[ad_1]
It was recently rumored that WWE is on the road towards changing Raw’s rating to TV-14 in order to allow the performers some leeway with regards to what they can do and say inside the ring.
Former on-screen Raw general manager and then-WCW senior vice president Eric Bischoff is keen to see how the company will be able to keep all parties happy while also putting out an edgier product similar to that of the beloved Attitude and Ruthless Aggression eras.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of people who maybe have tuned out over the years because the product has gotten soft since 2008, meaning it needs to be palatable for children to keep the advertisers and the network happy,” said Bischoff on the latest episode of his Strictly Business podcast.
Bischoff noted that the PG-13 product that WWE has trotted out since 2008 also had its fair share of good for the promotion since it enticed more family audiences to watch weekly programming and the pay-per-views.
The change to TV-14 was first revealed by Andrew Zarian of Wrestling Observer Newsletter last week, but it was later forced to delete the tweet as it was leaked information.
From that point on, the rumor began to grow around forums as fans argued whether the change will benefit the organization or if it is simply a ploy by them to retake the viewers that they have lost to upstart rival company All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Bischoff shot the latter notion down quickly during the same episode of his podcast, stating that “it is what it is and WWE is not losing market share to AEW. So why would they react to something that has zero effect on them?”
Further speaking on the subject matter, Bischoff is fully invested in Raw going back to TV-14 and fired shots towards both WWE and AEW.
“You bore the [expletive] out of me with your backstage promos and your stand-up mic segments. There’s just nothing happening in those segments. There’s no narrative most of the time in those segments that do anything other than disengage me,” he sharply remarked.
“That’s true in WWE, it’s true in AEW … Some of the people that are doing stand-up promos shouldn’t be doing them… I would use that. I’d make my non-wrestling segments — I’d find ways to make them more interesting.”
The change to TV-14 is expected to happen sometime soon after word got out and pro wrestling fans will have no choice but to wait and see when it will happen.
Stephanie McMahon attends the WrestleMania 30 press conference at the Hard Rock Cafe New York on April 1, 2014 in New York City.
Photo: Andrew Toth/FilmMagic
[ad_2]
Source link
