[OFFICIAL] PG era discussion *KEEP IT ALL IN HERE*

[Hundred Dollar Man]

It's not going to happen sorry, the WWE read the tea leaves years ago and correctly saw that the adult audience was going to MMA real fighting instead of wrestling. It's the same reason that you will never see the NFL put the Superbowl against the World Series. Your audience is only so big and if you make someone choose more than likely you will lose some of it.

 

[Ferbian]

I do not see the need for WWE to go back to the anti PG thing that they had going before.

WWE is doing just fine, they're drawing ratings, they aren't getting any proper competition from TNA (just yet, it could happen, I will not discredit the possibility) and the talent finally has good working environment with the ban of blood and chair shots to the head.

WWE going back to that wouldn't change much any way, Chris Jericho already commented that he found the Attitude Era childish, and I agree with him, it had some awful things going on, but the awesome things overshadowed it all.

The current WWE product is good, it's been going good since Wrestlemania 26, with great episodes (from my perspective, feel free to disagree with me) and they had produced it without resolving to violent storylines, profane language or sexual contend that the Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression Era brought with them.

 

[That Don Guy]

When the Conn Elections are over and they can not use what the WWE does against linda mcmahon.. IF she win then Don't expect it anytime soon but if she gets blown out then they have no more reason to be PG..

They have (at least) two reasons:
1. The merchandise-buying, parent-bugging-for-tickets kids.
2. The ticket, expensive parking, and PPV-and-merchandise-buying parents, who won't let their kids near the product if it's anything like the attitude era. They took a chance just by having Austin drink a beer in the ring when he returned for one night.

One thing confuses me: if it really is targeted towards kids, why does it end at 11:05 PM on a school night? You would think Vince would want it moved back an hour, which would have the added advantage of having it start an hour before any NFL game that night.

-- Don

 

[The Doctor]

I honestly do not understand the fuss about the PG Era. I started watching wrestling religiously back in 2007, back when wrestling was TV-14, and it still seems like pretty much the same WWE now as it did then. Nothing has changed because of the ratings switch.

On top of that, people really freak out about the TV-PG rating and claim it means everything will be kiddie. Let me explain something to you, loud and clear.

TV-PG DOES NOT mean "PG" as in the movie rating system.

Here is the content description of TV-PG.

TV-PG
(Parental guidance suggested)

This rating signifies that the program may be unsuitable for younger children without the guidance of a parent. Many parents may want to watch it with their younger children. Various game shows and most reality shows are rated TV-PG for their suggestive dialog, suggestive humor, and/or coarse language. Some prime-time sitcoms such as Everybody Loves Raymond, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Simpsons, Futurama (on Fox and adult swim airings), and Seinfeld usually air with a TV-PG rating. Since 2008, all WWE programmings (including its Pay-Per-Views), are rated PG (they were previously TV-14, but the rating was changed to attract more of a family audience and Bigger TV sponsors)

The TV-PG rating may be accompanied by one or more of the following sub-ratings:

• D for some suggestive dialogue
• L for infrequent coarse language
• S for some sexual situations
• V for moderate violence

You see? TV-PG is comparable to PG-13, which is really the type of programming I'm expecting when I flip on an episode of Monday Night RAW. I don't want castration angles and every third word to be "fuck". I want an entertaining TV show with good angles, which can EASILY be achieved in the PG Era.

Too many people cry "not PG!" even though they claim to hate everything "PG". For example, the NXT Invasion. How many people were claiming it wasn't PG? Tons. And clearly you can see here that it was. No one bled. No one swore. No one *******d Michael Cole. It was clearly PG.

People need to start learning what labels mean before bitching about anything and everything.

 

[Uncle Sam]

The worst part of this whole PG thing is, as Doc said, the whole "Ohmygod, that's not PG!" thing. Only worse, because they say it in a snarky, sarcastic, not entirely un-Uncle-Sam-like manner. It's like saying, "Oh no, they're doing something that I've been asking for for weeks, now I'm going to be a twat about it." But hey, such is the way the world works I suppose.

Still, it was fun watching the internet blow a collective artery over Daniel Bryan released - even if the whole "is it real, is it not" situation dampened the reaction somewhat. Circumstances: always ruining my fun.

And, just in case you missed it, my definitive post on the PG-era debate. I'm not normally one to self-promote but, well, um, I am. It was only visible for about ten minutes:

Hey, you. Yeah, you. Shh.

There is barely any discernible difference between "PG Era" WWE and the years that followed immediately before it and anyone who says there is is a liar. So when will it go back to being 'adult'? Well, it already is.

Basically, a wrestling journalist (read: semi-literate cunt) published an article saying, "Hey guys I'm-a here to bash the WWE and so, yeah, everything's gonna be PG from now on because of children, which I hate - because you have to not be a basement-dwelling virgin to have children. I think I just herped so much I derped" and then anything from that point on was criticised for being PG.

Rey Mysterio's getting a push. Oh, it's because it's PG. This Hornswoggle segment isn't very good - because it's so PG. I don't like the colour of those ring ropes. Typical "PG" colour, huh? Oh, they're beating the shit out of John Cena. I see they're not using steak knives to attack him they normally would - what a pain these PG guidelines are!

If there's a problem with the WWE people blame it on the "PG Era." It's getting tiresome.

Not to mention I imagine this thread will be merged soon. Typical PG Era WrestleZone.

 

[Dave]

I don’t and never have seen a big problem with the PG era.

I guess a lot of fans were just unlucky with their timing, to some degree. As a 20 year old, the first time I tried to watch wrestling off my own initiative and as a fan, it was during the Attitude Era. Sure, it was a lot of fun and you could never tell what was going to happen from show to show but I don’t think I miss it. The PG Era may not be as unpredictable or have as big a reputation but it is still a very good product. As I say, a lot of people who are around my age would be in the same boat as me. We started watching during the Attitude Era and as such, that is the product we were introduced to. It is the Era that is all began for us and that will be ingrained into our brains for as long as we continue to watch the WWE.

However, I don’t think that the WWE needs to be like the Attitude Era anymore. During the Attitude Era, the WWE had a very uncertain future. It was behind in the ratings war for a long time, almost 2 years and it had to resort to desperate measures to get people our age to watch the show instead of WCW. Anything could have happened but it just so happened that the WWE won the ratings war and became the best wrestling product around. However, the Attitude Era soon disappeared and for good reason. To me, the Attitude Era was a last ditch effort to save the skin of the WWE. I don’t think it was supposed to last until now or beyond. I am pretty sure that Vince concocted the idea and hoped that it would allow him to win the ratings war and then transition back to being a family friendly environment.

That being said, no one is going to accept the PG Era after being introduced to wrestling in the Attitude Era. It was more entertaining and the level of uncertainty just pushed them to keep raising the bar and giving it their all on every show. Going from the Attitude Era to the PG Era, it is not hard to see why people are pissed off but I think half the battle is just accepting the Attitude Era for what it was, a final resort from a worried company. By doing this, you’ll realise that the PG Era isn’t that bad. In fact, it is perfectly natural for the WWE to be doing. The Era that was most uncommon was the Attitude Era but need must.

 

[Y-2-Jay]

I don’t and never have seen a big problem with the PG era.

I guess a lot of fans were just unlucky with their timing, to some degree. As a 20 year old, the first time I tried to watch wrestling off my own initiative and as a fan, it was during the Attitude Era. Sure, it was a lot of fun and you could never tell what was going to happen from show to show but I don’t think I miss it. The PG Era may not be as unpredictable or have as big a reputation but it is still a very good product. As I say, a lot of people who are around my age would be in the same boat as me. We started watching during the Attitude Era and as such, that is the product we were introduced to. It is the Era that is all began for us and that will be ingrained into our brains for as long as we continue to watch the WWE.

However, I don’t think that the WWE needs to be like the Attitude Era anymore. During the Attitude Era, the WWE had a very uncertain future. It was behind in the ratings war for a long time, almost 2 years and it had to resort to desperate measures to get people our age to watch the show instead of WCW. Anything could have happened but it just so happened that the WWE won the ratings war and became the best wrestling product around. However, the Attitude Era soon disappeared and for good reason. To me, the Attitude Era was a last ditch effort to save the skin of the WWE. I don’t think it was supposed to last until now or beyond. I am pretty sure that Vince concocted the idea and hoped that it would allow him to win the ratings war and then transition back to being a family friendly environment.

That being said, no one is going to accept the PG Era after being introduced to wrestling in the Attitude Era. It was more entertaining and the level of uncertainty just pushed them to keep raising the bar and giving it their all on every show. Going from the Attitude Era to the PG Era, it is not hard to see why people are pissed off but I think half the battle is just accepting the Attitude Era for what it was, a final resort from a worried company. By doing this, you’ll realise that the PG Era isn’t that bad. In fact, it is perfectly natural for the WWE to be doing. The Era that was most uncommon was the Attitude Era but need must.

First off very good post (You deserve some rep i can because i need to spread it). But i found a little thing to pick at you said about the attitude era was a "last ditch effort" and that they would go back to PG after. But the thing is they tried to rehash the attitude era in 2002 with things like the Katie Vick storyline and HLA. The company was still TV-14 for a good 6 or 7 years after A.E and also insted of slowly moving it to a PG show they made it edgier. And one thing that proved it got edgier was the fact in 2006 RAW was rated TV-14-DLVS the S (Which is for like sexual things) was never added on to the A.E TV-14 rating. So i dont agree that they planned to go back to PG because i think once McMahon found out that edgy brought in viewers that they would try it again. They did every year untill 2008 when viewers steadly declined from 5.0 in 2002 to 3.5-4.0 in 2008. The PG idea was kind of like a back up idea in my mind.

On the PG era meh its ok (though 2010 has been awesome so far, i feel 2009 was very meh) it has it flaws so did A.E, no company can be perfect. The PG era gave us some very good things like the Nxt storyline, Randy Orton as the anti hero, SES/CM Punk heel and some good matches. But like the A.E (THE HAND! *shudders*) there is some bad like crappy guest hosts (some are good but some are god awful) Chavo vs Hornswoggle storyline, Hornswoggle in general (He was bad back in 07 when he turned face and is still awful now) and also some bad matches. A perfect PG company for me is to slap on a L to the TV-PG rating so we can have a bit more swearing (No F bombs) but the swearing only should be used in a intense rivaly. Using it on occasion makes it like shocking because it isnt used that much so it makes you feel "woah this guy is mad" and about blood, yes i would like blood but like the swearing it should be used in intense rivaly situations and also Hell In A Cell matches. Blood should not be used for no reason like in a random match. And there is my view on PG WWE.

 

[The Jeff]

here's my thing, if WWE wants to be all for the kids do 2 things:
1. Get appropriate sponsors.
If Raw is a kids show, why are there Just For Men hair color commercials? At its current level we should be overrun with toys and non M rated video game ads. I'm an adult and am all for ads aimed at us (minus the hair color, I'm only 21) but give us something a little more on our level.

2. Time slot.
I'm fine with Raw at its normal time, been watching it for years like this, but if the WWE wants to attract kids why is it on so late? It's like you make all these changes to draw in the kids, but then shut them out by being on so late. I feel WWE should make a kids version of Raw (on saturday mornings) that can be chock full of Cena and other stuff they like. Make Raw moderately more edgy circa 2000-2002. There is no need for over the top garbage, but I should be able to hear a grown man say, "You son of a bitch!" or. "I'll beat your ass!" etc. The "rage" these wrestlers should be showing wouldn't be without a few choice words in the heat of passion.

i guess what I'm trying to say is that WWE is hypocritical. They want to pander to the kids and then make the show mostly accessible to adults via time slot and advertising

 

[kikiros]

Its all about PR...

yeah little kids are usually asleep when raw comes on, and the advertising IS geared toward adults, but none of that matters. WWE is PG because Vince, for various reasons (the largest being his wife's political career), is trying to change the public image of professional wrestling.

I personally believe (as I think Mark Madden wrote some time ago) that Vince is not to thrilled with how he made his money, and he feels that providing a family-oriented program is some sort of way he can redeem himself for allowing Mae Young to give birth to a hand. (for example)

I don't really have a problem with pg.. I think it will ultimatley result in feuds that let the in-ring product do the talking as opposed to a bunch of chair shots and curse words

 

[MrSavageee]

Ive Been Wondering for a while now how or will the PG era will end... I think it will maybe end once the senate (or whatever it is) race for Linda McMahon ends, because she won't need a goody-two shoes wrestling company behind her anymore.


Now If It does end, when and how? Will Vince come out and make a speech about bringing back TV-14? Will it just change without notice? Will there be a storyline behind it? Or will Vince just keep it at PG since its making him a crap-load of money?


P.S. This is my second thread... Yay

 

[WWE Manster03]

First things first....
Dave, I am trying really hard to give you rep for your post, but it isn't allowing me to. So consider this post a +1 rep for you good sir. I agree with literally 99% of everything you said. As Y2Jay said, I disagree that the A.E. was a last ditch effort before going back to PG, as he said there was a 6-7 year period after the A.E. ended that they got REALLY edgy(Edge/Lita sex skit comes to mind)...

That being said, people who don't realize that WWE rotates to cater to their audience is blind. They always have. When a company doesn't cater to change in their audience, that is when they fail. Simpliest way to put it:Survival of the fittest.. Vince isn't stupid. He knows that a LARGE portion of his fans that started watching either greatly reduced the amount of wrestling they watch on tv(they may catch episodes on an online stream/youtube/or they just read the results) or they have stopped watching entirely(like my main group of friends)...Adults will always watch for 2 reasons
1. They usually watch things that make them feel good or things that remind them of their younger days. Wrestling/rehashes of older gameshows/reruns of Bugs Bunny cartoons come to mind in this example.
2. They have kids and they want something that they can do together that is kid friendly and cost effective. I went to the Raw house show in Youngstown Ohio with a few buddies after work, and I paid $16 for a ticket. An equal priced baseball ticket costs about $25/30 and I just paid $160 for 2 nosebleed football tickets. Tickets to my local NBA team(cavs) cost about 75/100 per ticket. WWE also has lots of stuff designed for kids(Wrestlemania fan access would come to mind there) to do at their live events.

Overall, I think eventually we will move away from TV PG and possibly into TV 14 again, but the Attitude Era will never happen again, as that isn't what gets ratings on tv anymore.

 

[OutsiderDX]

The PG era is a just a work like many things in wrestling.

A work like building up a heel so people will pay their hard earned money to see a face beat him. Territories would come to a city and have the heel win, so the next time the fans would pay money to see that heel get beat. But they would have the heel win again. Now the fans are even more eager to pay to see that heel lose. They would pay and the heel would win again. By the time the territory ran for the third or fourth time in that city, the place would be a blistering sell-out with venomous fans. The face would eventually win in their blow-off. Then they would start all over and do this for years. It was working the fans over month and years.

The WWE is building this heel called the PG Era so when the Next Era comes, the fans will be feverously ready to pay good money for live events, ppv, dvds.

The WWE is taking a proactive approach to creating the next era. The PG Era is just a means to get to the next one. By having a 4/5 year period without violence, profanity, and vulgarity, the organization will be able to create a new era by brining back those qualities. The PG Era is targeting a demographic of kids 10-14, so in 5 years when the WWE decides to end the PG Era, the core group of viewers they gained will now be 14-19. And if any demographic loves violence, promiscuity and vulgarity, it’s this age group.

Obviously this is not the only reason. The other benefit to the current PG era is for public relations.

This of course encompasses trying to suppress backlash from the Benoit incident, the ghastly amount of premature deaths, and of course Linda McMahon’s campaign.

The down economy is a factor. The WWE knows that this PG Era is taking place in a down period of business. Wrestling popularity has always gone in waves. So this is a most ideal time to build towards the next peek.

In 5 years, fans will be the perfect age (College and High school) to drive popularity. In 5 years the economy will be on an upswing. In 5 years, fans will be begging to give the WWE their money when the next ERA finally brings back violence and debauchery.

The WWE is doing this all artificially. They are not waiting for a natural Era to occur like Hulkamania or the Monday Night Wars.

It’s brilliant and we are all being worked like those fans in the territories.

 

[Steve Rogers]

The PG era is a just a work like many things in wrestling.

O rly?

The WWE is building this heel called the PG Era so when the Next Era comes, the fans will be feverously ready to pay good money for live events, ppv, dvds.

Yeah I am pretty sure fans already do for all sorts of reasons. Like say PG Era icon, Mr. Cena . If you really want to make it a conspiracy theory , I could just say there making fans sick of this PG-era, so when they drop DVD's of Ricky Steamboat, Stone Cold, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Macho Man or whoever or whatever fans flock to them to escape "teh suck3 PG era"

The WWE is taking a proactive approach to creating the next era. The PG Era is just a means to get to the next one. By having a 4/5 year period without violence, profanity, and vulgarity, the organization will be able to create a new era by brining back those qualities. The PG Era is targeting a demographic of kids 10-14, so in 5 years when the WWE decides to end the PG Era, the core group of viewers they gained will now be 14-19. And if any demographic loves violence, promiscuity and vulgarity, it’s this age group.

Like you later say I believe its just the WWE changing to cater a newer era, where they feel the younger audience is the key demographic they need. Also to make it seem like their sensitive to the the slew of wrestling-related tragedies over the year.

I like the post I just think your looking to much into this, sir. Way to much into it. But then again it is a forum, to discuss what you think.

So once again I get what your saying but I just dont agree.

 

[Spaceman Spif]

The PG era is a just a work like many things in wrestling.

Actually it's not a work, it's a legitimate direction the WWE has been and will be heading in for some time.

A work like building up a heel so people will pay their hard earned money to see a face beat him. Territories would come to a city and have the heel win, so the next time the fans would pay money to see that heel get beat. But they would have the heel win again. Now the fans are even more eager to pay to see that heel lose. They would pay and the heel would win again. By the time the territory ran for the third or fourth time in that city, the place would be a blistering sell-out with venomous fans. The face would eventually win in their blow-off. Then they would start all over and do this for years. It was working the fans over month and years.

The WWE isn't building up to a new era, there is no reason to. They are not working us in any way, Vince is legitimately trying to turn a favroable light to the WWE, one that will remain for a long time. Promotion eras have come and gone. If any eras exist, they are wrestler eras. As in we are in the Cena era right now.

The WWE is building this heel called the PG Era so when the Next Era comes, the fans will be feverously ready to pay good money for live events, ppv, dvds.

That's not what they are doing at all, they want this to work, they want the fans to accept it, the WWE is not willing to take a ratings cut and lose money on purpose, not with TNA trying to nip at their heels.

The WWE is taking a proactive approach to creating the next era. The PG Era is just a means to get to the next one. By having a 4/5 year period without violence, profanity, and vulgarity, the organization will be able to create a new era by brining back those qualities. The PG Era is targeting a demographic of kids 10-14, so in 5 years when the WWE decides to end the PG Era, the core group of viewers they gained will now be 14-19. And if any demographic loves violence, promiscuity and vulgarity, it’s this age group.

They may be trying to target that age group a little more, but the core demographic of viewers is, was and will be the age group of 18-49. So even though the WWE's core group is still the adult viewers, they are still keeping things PG, not to work us, but because it's what Vince feels need to happen with his company.

Obviously this is not the only reason. The other benefit to the current PG era is for public relations.

This of course encompasses trying to suppress backlash from the Benoit incident, the ghastly amount of premature deaths, and of course Linda McMahon’s campaign.

The down economy is a factor. The WWE knows that this PG Era is taking place in a down period of business. Wrestling popularity has always gone in waves. So this is a most ideal time to build towards the next peek.

In 5 years, fans will be the perfect age (College and High school) to drive popularity. In 5 years the economy will be on an upswing. In 5 years, fans will be begging to give the WWE their money when the next ERA finally brings back violence and debauchery.

The WWE is doing this all artificially. They are not waiting for a natural Era to occur like Hulkamania or the Monday Night Wars.

It’s brilliant and we are all being worked like those fans in the territories.

Yes the Benoit murders are one reason why Vince turned his company around, but they were will into that before Linda even went into politics, her run has nothing to do with the WWE going PG, Vince will just try to keep the WWE out of the courts and not get any bad press. However in fives years the key demographic will remain the same. I am sure some day the WWE will slowly re-introduce violence and more fouls language back into the company, but not because we are in a work, but because it will be a natural progression not a manufactured one.

 

[Kaneanite]

Bottom line: I watch WWE to see some kick ass shit. Doesn't make a difference to me if it's a guy that children love or a guy who's fat ugly and has fake blood all over his face. As long as I'm entertained, I'm happy. And Mr. McMahon hasn't failed for me.