After 16 years of PG television content appropriate for all ages, mostly one-dimensional storytelling, and a distinct lack of edginess, WWE under Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque has finally started to push the limits of that era with recent booking trends that have fans excited for the future.
Rather than some of the formulaic stories and uninspired characters that dominated the PG Era dating back to July 22, 2008, current WWE television under Levesque and his creative staff has reintroduced edginess, attitude, and ruthless aggression to a worldwide audience, with potential for more to come.
After signing a 10-year, $5 billion deal with Netflix to take its flagship show, Raw, to the streaming platform, Levesque has already hinted at changes to the restrictions put on the company's content and performers.
During a June 24 appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, the WWE Hall of Famer said, "What are the restrictions or not restrictions? Being on Fox, if the crowd chants 'holy shit' or something worse, they take the audio (out). Sometimes, they take the picture and the audio out and it's a black screen. The Rock comes in and you can't tell what The Rock to do. He does what he does. We won't have those issues with Netflix," (h/t Jeremy Lambert of Fightful for the transcription).
Though the move does not occur until January, fans are already getting a taste of what they can expect from the company when it makes that leap.
One of the first major indicators that the mood is about to change is the reintroduction of blood and how it can be utilized to enhance the seriousness of an angle or elevate the tension between characters.
We saw it on the road to WrestleMania XL when The Rock busted Cody Rhodes open in the parking lot and left him in a heap. The results as a red-hot close to Raw and a moment that trended across social media.
At Clash at the Castle, Rhodes again found himself bloodied, this time during an "I Quit" Match against AJ Styles for the Undisputed WWE Championship. Days later in Chicago, Drew McIntyre tossed a battered, broken CM Punk down on the entrance stage, the hometown hero's face the proverbial crimson mask.
We have also witnessed the return of soap opera-esque storylines, such as the ongoing saga of Rhea Ripley, Dominik Mysterio, and Liv Morgan.
At its core, it is a revenge-driven wrestling story between two hated rivals warring over the women's world championship, but the involvement of Mysterio and the battle for his attention has added another element for fans to invest in beyond the prototypical title feud.
During the program, we have also seen the strong, independent, cerebral champion Morgan embrace her sexuality to manipulate, confuse, and get what she wants out of "Daddy Dom" as she attempts to make good on her promise to take everything from Ripley.
Not out of some desire to inject that particular element back into the show but, rather, within the context of an ongoing storyline.
She is smart, calculating, and knows exactly what she is doing in her pursuit of tearing down The Judgment Day as we know it, beginning with creating tension and a potential split between Mami and the second-generation star.
Then there is the elevated horror of The Wyatt Sicks.
These are not just monsters who stalk to the ring and beat people up. These are tortured souls, devastated by the circumstances of their lives.
Some have lost loved ones and are engulfed by grief. Others have been rejected by friends and family. All, though, have turned to the dark side under the enigmatic Uncle Howdy to wreak havoc and introduce terror to WWE.
Theirs is storytelling on an entirely different level, a cinematic experience almost, that will play well to the Netflix audience looking for something different to tune into.
By no means does this indicate that WWE is going to drop all restrictions and suddenly devolve into the Crash TV shlock that was the company's programming at the height of the Attitude Era's popularity.
For those nostalgic for the characters of that time, that period will always be tops but a neutral eye can watch those shows back now and recognize that many of them were not particularly good, either from a creative perspective or an in-ring one.
Going backward does nothing to propel the company forward but finding ways to introduce the edginess of that era in appropriate amounts, while meshing it with the unrivaled in-ring work of today's WWE Superstars, is a recipe for success.
We have already seen it.
Ripley and Morgan are more popular with audiences today than they would have been had they been involved in a more traditional wrestling angle, without the Mysterio drama. The heat for the Rhodes-Rock segment and The American Nightmare's championship clash with Styles was greater because of the careful utilization of blood.
Ditto McIntyre's attack on Punk, which was more impactful considering it took place in front of the Chicago native's fans and family.
The Wyatt Sicks are accepted on a level other over-the-top personas would not have been because of the dark, traumatic, more intricate story behind their existence.
WWE has already invested time and effort into laying the groundwork for a tonal change upon its move to Netflix in January, if not sooner. Fans are eating it up, too, as the company remains red-hot and continues to pack fans into arenas across the globe.
How it builds on recent momentum, and how quickly it takes those in charge to find the all-important fine line between good and bad taste, will bear watching.
For now, though, it is impossible not to be intrigued at the least and excited at the most about the direction of the product and how well Levesque and Co. have managed to take elements of bygone eras and inject them into today's content for a fresher take on an old art form.
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