his allegations.

A move like this, without an outright denial, is likely to only add to the speculation, as opposed to take it away.

 

[JDavis328]

Well did you read the letter that was attached with the news on this site? While not saying it proves wwe is legit going for pg it does show the superstar in a new light. Its the letter he wrote to vince personally about saying sorry for all the false accusations he made and such. He even goes into talking about his faith in it. This was a bit before they re hired him on and did a dvd and book and used him in other ways backstage. Now hes been let go in april or so and hes bashing wwe again? Hmmmmmmm sounds familar doesnt it? I laughed a bit reading the news and the letter. i could only think "busted" on billys part

 

[jmt225]

A move like this, without an outright denial, is likely to only add to the speculation, as opposed to take it away.

That's what I got from the letter as well.

While WWE technically doesn't ever have to explain themselves to anyone, it's still rather odd for them not to deny something when actually addressing a wrestling website because of someone else's allegations. First of all, it's weird they even give this kind of thing the time of day, but to do so and not deny anything shows that there's nothing to deny; it's all a fact.

Also, will someone please tell me what Billy Graham said that was so horrible and offensive? I'm sure someone asked him a simple question about why he thinks WWE went PG, and he gave his opinion why he think they did. What else was he supposed to say? As that letter mentioned... he's not under WWE's payroll anymore, so why in the World would he give an answer that reflects that?

To me, it makes no sense for anyone, from WWE or their fans, to get upset about this. Billy didn't bad mouth WWE or Lind McMahon; he simply said he thinks WWE is now PG because of Linda running for Senate. What's so terrible about that statement?

 

[theiceman]

Now, after going over that, I certainly didn't see a denial of those allegations anywhere in that letter. I read that they strive for PG programming and family-friendly environments, and all that. And I also see them try to discredit Billy Graham. But I never see them outright deny his allegations.

A move like this, without an outright denial, is likely to only add to the speculation, as opposed to take it away.

Actually, that's not true at all. Read the last sentence of the 1st paragraph of the letter. It says...

"His recent comments about the timing of WWE going PG are invalid and seem to be related to his ill will toward the company following his recent release. I bolded and underlined the word "invalid" for you, that's where the outright denial is.

Billy Graham clearly reads the dirt sheets because the speculations he made have been all over the dirt sheets for months since Linda McMahon first decided to run for office. It looks to me like he tried to pass off what he read on dirt sheets as the truth to make the company look bad and he's doing so because he's upset about being unemployed. He has a history of it, he admits he's done it in the letter he sent to Vince in the 90's(that's attached to the news story about this on the main site).

I'd take anything he says with a grain of salt, the man doesn't seem to be all there.

 

[Tastycles]

It's possible, but if they are doing that, it's fucking ******ed. The WWE can't erase the past and people with a negative attitude to wrestling aren't going to care if the Katie Vick angle was 8 years ago or whatever it was. The media will show it, claim it is representative and then that's it, adios reputaion.

Billy Graham probably said it because he was bitter, but in all honesty I just can't bring myself to believe that anyone is stupid enough to believe that this would ever work in the real world. You can't rewrite history. In addition, be it PG or not, having a dwarf kiss you on the arse

[Moderator Comments (Lord Sidious): we call it an "Ass" in the United States and Canada. Thank you.]

.... is definitely not the best way to improve company reputation.

 

[Nature Boy]

Well even if the WWE going PG isn't strictly down to Linda McMahon running for the Senate, then it will surely be a part of it.

Wrestling is seen as very low-brow, and is seen as a joke to anyone who is not a Wrestling fan.

Also, with Steroids, Owen Hart, Katie Vick, Chris Benoit, Wrestling is not liked by the general media.

It doesn't matter how many years ago some of these events were, Wrestling has had a dark cloud over it for some years.

I don't think McMahon would have gone PG unless he had to, and/or if it wouldn't have benefitted him in some way.

Also, McMahon wants to be seen as an entertainment mogul, and wants the WWE to be seen and accepted as a legitimate part of the mainstream entertainment world.

I don't see this ever happening. Even when Wrestling was the 'in' thing during the Monday Night Wars and Attitude Era, it achieved mainstream coverage, but was never a part of the mainstream.

McMahon also wants the WWE to become acceptable in polite society, and having a family friendly product will help that cause.

Having a non PG product would not help McMahon improve her slim chances of making the Senate.

I doubt she'll be taken seriously anyway, but do you think whatever credibility she may have would hold if we still had Austin flipping the bird and Divas wearing next to nothing?

As for Billy Graham, he is one of my all time favorites.

He is of course entitled to his opinions, but it does seem interesting that whenever he is no longer a part of the Wrestling scene he makes negative comments about the people he no longer works for.

I also think it rather rich for Graham to make those comments about Ted Dibiase for getting involved in Wrestling after walking away, when he himself did the same thing and spent 5 years in their employ.

On the other hand though, he does have a point about McMahon going PG to benefit Linda's Senate campaign.

Don't forget, the WWE, like any profit making organization, only does what will benefit the WWE.