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WHY WWE MAINTAINS THE PG RATING, WHAT HURT THE MATCH QUALITY OF THE ROCK'S LAST FEW BOUTS, TNA AND MORE

By Mike Johnson on 2013-04-27 10:00:00
My question is, WWE has labelled itself as TV-PG. While I don’t have a problem with this apart from the fact that TV-14 or higher would make for much better watching. I’m not asking for blood I just want storylines to be a little more, edgier, if creative can do that. On the WWE Corporate website it says the following. · Balanced age distribution with 74% of the audience aged 21 or older. 23 % of our audience is under 18 years old, 24 % of our audience is 18-34 years old, 21 % of our audience is 35-49 years old, 32 % of our audience is 50+ years old. The numbers show for their selves that the under 18s is not their biggest fan base. Why keep it PG when it’s obvious that 76% of the viewers are over 18? Great website and keep up the great work!'

The company wants to maintain the PG rating as a way to attract the best advertisers and sponsors possible. It's a prestige thing as much as anything else. They had gone as far as they could with the adult direction, so they swung the pendulum back in the other direction. The good news is that some of their side projects, such as WWE Classics and recent DVD releases, have had the freedom and leeway to have TV-14 rating.

Back when Vince Mcmahon did commentary was it harder for him to run the shows? Seems as if it would of been since, he wasn't able to be in the 'Gorilla Position' during the show..

Vince wasn't as hands on then. He was the boss, but when it came to running the backstage, he had Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco, Blackjack Lanza, Terry Garvin, etc. to handle that aspect of the company.

Do you think it's a shame that TNA has been so awesome lately and, really the best wrestling show since the end of 2011 but, the ratings haven't done any better and, in a lot of cases have went down? I find it so disheartening because, I have always been a defender of TNA and, there has been nothing much to defend just based on how great the show has been overall for a good period of time.. I know WWE has more money and, more profitable and that is the basis of success.. But, when it comes to diversity of characters, overall roster, storylines, in-ring work, promos, and show quality it's pretty much safe to say that, TNA is better in all of those areas than WWE is.. And, as a fan it sucks to see all of that come together finally for TNA and, the ratings steadily go down.. What do you think?

I would agree with you. The company has been stronger from a storyline standpoint in the last year than it has been since I can remember. I think there is a real malaise over not just TNA but all wrestling right now and that it's impossible for anyone to really gain any traction at the moment. Everything lives and dies based on how well WWE is doing. They control the pulse of the industry.

I'm not the guy to say someone isn't in ring-shape or anything.. But, does The Rock do any cardio-training when it comes to preparing for his matches? The reason I ask is because, he looks to have been 'blown-up' within 10 minutes of the matches he has been in since being back.. Cena and himself was a slow-paced match in both Wrestlemania matches and, Cena didn't even look winded but, Rock looked like he was going to pass out from oxygen deprivation.. Also, CM Punk seemed as if he had to "dumb-down" his work in the matches with Rock.. He looks like "Millions of Dollars" but, it doesn't seem like he can "go" anymore.. I know he has aged and all but, he isn't that old..

Well, we now know Rock was injured during the Wrestlemania 29 match but it was obvious during the last run that he had focused more on girth and muscle than he had ring wind, because he was a big step behind where he was a year ago when he first wrestled. Preparing for Hercules and films like that had a absolute effect on his in-ring work, which is a shame. His Survivor Series 2011 and Wrestlemania 28 matches were great. I agree that CM Punk dumbed down for his matches against The Rock for sure.

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