Hey Scott, long-time reader, but this is my first time asking a question.
I see that many people are complaining about the WWE's PG-oriented
product lately, but here's what I think about it:
The WWE, being the world's biggest promotion, with no competition that
can give it a run for its money, like WCW back in the 90's, is at a
position where they only have to maintain their position. My guess is
that they're playing it safe with their content now. To avoid burning
the fans out with the Attitude-style product that they were putting
then, and also risking potential backlash with a storyline taken too
far, like ECW's crucifixion incident, they're trying to give the fans
something not as edgy as before. Of course, it would help Linda
McMahon if she runs for public office again.
Thoughts?
You are absolutely correct. Unless they lose TV, which could still happen, they have enough money and reserves to coast forever, basically. So they're not going to risk anything that could cost them that sweet toy business cheddar. I've said, and many others on the blog have as well, that the reasoning is totally understandable. It's just a bummer when there's no blood in a match that would otherwise call for it. I don't think anyone is calling for them to return to Russo-esque Mature-rated programming, since a good storyline is the same in PG or M ratings.
Isn't that trying to jam the genie back in the bottle though? Sure I don't care for TNA's constant and unnecessary use of the word 'bitch' but people have long memories and all the 'attitude' stuff is available on DVD and YouTube anyway. Wouldn't any parent in their late 20s to early 40s only know of wrestling as the coarse, adult product of the 90s when it was last 'big'? Unless those parents are fans themselves wouldn't they write it off as unsuitable anyway?
ReplyDeleteWell, yes and no. They're a publicly-traded company. A company in that position can't just tread water or it makes the investors nervous. They have an obligation to their investors to make as much money quarterly as possible. Unless Vince is intentionally tanking the product to drive the price of shares down so he can take it private again, which, while illegal, is entirely plausible given how out there he is.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's unlikely they'll ever lose TV unless USA decides to change directions creatively (i.e. Bonnie Hammer disappears). USA isn't the destination for original programming it was five years ago. It has much stiffer competition from FX, AMC, and so on. RAW generally props up the network's ratings and acts as a tent pole for new programming. It's a mutually benefical deal, so it's unlikely either side wants to sever that connection.
I will say, since "The Summer of Punk", the product (though still PG) has not been nearly as PG as it was a few years ago - at least in the language. There's a lot more "kick your ass" rather than "kick your butt" and a more realistic way of speaking without going to the Attitude era level where things had to be bleeped out.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is, people often refer to the more "mature" storylines of the Attitude era. But really, the Summer of Punk and stuff like that is more mature in the sense of actually appealing to thinking fans than any of the "mature" stuff of the late 90's like Mae Young giving birth to a hand or Pat Pattersons skid marked tidy whities.
ReplyDeleteAgreed and it's not like Rock and Cena held back on each other either.
ReplyDeleteBetween Cena's character and Rock's movies kids are being drawn to the product on their own. I can only speak for myself but I was drawn back to the product because my kids were already getting into it via those two guys (and then Summer of Punk happened and I remembered how good wrestling could be)
ReplyDeleteTheir model isn't a bad one really.
Appeal to kids in the 80's
Appeal to those same kids in their young adulthood in the 90's
Appeal to those same kids in their adulthood by targeting THEIR kids in the 00's
If you're outside of that age group at any given time though, you're burnt.
It's a double standard that goes well beyond just wrestling, but it's really mind boggling to me as a parent that you can show all kinds of violence and dangerous stunts but not blood or foul language. The whole blood thing is just serious cowering toward all the people who have that irrational fear of seeing blood, which is weird because no other phobia gets as much kowtowing towards it, even though other fears are more common. The foul language isn't nearly as big a problem as suggestive content, and that's where the line gets blurry. You can tell someone you'll ruin their lives, attack them in their home, accuse them of being drunks and drug addicts and call women skanks, and of course you can beat someone up with no provocation, throw them through tables, hijack an ambulance they're in, lock them in freezers, and throw them off a stage in a wheelchair; but you can't call them an asshole. I just don't see how one is any worse than the other.
ReplyDeleteI've found it a nice change, really. I've never been fond of blading -- how is the steel chair causing a laceration to the forehead every time? - but it also works for image repair beyond just Linda's political run. Recall in 2006-2007 where they had the SI steroid report and the Benoit incident- from what I read online, the company was losing sponsors left and right. I also thought the blood-and-swearing "edgy" attitude had become passe; I don't need to see Triple H and Candice Michelle getting oral sex from below a table.
ReplyDeleteNow, they have a better connection with mainstream sponsors (7-Eleven, K-Mart, KFC), families and kids are coming out again, and it's no longer a bad thing to be connected to the product; a few years ago, the only time the WWE was getting mainstream coverage was either for roids or a murder-suicide. Now, they get shown on ESPN or Extra or Yahoo! News; it's almost back to the clean-cut days of the 90s, and it's nice that the company has rehabbed its image. You always have to be evolving with the times, but sticking to the AE formula past its expiration date was akin to keeping a Metapod at Level 80. It's a different time, and while the in-ring product isn't as great and the numbers aren't high, the company at least has the public's good graces, which was a first step the company needed to take even outside of Linda's Senate run.
this!
ReplyDeletewell, obviously unless you are one of those kids they are targeting at the moment (which, by the looks of it, are A LOT!).
ReplyDeleteThe backlash against the "PG Era" has always been ridiculous. It isn't the PG rating that makes WWE bad at the minute, it's shoddy writing/booking. Remember 1991/2 was PG and yet you had some fantastic angles there - Jake Roberts vs. Randy Savage comes to mind for instance - and 1997 wasn't totally "Attitude" and yet story-wise it's probably the best year the WWF ever had. Logical booking and writing - making wins and losses count, for starters - as well as letting the wrestlers be themselves rather than over-scripting would solve all of the problems they've got right now.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny too, because of all the things I've seen in wrestling the one most seared into my brain is Damien biting Randy Savage.
ReplyDeleteTwenty years later and I'm still pretty sure that's the craziest fucking thing I've ever seen on television.
As far as no blood goes, it was interesting to read about Bret blading intentionally during the period where it was banned, but did it in a way that it looked like an accident. For instance, his match with Piper or his match with Austin at Wrestlemania. And both times they were ruled accidental by the doctors in the back.
ReplyDeleteThe whole profanity argument is so weak anyways. Geez, me and my schoolmates were saying pussy, fuck, shit, etc in 2nd and 3rd grade in the playground and that was the early 80s. What do you think kids today speak like? It's such an arbitrary thing. Someone decided many years ago these words were "taboo" and it's so damn silly.
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail on the head with that timeline model. I'm 30 years old and while I don't have kids, I can't help but feel like the WWE is modeling their product over somebody like me. Like you said, when I was a kid, I was getting the cartoonish product of the Rock and Wrestling and New Generation Eras. As I was entering high school, the product got significantly more "adult" with the Attitude Era. And then when I got to the age that sexual innuendos on a wrestling program seemed a little tasteless, the product toned down and became more family friendly.
ReplyDeleteRaw being rated pg has as much to do with them being able to point at it when one of Linda's opponets attacks her than anything else.
ReplyDeleteThe PG era is a direct response to the Chris Benoit tragedy and following steroid inquiry from Congress. No more, no less. Regardless of Linda's ridiculous political aspirations, they've gone PG to keep Congress off their back.
ReplyDeleteImagine if Congress went after the WWE like they did MLB?
By the way, I think it's ABSURD that Congress went after MLB with both guns blazing but an industry like pro wrestling, where guys DIE left and right, got off without even so much as a hearing.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we need a better term than "Mature" or "Adult", since really- the Attitude Era was neither- it was stuff for college kids to laugh at, or masturbate to. It was basically "censor-worthy" and "DEFINITELY not for children" as much as anything. Is there a better term for it overall? "Objectional" doesn't fit by itself.
ReplyDeleteLOL at the random Pokemon metaphor partway through.
ReplyDeleteI think it's absurd that Congress wastes even one minute with any sports related issues. Pretty sure there are more important things to do.
ReplyDelete"Uh yeah, this blood coming from my forehead in a neatly marked line was totally accidental. Oh, it's OK, I already took aspirin for it. I feel much better already."
ReplyDeleteAnd people wonder why wrestling doctors are stupid enough to get busted.
Everything the OP says is true, but you neglect to separate the concerns of the company from the concerns of the fan.
ReplyDeletePeople complain about the WWE's PG oriented product because they don't like it and they will continue to complain about it for the same reason. Nobody who watches as a fan is going to say "hey the WWE makes decent money this way and can survive forever, I've changed my stance and I support it!". While you can understand why the company does what it does, you can simultaneously dislike it as a fan and rally for a change. The WWE is doing okay, but don't let the gaudy looking numbers brainwash you -- they could be doing much better (most business indicators are down on the year from last year and the year before that) without "burning the fans out" by paying a little bit more attention to what the fans want.
Excellent point regarding the "mature" storylines. I always thought that particular designation cast a bad light on us Americans -- that we consider swearing and poop jokes the zenith of "mature content".
ReplyDeleteThe thing that always makes me laugh is when someone says 'ass' on TV they don't bleep it, but when they say 'asshole', they bleep the 'hole' part.
ReplyDeleteLOL @ "it's OK, I already took aspirin for it"... yeah like 20 minutes before the match haha.
ReplyDeleteAnd the sad thing is, that Chris Benoit was the least Attitude like guy they had. He was a basic strict wrestler. Nearly no foul language, nearly no hardcore wrestling (aside from some Kevin Sullivan WCW match...), just the most down to earth wrestler they got. And what has steroid to do with Attitude? It was one of the few time in WWE, where not the muscle monsters like Hogan and Warrior ruled, but the cool and innovative and edgy guys like Rock, Austin, Mankind etc..
ReplyDeleteNot so crazy, actually. MLB teams utilize stadiums that are often funded with public money, located on public land, and franchise themselves to cities whose economies are heavily dependent on their success. WWE rents their space independently, hires their own security instead of using local police, etc. WWE can make a case that they should monitor themselves. The NFL, MLB, NHL, and so on can't make that argument since they as dependent on the cities as the cities are on them.
ReplyDeleteBut it should be a state matter in that case, the federal gov't (i.e. Congress) is over reaching getting involved in steroids. What about teams that don't use public funding like the Yankees or the Cowboys?
ReplyDeleteThe whole thing is one giant waste of time and tax dollars.
Dr. Leo Spaceman resents you mocking medical professionals!
ReplyDeleteCurious: Does anyone really think WWE is in jeopardy of losing TV? I mean, if TNA still has TV it will be a LONG time before WWE loses all of its contracts. Plus all the shows are still relatively highly related and lucrative. I could see SmackDown going online eventually, but not Raw.
ReplyDeleteNah, I don't see WWE losing TV anytime soon. Even if the bottom fell out of the business, I could still see WWE on syndication as opposed to a live show.
ReplyDeleteI think the UFC has had an influence on the PG movement as well. UFC and the Attitude Era are marketed to the same kind of fan and WWE was losing so I think going to PG is a way to recoup some interest.
ReplyDeleteIn Bret's book, he said he bladed high into his hairline so it looked more accidental as opposed to Flair, who got busted in his match against Savage, who bladed with a bunch of cat-scratches on his forehead.
ReplyDeleteNever. At the very most they'd go back to taped episodes over live but given the length of time it's been the #1 show on USA I don't think the network would back out ever. It's been a flagship part of their channel for 25 years with only a, what, four year break?
ReplyDeleteI think it was a huge waste of time mostly because I want everyone to do steroids (c'mon, home runs are cool) but I think maybe the inquiry also had to do with these guys traveling around so much possibly bringing these illegal drugs over state lines and the like.
ReplyDeleteThat and, let's face it, our government is no designed to fix stuff. It's designed to make a big deal about nothing issues while everything else goes to shit.
Trillion dollar debt? Who cares? We have BASEBALL to worry about! (They did this exact same shit with the music industry in the late 80's when the economy was bleeding)
That was EXACTLY the voice I read that comment in too.
ReplyDeleteThe whole steroid inquisition came from an IRS agent who used to play pick up near where Barry Bonds grew up and had a serious personal beef against the guy, so he managed to talk his superiors into pressuring Congress into an investigation. Plus, since it all started during the Bush presidency, a lot of Democratic congressmen were in favor of it because, I'm guessing, they were hoping they could find something that linked back to when he owned the Texas Rangers and it could hurt him. It's all just cronyism.
ReplyDeleteThat is true about the 80s and the whole metal censorship/labels.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as far as guys bringing drugs across state lines, that's what the FBI and DEA are for, not for Congress to have a big circus.
Every time someone tries to defend the "mature" storylines back in the Attitude era, I shut them up with two words:
ReplyDeleteKatie Vick.
That was technically post attitude era! haha.
ReplyDeleteI would go with three words:
ReplyDeleteMae Young's Hand
"I'm Nazi Doctor Heinrich Spaceman. I mean, just doctor, we can edit that right? Oh, we're live?"
ReplyDeleteMajor leagues sports organizations also constitute interstate commerce, which is governed by a federal agency. You also mention the FBI and DEA, which are also federal agencies. Theoretically, these agencies answer to Congress. Instead of having each group launch individual cases investigating MLB, which would most likely trip over each other due to lack of communication, and cost more to run multiple separate investigations, it made more sense for launch one large, central investigation.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't necessarily agree with Congressional inquiry, I can understand the argument being made for it.
Still counts! It's when they were still trying to push the envelope.
ReplyDeleteThat's more along the lines of my point. If you're going to go after an industry, you should go after the one with people dying. Not the one that gets media attention because Babe Ruth's record got broken.
ReplyDeleteOk I was gonna put this up right after I posted this, but then I decided not to be selfish and take it for myself, and now no one has put it up, so here goes:
ReplyDelete"You can starve 'em, you can march 'em to death, you can leave 'em to die on some godforsaken rock, but for some reason, you can't slap 'em."
For shame people. You should always have relevant Simpsons quotes at the ready.
Or her baby daddy's other crowning moment:
ReplyDelete"Oh sweet Jesus! She has a penis!"
Actually, Flair's forehead was so mottled by that point that he could legitimately claim he started bleeding hardway just from taking too hard a shot to that scar tissue.
ReplyDeleteCoarse?
ReplyDelete"So they're not going to risk anything that could cost them that sweet toy business cheddar."
ReplyDeleteIt's called running a business, dummy.
WWE won't lose their TV contracts anytime soon. Scotty is just being dumb as usual.
ReplyDelete