Should the WWE age with it's new young fans?

[HBK-aholic]

We all know the WWE is currently working under a PG rating. This limits what they can do to an extent. While I'm of the opinion things haven't changed as much as critics would allow you to think, things are different now. The programme is often geared towards an audience of children.

However, as these children grow up, they could become one of the critics - believing the WWE to be for children only and stop watching. To stop this happening, should the WWE abandon it's PG rating as the current set of fans age, or should they assume new fans will be there to take the places of those who leave the product?

I'm of the opinion they have no need to change. At 17 I'm older than some fans, yet a lot younger than others. I've watched wrestling all my life, throughout all the different changes, and I really love the PG era, and I know adults that do. I don't see the PG era as such a big deal, and while some people will stop watching as they age, that's going to happen whether the WWE changes or not.

This thread is NOT to discuss how bad the PG era is, so keep it out of here.

 

[Super Crazy]

I was trying to make a similar point in a thread I started, and the thread was moved to the PG Era one. I feel that while people do like the PG era, Vince will change the product to better suit the fans as they get older, eventually coming full circle again. I even went as far as to use the transition of the 80s/early 90s to the Attitude Era to show my point :

A valid example of this theory is in the 80's/early 90's wrestling was appealing to the kids, you had Hulk Hogan with his ' say your prayers, eat your vitamins ' shtick and all this wild and crazy and out there gimmicks to appeal to all fans, including the kiddies. Once the mid 90's came around, the product changed drastically. The product became edgier and more towards the teens and adults of the time.

While you may like the product and where it's' at, some people, potentially a larger portion of the WWE Universe may want it to change when they get older. But only time will tell what will happen with the WWE and it's product.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

We all know the WWE is currently working under a PG rating. This limits what they can do to an extent. While I'm of the opinion things haven't changed as much as critics would allow you to think, things are different now. The program is often geared towards an audience of children.

I am of the firm mindset that WWE should do whatever it takes to attract the most fans possible to their product. There are just differing philosophies in how to accomplish this.

However, how do you necessarily view WWE as "often gearing its programming towards children?" Sure, you have the Hornswoggle segments and Cena's antics ... however how do you feel that the programming is primarily intended for children, and what gives you that impression? I would have to argue that The New Generation era was far more geared towards kids, then what you see today.

But to answer your question, I feel that WWE has to do some things to change its image every so many years. Why? Because ultimately interest gradually dies in the product. Every few years, they need to do a facelift to generate buzz with the product. If that means switching gears with a new target audience, then that's what they will do.

Given them in their current state, they want to operate under the philosophy that Kids will be attracted to this product, and then gradually grow up and stay with the product as they age. I don't think that is necessarily what will transpire. The problem isn't that the product is "too Kiddie" for the kids as they grow up into adults. Rather, the problem is that the product as it currently is, simply isn't "adult enough". I feel adults are much pickier with their programming than Kids, as their interests begin to diversify as they get older. Where as with Kids, you can throw on just about any cartoon and sit their asses in front of a TV set for a half-hour or so and they'll be fine.

So as far as changing the product to age with the Kids ... given the way the product currently is structured, I would say "Yes, they should" but more so for the fact that WWE can give the product the needed facelift it should get every so many years, to keep the public talking about it. By changing the product to be more adult, that has a better chance of keeping the kids happier as they age into adults, and it will undoubtedly attract a different breed of adults to the product, as well.

Then, they can change it back again, when they feel the time is right and start over.

 

[The Notorious Big.Pad.Dee]

The idea is okay in principle. WWE attracts new fans with the PG era, slowly makes it's product edgier as these fans age, and then starting a new PG era once these fans are fat, old, and joining wrestling forums. However, what age do we consider these fans to be at now? 8? 10? will we see a new attitude era in 5 years? who knows. The original 'circle' of Hulkamania's prayers and vitamins to the attitude era's Middle fingers and boobs seemed to happen naturally. It might not be a good idea for the WWE to try and reproduce this evoultion again, rather than just let it flow.

 

[Motor City Mayhem]

You bring up a good subject, its a difficult question to answer because it depends on about 2-3 different factors.

1. Does Vince McMahon want to continue this for 10-15years? Does he really want to keep on doing PG for another 10-15 years or did he just want a brief change so that he can grab some new watchers that when they are older, will watch.

2. Will John Cena still make money? The PG era all depends on whether or not John Cena can sell, once Cena stops selling like he is, will Vince want to continue it.

3. Finally, it depends on if the product grows from the PG era. If in 5 years when Vince is hoping that the young kids who watched before when they were 10-12, when there 15-17 are they gonna still be watching? If the popularity of the WWE falls or doesn't increase from were it is then why keep it?

So in all, it depends on what happens in 3-5 years, if the popularity sky rockets, then it will probably stay the current way that it is, if it stays at were it is in popularity or even diminishes then I think WWE and Vince and John Cena will have to accept that there going to have to grow up and go back to edgier wrestling.

 

[ccotreau1]

Not only did you have Hulk doing the "say your prayers and eat your vitamins" you had Sgt Slaughter playing the Iranian ally card, which i thought was a great storyline...

 

[FoleyIsGod]

IU would say no. The attitude era worked as it was mainstream, ie doing the things that seemed legit and people would bust ass for.

compare it to the rise of UFC. In 1999, no-one wanted to know about UFc, apart from the real hardnuts.

Now that is mainstream, to the point where ALL wrestling looks "fake". True, you had guys like Benoit and Anlge who could wrestle in a ufc-fasion, but to those fans, it was always going to be "fake".

The internet doesnt help either. Guys jumping promotions, firings, hirings, real names etc were not reported in the mid nineties as much as they are now. Hell, you got guys/girls on twitter saying stuff. Kinda takes away the mistique.

Anyway, we will never have another attitude era. It has been done, and the WWe has it all on tape. Why try do something bigger that you cannot do?

 

[Nev]

Well this is really stating the obvious here.

When you go from sex and violence, to 'appeal to children', you're obviously appealing to a new generation of fans.

As for your question, I see no idea why the WWE would want to stick with appealing to children, forever. It's common sense to go with the flow. That way, these kids can have their own little 'attitude era' as the main demographic ages. Trust me, our children will be a lot more fucked up then we are.

Plus I think it's better to appeal to a new generation. All you ever hear about, are fans whining about bringing the Rock back, why 'eras' are the best; or why the 'eras' suck, and the overall standard of wrestling fans becoming too high the longer they watch the product.

Better to attract more fresher viewers with fresher minds.

As for the WWE literally marketing with one demographic, FOREVER, is really unlikely. It's always best to go with what is good for the business at the time. WWE always goes with the flow, otherwise the 'Attitude Era' would have never occurred, for instance.

WWE can't stick to one demographic forever. In other sports this may work, but in the world of sports entertainment, I don't think so.

To conclude, yes, the WWE should 'age' their fans. (AKA: Go with the flow.)

 

[BernacK6]

We all know the WWE is currently working under a PG rating. This limits what they can do to an extent. While I'm of the opinion things haven't changed as much as critics would allow you to think, things are different now. The programme is often geared towards an audience of children.

However, as these children grow up, they could become one of the critics - believing the WWE to be for children only and stop watching. To stop this happening, should the WWE abandon it's PG rating as the current set of fans age, or should they assume new fans will be there to take the places of those who leave the product?

I'm of the opinion they have no need to change. At 17 I'm older than some fans, yet a lot younger than others. I've watched wrestling all my life, throughout all the different changes, and I really love the PG era, and I know adults that do. I don't see the PG era as such a big deal, and while some people will stop watching as they age, that's going to happen whether the WWE changes or not.

This thread is NOT to discuss how bad the PG era is, so keep it out of here.

Boy I hate to disagree with your topic at the risk of sounding "elitist" or being reported for not even saying a word to you, but the WWE is not this type of product. It is currently targeted at people ages 10-17, as the PG Rating suggests. So as you said, no need to evolve for a specific target audience. But the topic asks the question to which I say no. The WWE evolves its product as necessary. It was an edgy product in the late 1990's because it was forced to compete. As the competition dwindled and disappeared, the need for edginess also dissappeared. It doesn't evolve based on its target audience. It evolves for ratings.

 

[The People's Tampon]

I don't think they'll coherently try to "age" with their fans, which is difficult considering they have fans of all ages. I guess the core audience is identifiable through market research, but if I were to guess, the bulk of the audience is split between 8-14 and 18-35, with high school kids who would likely prefer more aggressive content anyways (I know I did when I was that age) in the middle. This split seems to define the WWE fandom fairly permanently.

Instead, possibly between TV deals, of which I have no idea when there current contracts run out, or perhaps at some point in the near to distant when rating seem terminally depressed, somebody in the office will say, "Hey, remember how much money we made back in the Attitude era?" It's an inevitability. And they'll experiment with bringing back the adult content. Its only a matter of time.

FWIW, I don't care about the level of sex and violence on the show. Lascivious and child-oriented programs alike can be equally cheesy (see: Val Venis). What I care about is the quality of the wrestling and the intelligence of the story line. IMO, Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk, despite some of Hardy's rather weak promos, has been the most compelling storyline in years. Sure, there's been some violence and mature topics involved, but its based on differing ideals more than anything else, even though the heel's side of the argument is the only one properly articulated. Which reminds me of how much I'd kill for a Punk-RVD program where they really let both of them loose.

 

[tomcat2k2]

I always assumed the point of going PG was to grow along with the fans. WWE was sagging with the number of fans and I thought the move was, while not popular for us internet fans, a smart long term strategy for WWE. They grab as many kiddie fans as they can now with Cena, and slowly and gradually become edgier as their audience ages and do the cycle all over again.