The theories surrounding Linda McMahon are among the most popular among internet wrestling forums. Specifically, it is alleged that WWEs decision to become TV-PG in 2008 was done to coincide with her run for Senate. In fact, some even suggest that many of WWEs more recent attempts at PR were done to boost Lindas chances of being elected to the Senate. These events dont make her an enemy of pro wrestling in the traditional sense; this decision makes her an enemy of pro wrestling fans that grew up during the late 1990s, and were thus exposed to a very specific era of WWF programming: the Attitude Era. Those who still long for the days that the Atittude Era will someday return blame Lindas decision to enter into the political arena as the reason for more drastic changes in WWE. Apart from the aforementioned TV rating change, WWEs concussion policy, chair-shot ban, emphasis on charity, the B.A. STAR Campaign and the Stand Up for WWE campaign, were all allegedly concocted as a means of countering Lindas negative ties to professional wrestling, which has been heavily criticized in the past by her political rivals and opponents. However, what made her an enemy of die-hard wrestling fans may have actually been beneficial to the wrestlers themselves: a better Wellness Policy, improved concussion testing, a better training system (the Performance Center) so that young wrestlers will be more experienced upon entering the ring, etc. And for those who still think that the WWEs going PG is a bad decision that ruins wrestling itself, consider the fact that, when compared to the Attitude Era, WWE programming features, on average, more actual wrestling time. Sure, some matches are short with repetitive booking, but on a whole there are more matches and a greater emphasis on in-ring actionat least for the time being. So while Lindas political aspirations did change the WWE in a big way, she became more an enemy of the fans than the wrestling industry itself.
Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.
