PG Era
I fully acknowledge that shock value and edgy programming doesn’t have the same impact now as it did during the Attitude Era. Knee-jerk reactions over wrestling flared up when CEO Linda McMahon decided to run for US Congress. Political opponents would use examples from the Attitude Era to impact Linda’s campaign negatively.
When Linda announced in September 2009 that she would run for US Congress, the PG Era began. The idea was to target a younger audience and go into a market that had previous been untouched. While they gained a younger audience, mainly of those who grew up with the Attitude Era felt alienated by the changes.
A big part of why people resonated with the Attitude Era was that the Era pushed the envelope and produced shock value entertainment. Once the process began, it could not be reversed. It kept going when Linda announced she would run again in 2012.
The end result was two 55-43% losses in both elections. The decision to go PG ended up burying characters from the past, as they weren’t allowed to do what made them great. Only time will tell if going PG will be sustainable in the long run for WWE as the ratings clearly state it is not.
