Let’s Say Nice Things About... The PG Era

In an effort to bring some positivity to professional wrestling—and the world for that matter—Cageside Seats and its community will say nice things about people and things in wrestling every single day throughout 2017.

A reminder of the rules: only positivity allowed here. No back-handed compliments, and CERTAINLY NO NEGATIVITY. If you don’t have something nice to say, keep it to yourself, or take it elsewhere. Negative comments will be deleted and you may be subjected to a ban. Cool? Cool.

Today’s subject: I can’t believe we haven’t done it seeing that we’ve covered the New Generation, Attitude, and Invasion Era. Today: the PG Era.

NOTE: For reference, this is in reference to the era that began with this announcement in July 2008 that stated that all WWE programming going forward would carry the Parental Guidance Suggested rating and continues to this day. I’m sure it carries a similar rating elsewhere around the world (if it doesn’t let me know).

I’ll start. While a lot of people have said it’s responsible for some of the worst written television in wrestling history (it has), it’s also responsible for some of the best. Case in point: NXT. For about two years, it was the hottest wrestling show on the planet. You know what the TV rating for that show is? PG.

Smackdown Live, which some regard as the best-written wrestling show WWE has right now (though recent events have soured some on that). That show’s rating: TV-PG.

Even RAW has had pockets of brilliance in recent years. All while rated PG.

The PG Era has brought in a new generation of fans, both young and old, both male and female. Even if they don’t all stick around, some do, and maybe some of their friends turn into fans.

One more thing: the PG Era has made the WWE slightly more attractive to sponsors. Granted, overall, the consensus among advertisers overall hasn’t changed a whole lot (i.e. people who watch wrestling are generally less affluent and less educated compared to other shows), but good on WWE for trying.

Oh, and WWE’s gotten a lot safer in this era (less intentional bleeding, more attention paid to concussions, etc.).

Your turn. Say something nice about the PG Era.

And if you have a suggestion for a future “Let’s Say Nice Things About...”, hit me up on Twitter @notoriouseddie. I promise I won’t bite.