Following the news that WWE programming will be TV-14 moving forward, an update has emerged that states the idea had been thought about for several years!
A shock move was announced on Thursday, 14 July when Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Podcast reported that WWE Raw will be rated TV-14 beginning with the 18 July broadcast. This decision comes over a decade after the company introduced its divisive PG Era.
According to WrestleVotes, the move wasn’t taken lightly and had been discussed “for years”. Despite the change, they speculated on if anything will actually change with the WWE product:
“Credit to the good brother @AndrewZarian for dropping the TV-14 bomb. Raw exits the PG Era starting this Monday night. This was a discussion for years, and looks to have finally been approved. Now we’ll see if it changes anything.”
Credit to the good brother @AndrewZarian for dropping the TV-14 bomb. RAW exits the PG Era starting this Monday night. This was a discussion for years, and looks to have finally been approved. Now we’ll see if it changes anything.
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) July 14, 2022
WrestleVotes had previously indicated that WWE officials were keen to adopt a TV-14 rating for NXT 2.0. A report from November 2021 stated that USA Network executives were unopposed to the idea, with WWE’s decision on when, exactly, to make the change being the only obstacle.
The move to TV-14 marks the first time since July 2008 that WWE has operated with a non-PG rating. Beginning on 22 July 2008, the PG Era harked back to the days of the Golden Era, with heroic characters being placed opposite villains, while storylines were simple babyface vs. heel feuds, such as John Cena vs. Randy Orton.
As of this writing, there’s no word on how, exactly, the WWE product will change, though a reintroduction of blood and swearing will be top of many fans’ wishlists. Currently, only the return of Logan Paul is scheduled for the 18 July Raw broadcast.