WWE has always done well with children. Kids typically make up a huge percentage of the live crowds at shows, and they're responsible for more of the super-lucrative merchandise market. Nevertheless, WWE doesn't need to cater to them in a way that ostracizes adult viewers. WWE's "sense of humor" has always been geared toward the lowest common denominator, and since the company adopted a TV-PG rating, they've been unable to express themselves with angles like HLA and Katie Vick. As a result, the jokes have been geared toward children (specifically, children with very bad senses of humor): John Cena's promos about his X-Box handle, Roman Reigns making fun of Sheamus's "tater tots," and of course, the exploitation of little people. There's nothing wrong with some humor in wrestling if it's done well - and there's no reason it has to be anything but PG (just look at New Japan Pro Wrestling's Toru Yano for proof). When attempts at comedy embarrass wrestling fans, though, they question why they watch in the first place, and maybe even change the channel.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
