Let’s face it, the PG Era has left a lot to be desired. The audience of the PG Era is made up of quite a few people that got hooked during The Attitude Era, stuck around during the underrated Ruthless Aggression Era and are keeping their fandom on life support hoping the PG Era will eventually give us something great. The PG Era has shown us moments of greatness but that’s just it, they’re only moments. We stay dedicated and we deserve better. The WWE can do better. We know it and they know it.
Where has the WWE gone wrong? We don’t know for sure but these five problems are a good place to start.
#5 – Not Enough Focus On Tag Teams
WWE has had some great tag teams during the PG Era. Cryme Time was on the cusp of the end of the PG Era, Goldust and Stardust are a great team, The Usos have been a great tag team, The Hart Dynasty could have been something but WWE just doesn’t seem to care. Despite the fact that WWE has had some great teams, they seem to lose focus in this department. The only team they’ve really pushed is Team Hell No and they had a lot of success. Tag teams are an integral part of the wrestling landscape no matter what era it is. It doesn’t matter what the team is, we just want to know WWE cares about them. WWE needs to commit to tag team wrestling instead of starting and then stopping the push.
#4 – No New Gimmick Matches
The Attitude Era saw many new gimmick matches such as the Inferno Match, the TLC Match and many others. The Ruthless Aggression Era gave birth to the Money in the Bank match and the Elimination Chamber match but the PG Era has nothing to call its own. This is bad a thing. As fans we want to know that wrestling is progressing as a whole and new gimmick matches are a good indication that the sport is moving forward.
#3 – Not Enough Focus On Midcard Titles
The Intercontinental and US Title have been ignored for far too long. The IC Title seems to be in the midst of a resurgence but in all honesty, it’s so far overdue. Both of these titles are historic and the people who hold them should seem important. Anyone who holds these titles should constantly have an interesting storyline and they should be defended often. Why are we even bringing this up? This should be common sense.
#2 – Refusal To Push New Stars/Not Listening To The Fans
Yes, CM Punk held the WWE Championship for 434 days but how many PPVs did he main event? Not many and that’s bad. Your champion should ALWAYS be the focus of your program and when you put him lower on the card, that’s a pretty good indication that you don’t believe in him even though we do. Punk was champion but Cena was still main eventing in throwaway matches against John Laurinaitis.
The fact that it took over 6 months for WWE to come to terms with the fact that Daniel Bryan was their most popular superstar speaks for itself. The fact that Kofi Kingston was red hot at one time and then went back to the midcard isn’t a good sign either. Dolph Ziggler is long overdue for a true main event run yet Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio got it instead to absolutely no reaction. The fact that the voice of the fans falls on deaf ears kills loyalty to your brand. Go with who the fans want, not who the company wants the fans to want.
#1 – Overpushing John Cena
The greatest thing about The Attitude Era was that several different superstars were able to main event at any time. Kurt Angle, The Rock, Kane, Steve Austin, Triple H, Mankind, The Undertaker, Rikishi and Big Show. Those were just a few of the superstars that were believable main eventers during The Attitude Era. The landscape always seemed to be changing. Who were the main eventers during the PG Era? John Cena…and his opponent.
We get it, John Cena is a legend. No one is denying that he’s cemented his legacy in this business but we got that several years ago. Reminding us time and time and time and time and time again that John Cena is a main event level superstar has done nothing but hurt our perception of him. It’s not that he’s bad, it’s just that we’re sick of him. He’s had his time, push new people already.
