The New Attitude Era?

[CenaMark54]

Over the last few weeks, we have seen significant progress on WWE television, from a storyline perspective and a character development perspective. Whether intentional or not, the WWE has started to move away from it's PG programming. Recently, we have seen;

Orton taking on the persona of a mentally deranged psychopath.
Orton RKOing a defenseless women.
Cena cutting promo's not aimed at children.
Triple H attempting to hunt down and kill the three men who have fucked with his family.
Numerous storyline twists and turns.

Last night in particular, I felt as though I was watching a show from 1997-2000, and not one from the 2005-2008 era we have all become accustomed to.

My questions to you, do you believe this is a long term change in direction? Has the WWE decided to scrap its initial feelings on going to a more family friendly product? Is this just a temporary solution to increase ratings and buyrates leading up to Wrestlemania? In 10 years, will we look upon Orton RKOing Stephanie in the same light as we look at Austin/Hart or the Austin 3:16 speech?

I firmly believe that the occurrences of the last two weeks is exactly what is needed to get more people back into wrestling. Hopefully, the progress is reflected on the bottomline in terms of buyrates and ratings so the WWE will continue to give us what we have been craving. I can honestly say, I haven't been this excited to see what will happen next for at least 4 or 5 years.

 

[Soulpower]

Too early to tell. As of now, it all seems to be a by-product of the "Road to Wrestlemania". If things continue going the way they have been these past couple of weeks after WM, then I'll have to agree that WWE is looking to go back to a more adult oriented product.

As you said, hopefully the ratings will continue to increase, and it will show Vince and the other higher-ups that WWE just needs to be a product aimed for an older crowd.

 

[gamebreaker]

They're doing alot of backstage promos now which I've noticed. There's now like 3 or 4 a week now.
If they really wanted to succeed, they should definitely keep doing this.

 

[gatesoftanhauser]

I'd say it's just a booking shift. Probably not long term. Let's hope they keep it up and fire about half the Smackdown roster, along with its' writers, because it really sucks.

 

[Great One]

I think it's the start of something larger as well, which will certainly incorporate the return of Austin (full time) and probably some other older names. Hogan will probably play some part in WM too. If Austin's character returns, there's no way it would stay PG. =p

 

[Moonlight Drive]

The last two Raw shows are the most enjoyable wrestling programming I've seen in a while tbh. Cena's promo was great, I was actually shocked (not in a bad way) that he mentioned anything to do with 'the bedroom', even if it was rather vague. Edge though proved, even if Jericho or Orton can work the mic better them him, he will always be the best heel in the WWE. He's just great at playing the role and getting people to hate him.

Anyway, I'm getting off-topic. Normally I'd disagree and say that it's just a by-product of the Road to Wrestlemania, but I can actually see a distinct change in style of programming. A new era of attitude? Possibly, but I think the sex and profanity will be pretty much gone, which doesn't really bother me too much. Triple H & Orton's segment at the end of the show was fantastic, it shows this shit is personal and the championship is not the focus at all.

Ratings will go up I expect and hopefully the shows will continue like this. I haven't been this into tuning into the WWE since I started watching.

 

[seX-Power]

even if Jericho or Orton can work the mic better them him

Yet they don't, so no need to worry.

 

[plachi]

I think it's the start of something larger as well, which will certainly incorporate the return of Austin (full time) and probably some other older names. Hogan will probably play some part in WM too. If Austin's character returns, there's no way it would stay PG. =p

I think there's more chance of me joining the WWE roster full time than Stone Cold. Would be amazing thought.

 

[WarMachine]

I would love to think like everyone else that WWE is going back to more of an adult program, however WWE is famous for twisting stuff up all the time so this could very well be short term, but for the hope of WWE I pray it isn't.

 

[Great One]

Btw, didn't you forget when JBL tried to RUN OVER (and KILL) John Cena with a car..? That doesn't seem like PG to me.. much worse than any of this. So in all honesty, WWE has generally been the same, and like I said, someone like Austin or Bischoff would need to return if things were to take a sudden twist (like WarMachine just referred to).

 

[chessarmy]

I don't think WWE is aimed at kids OR adults, its more of a family oriented product. Anyone can watch no matter what the age, I'm fine with that. Think about it, we haven't seen as much stupid shit ever since WWE went PG. Sure, it sucks that there isn't as much profanity but thats just a minor issue. As a whole, the WWE is awesome right now. The storylines on RAW and even Smackdown! have me hooked. They're doing a great job of building towards Wrestlemania, I am impressed with the improvement they've made over the past few years

 

[Great One]

Oh yeah, finally remembered what I was going to say in this topic. Notice you say the WWE as it it's best when guess who is currently missing and injured from the roster. >_>

 

[CT Styles]

The 'Attitude Era' is know for pushing the boundaries.

What I want to know is the WWE actually going PG? Has it been officially recognized or was it just a rumor that has gone with the snowball effect?

 

[Moonlight Drive]

Although this is probably pure coincidence, gotta say I was quite shocked tonight to see most of the guys in my footy team, practising moves on one other and actually knowing the names.

Anyway, after that I thought a little more about it, and no this is not a new attitude era. It's a new era of realism. Look at the characters, the situations, hell, even the names. There's no 'Ultimate Warrior' or 'Junkyard Dog' instead we've got real life names like Braden Walker (lmao) or Tyson Kidd. There's no more wacky gimmicks like Goldust debuting, even Haas has been off TV for a while. I'm actually buying into the Jericho promos and his character because they aren't 'you legends suck!' they actually have a lot of truth behind them.

Finally, I also noticed on Raw there aren't the usual clear cut face/heel lines. Orton didn't act like a usual heel and just try and beat up the superhero babyface as he entered the ring, he tried to reason. Triple H didn't just do the ultimate face beatdown, there was an intense chase.

Maybe I'm looking to far into it, but I suspect the days of the over the top wrestling cheesiness is gone (at least I hope so) in favour for a more down-to-earth product.

 

[CT Styles]

^^ I've said that for a while. There's no more gimmicky crap, it's more serious in a way.