10 Things WWE Regrets About Extreme Rules

8. The Company Is PG

Kofi Kingston Middle Finger SmackDown Samoa Joe
WWE

The key word about Extreme Rules is "extreme". Simply saying that word conjures up expectations of things being taken to the absolute max of human conditioning for a professional wrestler. The only thing is, this isn’t the ‘90s and this isn’t the Attitude Era where bloodshed, profanity, and lewd gestures ruled the day.

Just because WWE had a middle finger and Corey Graves mumbling “Holy sh*t!” on TV this week, doesn’t necessarily mean that the company is stepping out of the PG era it’s been entrenched in the for the last however many years. You see, arguably the greatest hindrance with even doing an Extreme Rules PPV is that the current restrictions within WWE mean that there is very little “extreme” action they can put out.

For years, people have been knocking the PG-era design of the WWE product – and the problems of that blueprint are never more exposed than they are at the annual Extreme Rules PPV. But then that raises the question of whether or not there's still a place for hardcore wrestling in the mainstream world.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.