The Attitude Era is widely considered one of the greatest eras in wrestling history and from 1997 to 2002, WWE enjoyed massive ratings which make today's look like nothing in comparison. Led by the likes of The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and Mick Foley, it's an era which ended a good fifteen years ago but that hasn't stopped fans from hoping it could make a return.
These days, WWE is strictly PG and that means a lot of what fans loved about the Attitude Era is gone. In a new interview, John Cena has offered an explanation for this change in content.
"What I can tell you is that we’re a PG program, and if you look at the Attitude Era, it was TV-14 or TV-MA. We’re a PG program, there’s nothing else I can tell you. There will be no cussing, there will be no blood, there will be no headshots, there will be no inappropriate clothing, and those aren’t our laws; those are the laws of the rating system. So to operate under a PG platform, which has totally globally expanded the WWE and created more fans — albeit geeky or not geeky — around the world, and allowed all of these performers including myself to go to new and wonderful places, like places in South America, China for the first time. We keep returning to Japan, the Arab Emirates — just because we have made our program more digestible."
Despite clearly being happy with the way things are now, Cena said he sympathises with fans who would like to see WWE focus on more mature content similar to when he first debuted.
"I totally understand, as a 40-year-old man, and if you’ve seen me in Trainwreck I have a pretty adult sense ofhumor, I totally understand someone saying, ‘I miss mature content in sports entertainment’. We are not the place for that. We are not. And that’s our business model. And until it changes I am merely a carpenter building with the tools that are given to me.
“Is a promo easier when you can cuss? Sure, because you’re talking trash and trash talk is filled with cusses. But, as a professional, you can’t speculate and be like, ‘Agh I wish I could just say this,’ because you can’t, those are the rules, and every once in a while we can walk the line and push into grey, but at the end of the day the program is PG and has to be treated as such, because that’s the business model of the folks who own the place.
"That’s when wrestling drew me back, the AttitudeEra, because I was 21 years old, and that’s what I wanted to watch. But until we get the go-ahead to make TV-MA stuff, [WWE is] gonna [stay] PG. So I think everyone who’s involved in the Attitude Era appreciates all the respect, and I know [those of] us who aren’t in the Attitude Era — and I’ve kinda seen both sides of the spectrum, because I came in on the tail end of it and was a primary reason for the transition — I don’t feel slighted at all, because that fact that you watch and complain at least means you’re watching."
The fact is, we're never going to see WWE return to the sort of mature programming we got during the Attitude Era because the company has found a lot of success with younger viewers which they wouldn't have if we were to return to the days of Bra and Panties matches and blading! What do you guys think about Cena's comments? Let us know your thoughts on that below.