WWE to Make Major Change to 'WWE Raw'

By Brian Jones

WWE is making a big change to its flagship show. According to Andrew Zarian of The Mat Men Podcast, WWE Raw will stop its TV-PG rating and move up to TV-14 starting on July 18. It's not clear if WWE SmackDown will follow suit, but Zarian said, "The PG Era is over" for WWE Raw. 

As mentioned by Comicbook.com, WWE official converted to the TV-PG Rating for WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown on July 22, 2008. WWE was PG throughout the 1980s and 1990s but made the change in 1997 to TV-14, marking the start of The Attitude Era. According to the Twitter account WrestleVotes, WWE discussed the move for years. The question now is how much will the product change with the new rating?

WWE legend The Godfather appeared on The Midnight Hustle Podcast last year and explained why The Attitude Era couldn't happen today. "In the last 12 years, I've been to WrestleMania 10 times because I'm still under a contract with them, it's called a Legends contract. They keep me relevant. 

"They bring you to WrestleMania every year and you do signings and stuff but I told my wife I don't even wanna go anymore because it's not fun, it's a job," The Godfather said, per Wrestling News. "It used to be a chance to hang out with the boys. We had something called the bewitching hour at 12 o'clock, everyone would meet at the bar and everyone would get drunk and have fun. Nobody does that anymore because they are too afraid that somebody is gonna take a picture of them [or taping] them in a conversation [or] showing them taking shots and showing them on some girl they're not supposed to be on." Here's a look at what fans have to say about the move.

Slide 1

One person wrote: "It's not like they started doing the "blood and guts" stuff. They've been using stronger language lately, and I think they are testing another level with the Cameron Grimes promo on NXT this week. Probably the main impetus on the higher rating."

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Slide 2

Another person wrote: "Times are so much different today than the Attitude Era which was way beyond TV-14. I understand trying to spice up the programming but the majority demographic might not be pleased with TV-14 programming. I applaud the willingness to do something different."

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Slide 3

One fan replied: "Genius move from Vince McMahon, he wants to be able to do the stuff he does in private, on screen once again, that way it's all just 'Sports Entertainment' and he can't get in trouble."

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Slide 4

One person tweeted: "Lord there's so many stuff to think of from the Attitude Era, I think you should just stick to showing matches from the last decade cause a TV14 rating is for older teens."

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One fan said: "Yea not really WWE will still have to follow the rules of TV there are things they cannot do or say on live television so WWE will be PG to an extent."

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A fan said: "Honestly, I think they're seeing the tv-14 isnt hurting AEW and advertisement for them and people want the more adult version of wrestling like AEW."

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Slide 7

And this person wrote: "Can't wait for people to realize a couple of months after the switch that it was never a 'PG' issue, but a creative issue."

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