PG Era

Upon the launch of the TV Parental Guidelines in 1997, WWF (WWE was known as the World Wrestling Federation until May 2002) programming was rated TV-PG. Beginning with the January 18, 1999 episode, Raw shifted to a TV-14 rating amidst direct competition with World Championship Wrestling's (WCW) flagship show Nitro during the Monday Night War. It remained with that rating until early-June 2008. SmackDown has been rated TV-PG since its inception in 1999. , seen here with child fans, was the face of the company during the PG Era, despite being unpopular with some older fans WWE promoter Vince McMahon states that the Attitude Era of the late 1990s and early 2000s was the result of competition from 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. 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. Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm of Wrestling Observer Newsletter attribute the move to TV-PG as a result of WWE appealing to sponsors, which was confirmed by former WWE chief marketing officer Michelle Wilson. WWE officially announced the move to TV-PG on July 22, 2008. The 2008 SummerSlam pay-per-view (PPV) was the first WWE PPV to carry the TV-PG rating. To appeal to younger fans, WWE released the WWE Kids magazine in 2008, As part of these efforts at brand extension, the company stopped using its full name when referring to the wrestling promotion in April 2011, using only the abbreviation "WWE," which rendered it an orphaned initialism, though its legal name remained World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. In 2013, WWE reported that their revenue had "nearly tripled" since the move to TV-PG, due to corporate partnerships from companies such as Mattel and Post Cereals. The PG Era's duration has been the subject of debate because most WWE programming never stopped being PG, although the company became less focused on family-friendly content over time. While WWE considers the PG Era to have ended in either 2013 or 2014, in favor of The Reality Era, various sources describe the era lasting into the late 2010s and 2020s. ==Changes in content==

s to the head were banned in the PG Era As WWE reverted to a more family-friendly style, previous staples in their programming were altered or dropped. Use of profanity was scaled back. Sexual content involving female wrestlers was heavily toned down, with bra and panties matches being discontinued in 2008. In 2011, following their match at WrestleMania XXVII, The Undertaker and Triple H were both fined for chair shots to the head, despite the match being well received by the fans. From 2008 to the mid-2010s, former WWE head writer Brian Gewirtz stated that the restrictions placed on the writers made it feel as if it was "G Era" rather than the PG Era. Over time, these restrictions were eased as less emphasis was placed on making programming family-friendly. Vince McMahon denied one such report in 2019, stating that the promotion would be "a bit edgier, but remain in the PG environment." However, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that WWE marked an "official end" to the PG Era in April 2024, as the company had started presenting a more adult-oriented product, which included more mature promos. ==Major storylines and stars==

(left) and The Rock (right) on the April 4, 2011 episode of Raw. They had an on and off cross-generational feud between 2011–2013 and main evented WWE's flagship events WrestleMania XXVIII and WrestleMania 29 consecutively. Bleacher Report states that "Perhaps the most distinguishable characteristic of WWE's PG Era was its reliance on superhero-esque babyfaces." While John Cena was the biggest star in the company at that time, other major stars during that period included established holdovers (or returning performers) from prior WWE eras, including Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Older Attitude Era alumni like The Undertaker, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels continued to have prominent matches throughout this time, and The Rock and Brock Lesnar returned to face Cena. CM Punk became a "megastar" in the summer of 2011 during his feud with John Cena, During his 2011 storyline with Cena, Punk delivered a worked shoot promo (known as "The Pipebomb"), with a style and tone far away from the typical PG content. Bleacher Report writes: "Punk turned the company on its head for a few short years and gave fans a taste of what an alternative to the advertiser-obsessed promotion could look like." 's match with John Cena at Extreme Rules 2012 was unusually violent for the PG Era Grantland columnist David Shoemaker writes that while the path towards the Reality Era began with CM Punk's "insurrection", Brock Lesnar brought "a new era of wrestling legitimacy" when he returned in 2012. Lesnar's on-screen manager, Paul Heyman, referred to him as the "most non-PG ass kicker of the PG Era" and the violence in his return match with Cena at Extreme Rules 2012 caused the PPV to receive a TV-14 rating on iTunes. While WWE considers the Reality Era to have begun in 2014, but ComicBook.com considers the end of the PG Era to have happened when CM Punk left the company after Royal Rumble 2014, while Joe Nguyen of The Denver Post believes Seth Rollins' victory over Lesnar at WrestleMania 31 in 2015 ended the PG Era. ==Reception==

's 2010 Senate campaign The move to TV-PG programming has been singled out as one of WWE's most controversial decisions amongst wrestling fans. with Pro Wrestling Torch writer James Caldwell commenting that WWE's programming resembled children's shows such as Barney & Friends or ''Blue's Clues'' when compared to their nearest competitor's at the time, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), which was promoting more adult-oriented content. Bryan Alvarez has been highly critical of WWE storylines throughout the period, but does not blame the TV-PG rating. Alvarez points out that much of the raunchy Attitude Era programming had a TV-PG rating, while viewership declined sharply after the Invasion storyline, which occurred while Raw had a TV-14 rating. Although noting that the move was unpopular with some fans, Chris Mueller of the 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." Mueller praised the PG Era as a wise business decision because it made the promotion more appealing to corporate sponsors. Gewirtz criticized the era as "jarring" due to there being not being a transition from the edgier Ruthless Aggression era, but stated that WWE "[gained] respectability again with the advertisers and Hollywood in general. It made it 'safe' for moms and dads to watch with their kids." The Miz said that the limitations of the PG Era made them more creative, Meanwhile, Kurt Angle praised the era as being "good for wrestling" due to non-television reasons such as the health of the wrestlers. Although John Cena sympathized with those who miss the adult-oriented content, citing his personal "adult sense of humor", he defended the PG era, calling it "more digestible": "[operating under] a PG platform, ... has totally globally expanded the WWE and created more fans ... around the world, and allowed all of these performers including myself to go to new and wonderful places". 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". ==Notes==