Wikipedia:PG Era

The PG Era is a period of professional wrestling within World Wrestling Entertainment, inc. (WWE), which began on July 22, 2008 after its programming received a TV-PG rating from TV Parental Guidelines. WWE considers the era to have ended in 2013, but some sources describe everything since 2008 to be part of the PG Era because most of WWE's programming remains TV-PG. The era has received plenty of criticism due to its watered-down violence and kid-friendly characters.

Background
WWE promoter Vince McMahon states that the Attitude Era of the 1990s and early 2000s was the result of competition from World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and forced the company to "go for the jugular". Due to WCW's demise in 2001, McMahon says that they "don't have to" appeal to viewers in the same way and that during the "far more scripted" PG Era, WWE could "give the audience what they want in a far more sophisticated way". WWE says that the move to PG cut the "excess" of the Attitude Era and "ushered in a new era of refined and compelling storytelling". John Cena was face of the company during this time, despite receiving a mixed reception from the audience.

While WWE had been slowly moving towards a more family-friendly format before it, Vice News writes that this was accelerated after the Chris Benoit double murder and suicide in 2007. Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm of Wrestling Observer Newsletter attribute the move to TV-PG as a result of WWE appealing to sponsors. Then-WWE CEO Linda McMahon described the transition away from TV-14 as a "cradle to the grave" approach to appeal to younger viewers and encourage brand loyalty.

WWE officially announced the move to TV-PG on July 22, 2008. The 2008 SummerSlam pay-per-view was the first WWE pay-per-view to carry the TV-PG rating.

Within WWE's given time frame of the PG Era (2008-2014), the only show that did receive adult-oriented ratings as opposed to TV-PG Ratings was Extreme Rules (2012). The show received universal positive acclaim DVD Talk gave a "Recommended" rating to the DVD, stating that the release was "right on target with other recent WWE DVDs (for better or worse), from the decent technical presentation to the lack of bonus features". , with the main event match between John Cena and the returning Brock Lesnar, which featured excessive bleeding for the first time in this era being particularly praised.

Changes in content
As WWE adapted a more family-friendly style, previous staples in their programming were altered or dropped. Use of expletives were prohibited. An example of this was when John Cena renamed his finishing maneuver from "FU" to "Attitude Adjustment" or the PPV event WWE One Night Stand changing the name to WWE Extreme Rules to avoid the sexual connotations. Female wrestlers had previously performed in Bra and panties matches and several of them had posed nude in Playboy but these were dropped in 2008. Excessive violence was also toned down. Chair shots to the head became increasingly rare after Benoit's death, and were completely banned in 2010. In 2011 following their match at WrestleMania 27, wrestlers The Undertaker and Triple H were fined for chair shots to the head, despite the match being well received by the fans.

Amid declining ratings and the launch of rival promotion All Elite Wrestling in 2019, it was reported that WWE wanted to move on from the PG Era. Vince McMahon acknowledged that the promotion would be "a bit edgier, but remain in the PG environment". He said the promotion had "graduated from ... gory crap" and was a "a more sophisticated product".

Major storylines and stars
WWE considers the PG Era to have ended in 2013, in favor of The Reality Era, although the exact duration of the era is disputed. Many sources continue to describe WWE as still being in the PG Era because most of their content is still rated TV-PG. For the purposes of this article, only events between 2008-2013 will be covered in the section. The Reality Era covers 2013-2016 and The New Era covers 2016-present.

While John Cena was the biggest star in the company at that time, other major stars during that period included Randy Orton, Triple H, Rey Mysterio, The Undertaker, The Big Show, Shawn Michaels and Edge. The era also saw new stars emerging including CM Punk, The Miz, Kofi Kingston, Sheamus, and Alberto Del Rio. Women wrestlers then known as divas included the likes of Mickie James, Maria, Melina, Eve Torres, Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly. Jeri-Show was one of the most dominant tag teams during this period, having hed the unified WWE Tag Team Championship and the World Tag Team Championship titles for most of 2009 and popularly feuding against D-Generation X from 2009-2010.

During the PG Era, Jeff Hardy won the WWE Championship for the first time at Armageddon 2008. His subsequent 2009 feud with CM Punk was described as "shockingly real" given the PG Era, as Punk referenced Hardy's real-life drug addiction. Their rivalry culminated in a match at SummerSlam, which Punk won, and Hardy subsequently left the promotion. CM Punk became a "megastar" in the summer of 2011 during his feud with Cena, the pinnacle of which saw him defeat Cena for the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam respectively in two well-received matches. During his storyline with John Cena, Punk performed a shoot promo (known as The Pipebomb), with a style far away from the PG content.

Reception
The move to TV-PG programming has been singled out as WWE's most controversial decision amongst wrestling fans, and is considered the least popular era in WWE history. The transition to TV-PG caused some fans to support WWE's competitors, with Pro Wrestling Torch writer James Caldwell commenting that WWE's programming looked like Barney & Friends or Blue's Clues when compared to their nearest competitor's at the time, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Dave Bautista attributed his 2010 departure to the PG Era, and said that wrestling was "in a bad moment" during that time.

Storylines during the PG Era have also been criticized. Inside Pulse wrote that characters were written better during the Attitude Era and each show was presented as being more important. Responding to Vince McMahon's claims that modern shows are more "sophisticated", Sentinel Daily writer Dale E. Aragon said that "Someone should tell that to the audience." Former WWF writer Vince Russo questioned whether McMahon watches the shows and compared a segment from them to Sesame Street.

Although noting that the move was unpopular with some fans, Bleacher Report opined that it was the right thing to do given changing times, writing: "The world is more politically correct, parents are more cautious about what their kids are watching and advertisers are less willing to back controversial brands." Shortly after the transition, Miami Herald writer Jim Varsallone said that the changes in programming were too subtle for casual fans notice and that he did not get complaints from fans. WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase supported the move to TV PG because he is a Christian Pastor and did not enjoy the raunchier programming. Triple H also defended the PG-Era, stating that the story has to be good, no matter the rating.

The transition to TV-PG became a subject of controversy during Linda McMahon's 2010 Senate campaign. US Senator Chris Dodd accused McMahon of trying to distance herself from professional wrestling, while Superstar Billy Graham said that the move to kid-friendly programming was done so that she would be a more appealing candidate. WWE denied these claims, stating that the 2008 transition to TV-PG occurred "long before McMahon announced her candidacy".