10 Best Things To Come From The WWE's Worst Moments
2. The PG Era
WWE found itself in crisis mode in late-2007 with the aforementioned injury to John Cena adding to a seemingly endless list of costly problems that loomed in the shadow of the Benoit Family tragedy.
The company - rightfully so - were taken to task for the profound failure of the first version Wellness Policy instituted in 2006, and a litany of talent suspensions and government-led investigations heaped more heat on to the organisation.
John Cena's Royal Rumble return was more than just a comeback - it was a hard reset. His act took an even sharper turn towards the children it had tacitly targeted in the years prior, with the company's new High Definition presentation sharpening the colours of a product that began to resemble the day-glo faux-innocence of the 1980s in style if not substance.
A lucrative Mattel action figure deal gave the organisation a major paymaster to consider, with a blood bans, chairshots to the head and complete switch to PG serving the new greater good. Attitude Era holdouts fumed (and some still do), but time and patience highlighted that quality (or lack thereof) wasn't ever dictated by the age-appropriate warning in the corner.