The transition into the PG era will forever evoke a maelstrom of hatred and criticism and despite WWE adopting the new policy well over a decade ago, fans are as rowdy as the first day the change came into effect.
According to numerous people, both industry professionals and fans, the shift to a more family-friendly style ruined the program and according to the staggering drop in viewership over the years, the claim is well-founded.
The company has lost a good chunk of its fan base over the years as everything from the intensity to the depth of the characters has been brought down several notches. Babyfaces are all the same, with very minor deviations while the heels come across as more annoying than evil, as they should be.
The Move To PG Was Hated By Many
Chair shots to the head are banned and blading is strictly forbidden, stripping away the allure of matches such as Elimination Chamber and Hell in a Cell. Oh, and character quirks are borderline bizarre. Braun Strowman train noises? Way to sell a monster.
Meanwhile, the TV-14 era of WWE is put on a pedestal and even nowadays, there is a vocal group of fans demanding that the company returns to its roots and do away with the PG rating. The Attitude era is often brought up but the preceding epoch, the Ruthless Aggression era, was as raunchy and brutal as the Austin era.
Almost every big match was a violent affair and wrestlers possessed an extra gear of intensity which is lacking in the modern program as they simply lack the creative freedom to run wild. TV-14 was no holds barred. In that respect, the PG era might as well be a simple wrestling match, with emphasis on the wrestling and not much else. The one thing that is better in modern WWE is the in-ring product.
There is a caveat to this as well. Matches such as Vince McMahon versus Steve Austin and Mankind versus the Undertaker are far more memorable than any recent contest. That being said, the aforementioned contests were not really wrestling matches but chaotic brawls featuring a lot of weaponry and not much technique being showcased.
The obvious exception is the five-star classic between Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker at Bad Blood 1997, but that was Shawn Freaking Michaels in his prime and the novelty factor was off the charts, being the first Hell in a Cell match and the debut of Kane. However, after that particular contest, technical masterpieces were few and far in-between as the program relied more on character work and storylines.
The formula worked for WWE and during a time when they desperately needed to bounce back as WCW was running a hot streak of 83 weeks of ratings dominance. In the end, all worked out and the method of more flair and less in-ring substance paid dividends, namely, some of the more profitable years in the company and the decimation of the rival in Atlanta.
As the company rolled into the next era of Ruthless Aggression, the match quality improved somewhat, especially over on SmackDown as wrestlers such as Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, and Chris Benoit worked a number of high-caliber matches, demonstrating a great amount of technique but the blood and profanity remained a dominant crux of the program.
The Template Worked For WWE When They Needed It
With the advent of the PG era and the curtailment of the more edgy bits, wrestlers were presented with only one avenue of entertainment and that was wrestling. As much criticism is levied upon the modern product, the in-ring aspect has grown tremendously, with several NXT matches garnering critical acclaim and 5 stars from Dave Meltzer. A majority of the wrestlers on the main roster are capable in-ring workers and even during a dull week, there are at least a few matches worth watching.
The in-ring product was noticeably worse during the TV-14, but that hardly means that the athletes back then were not capable in-ring workers. Kurt Angle might be the greatest in-ring technician of all time, and he was a mainstay during that time period. The reality is, WWE choose flair over technique and entertainment over wrestling during a time of survival and once the formula worked, the company had no reason to fix what was not broken.
The in-ring aspect was dialed back deliberately as the edgy storylines and bloodbaths garnered far more eyeballs and notoriety. Meanwhile, wrestlers in the PG era have had most of their tools taken away and the bread and butter of the athletes is pure wrestling.
In short, the TV-14 era was all about entertainment and TV-PG is wrestling. And as history demonstrates, entertainment sells more than wrestling.