10 Reasons WWE Raw Is Lucky To Still Be On The Air

3. Bang To Rights

Shawn Michaels
WWE.com

WWE gave so little f*cks about negative media attention during the height of the Attitude Era that they openly mocked a targeted Parents Television Council assault on their product by initiating a storyline designed entirely to mock them.

Former ECW stalwart Stevie Richards was repackaged as a short-haired longer-named version of himself and ordered to take Attitude Era run-offs such as The Godfather and Val Venis to task for their sex-crazed sins.

His persona was tweaked to reflect McMahon's real-life views on the group and its leader L. Brent Bozell III, taking on something of a cult-like role as he recruited the aforementioned do-badders as well as Ivory and Bull Buchanan to fill out midcard matches looking more like muscled mormons than hand-wringing headcases.

Condescendingly preaching oppression above open-mindedness against the backdrop of the time inherently highlighted that the PTC possibly had a point - there was a little too much sex, violence and debauchery for a wrestling show. Under their self-imposed PG rating in 2018, the company tiptoe around the worst footnotes of the era rather than glorifying them as they had in years past. Had they not been such ratings-winners then, they'd have probably been entirely eradicated now.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett