WWE TV has looked very different in recent weeks.
The New Year’s Day episode of Raw was a sign of things to come in the near future as The Rock made a shock return to the show once again and teased that he would be face-to-face with Roman Reigns in the near future. Although fans knew a follow-up appearance was coming, few would have guessed that it would have caused such outrage.
Following on from the disappointing end to WrestleMania 39 it seemed all but certain that WWE were building to Reigns vs. Rhodes 2 and this would be the place where Rhodes finally finished the story. However, on the episode of SmackDown after the Royal Rumble, Rhodes appeared to give up his spot to The People’s Champion and sent the internet into a frenzy as they were unhappy with the events that took place.
All was put to rights at the WrestleMania kick-off event, which was also the site of the storyline beginning to break network guidelines. With Rhodes declaring the situation “bullsh*t” and The Rock being bleeped in his follow-up interaction with Triple H, the segment did not feel family-friendly. The weeks that followed saw The Rock cut promos on social media and on TV filled with profanity and innuendo, something that many took notice of and questioned if The Rock’s power both as a celebrity and a member of the TKO Board was allowing him more leeway than intended.
Taking things to a new level on March 25th, The Rock launched a vicious beatdown on Cody Rhodes which saw The American Nightmare blade, something that has been effectively outlawed since 2008. With the content of the segments being not suitable for children and fans questioning if the PG Era is coming to an end, should WWE go back to TV-14 content?
TV-14 WWE: No Restrictions With Netflix
In what has already been a historic year for WWE for positive and negative reasons, the company announced that in 2025 Raw will be broadcast across the world on Netflix instead of network television. Unlike the USA Network, there are pretty much no restrictions in regard to what content they want to present to their worldwide audience. Viewers of Netflix original shows such as Orange is the New Black, Big Mouth or even the controversial Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story are very aware that there are no issues with putting foul-mouthed or violent content on their platform.
While in large part the storylines have aged terribly, there are a lot of lapsed fans who have an extreme fondness for The Attitude Era and the shift to PG was what caused a lot of fans to give up on WWE entirely. With restrictions lifted and no network to appease, there is a case to be made that this could drive up viewership for the product that will need to deliver on a global streaming platform. It could also have the opposite effect, more on that later.
There is also the matter of what exactly a non-PG-era WWE would look like. Once again comparing modern day to The Attitude Era, it is pretty much guaranteed that degrading women’s matches and borderline racist and homophobic insults will not be returning, and rightly so. However, with certain curse words permitted, there is an extra element of creativity that Superstars can use and arguably, much like blood, can use previously unrestricted words to make a great promo an all-time classic.
Along with the relaxed language is the possibility of increased violence. While many fans love a stipulation match, PG brawls can sometimes feel counter-productive as fans are aware that there is only so far that they can go and elements of the fight such as choking and heavy bloodshed are outlawed. Once again, the increased knowledge of 2024 compared to the late 90s should factor into this and anything reckless such as unprotected chair shots to the head should absolutely remain banned. However, as The Rock proved with his Cody Rhodes beatdown, bloodshed and safely done shots with weapons can make a simple beatdown into one of the best segments in recent history. Although there is a good case to be made for the PG era to come to an end, it’s not that straightforward…
PG WWE: Restrict The Overkill
As previously mentioned, WWE is a family-friendly product and has been for over a decade. With bad language and overly violent content being used, is this going to be a step too far for families and ban wrestling in the household altogether and consequently cause a ratings decline once more as the parents explain why WWE is no longer a show they can all watch? Additionally, while parents can attempt to restrict content, kids will find a way to gain access to age-restricted shows, much in the same way that their parents did. With a potential for a tirade of complaints and live attendance going down, is this a gamble WWE wants to take?
While there is a case to be made for non-PG promos and matches adding an extra layer, it could be argued that having the restrictions is what sparks the creativity even further. Some of the best children’s movies contain innuendos that only the adults understand and they are able to keep their rating to be suitable for all. CM Punk’s Pipebomb and John Cena’s battle with Roman Reigns on the mic were both all-time greats and did not require a single curse word to create buzz among the fans. This has also extended to matches with multiple Hell in a Cell matches being some of the best in the stipulation’s history without having to resort to a bloodfest, such as The Undertaker vs. Edge and The New Day vs. The Usos.
Although the idea is tempting, imagine a nationally recognised wrestling promotion with top stars that allows bad language and over-the-top violence nearly every week. To a degree, this is AEW. With it becoming a punchline that Jon Moxley bleeds almost every match, deathmatches being broadcast on free TV and expletive promos on a regular basis, All Elite Wrestling has established itself as the second-biggest promotion in the United States and prides itself as being everything that is not WWE to appeal to lapsed fans. While the concept sounds inviting on paper, many have found the content too much and have become largely disinterested in the product as ratings and live attendances have dropped significantly despite the fact that some of the biggest stars in the world are a member of its roster. Although some fans crave adult-oriented wrestling, the numbers do not lie and this style is not for everyone.
The Final Thought
There is a strong case for either side as to what WWE should plan to do with their content when they move to the wild world that is streaming. While the temptation is there to be completely unrestricted and go completely off the wall while still keeping everyone safe, the product and ultimately the financials may suffer as a result. Perhaps a middle ground is what’s best where if a hot feud featuring top stars necessitates something big, maybe limit it to the end of the show and this be the only segment where the rules are broken. Additionally, only allow free reign to the stars who can be trusted and will use the leeway to great effect, not just being edgy for the sake of being edgy.
While no one really knows what to expect when WWE and Netflix begin their partnership, the unpredictability only makes fans want to come back for more, once again proving that anything can happen in professional wrestling.
Featured image: WWE
