The PG Era of WWE is something that has earned a lot of criticism. There is a certain group of fans out there that holds PG era the reason for the current slump of WWE’s creative juices and to an extent; this might be a correct conclusion as well. Wrestling was a lot more mainstream back during the other eras and the shift to PG era has resulted in WWE catering to a family audience.
While this has landed some huge constraints on the matches and the promos, it has had a huge impact on the wrestlers as well. There are certain wrestlers in the current roster who could’ve loved to be in a non-PG environment and this list is going to take a look at them.
Eva Marie and all the other ‘models’
Attitude Era and PG era differs from each other like day and night. One of the major factors that distinguished these two was the way in which WWE treated their women performers. Currently, WWE is giving a lot of importance to their women and rather than using them for eye candy, WWE is actually allowing them to wrestle.
Back in the Attitude era, it was different, which meant that even if you did not know how to wrestle, you could still be over thanks to those skin show segments. Imagine Eva Marie in the Attitude Era, would you have hated her just saying that she did not know to wrestle?
Dean Ambrose
Dean Ambrose is one of those rare blends of madness and brilliance. The guy is an unpredictable lunatic and this unpredictability was the motto of the entire Attitude Era. Ambrose comes from a background in CZW where he had numerous death matches. He was known for getting bloodied but it is something that he cannot do in WWE thanks to PG era.
Also, the microphone work of Ambrose is limited to the scripts in PG era unlike Attitude Era where he would’ve had the freedom to tell whatever he wanted, and whenever he wanted. In short, we are only getting a toned down version of Dean thanks to the whole PG Era.
Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt’s character, during the initial phases, was tagged as one of the most innovative ones in the PG era. The freshness that Bray brought in was the reason why such credits came his way. But if we take a look at the larger picture, the character of Bray Wyatt was more suited for the Attitude Era.
It was the time when we had gimmicks that made us creep out and also, Bray would’ve had the freedom to go out and completely destroy his opponent to stamp his fearful presence. He was restricted big time due to the PG audience that WWE caters and his current slump is a direct consequence of the same.
Kane
Kane was one of the staple members of the Attitude era. He had some memorable storylines and matches during the time-frame and Kane had the atmosphere in which he could’ve flourished. He did demonic things and pulled off scary stuff that made people believe in him but thanks to the shift to PG era, WWE made a lot of changes to the Kane character.
Although Kane had his old looks and all, the character’s actions were toned down to attract the PG audience. The corporate Kane is a great example of how WWE changed the Big Red Monster thanks to the PG era. Kane still sticks around somehow and he deserves credit for that no matter how he is booked.
CM Punk
CM Punk would’ve been a perfect fit for the Attitude Era. In fact, CM Punk would’ve been another Steve Austin if he had wrestled under the Attitude Era atmosphere. Punk, who was probably one of the best talkers in the roster during his time, would’ve had a lot of memorable segments just like Austin had in the Attitude Era.
The PG shift, however, made CM Punk into a toned down rebel. It was also probably the reason why he never got the chance to be the face of WWE because he never had the chance to showcase what he could do if given complete freedom.
