AEW Programming To Be Rated TV-14
Who misses the Attitude Era?
In yet another shrewd move by the minds behind All Elite Wrestling, it's been revealed that AEW programming will have a TV-14 rating, as opposed to WWE's PG-rated output.
A promotional video released on Twitter for next weekend's 'Double or Nothing' pay-per-view indicated that the company would be targeting a slightly older audience demographic than their World Wrestling Entertainment counterparts.
Prior to WWE's transitioning to a Parental Guidance rating on 22nd June 2008, they too had a TV-14 rating, which allowed them to push the boundaries of wrestling and attract a huge audience throughout the 'Attitude Era'.
Many consider this to be another move by Cody Rhodes et al. to position themselves as a genuine alternative to WWE's product in order to attract lapsed wrestling fans, or poach WWE's audience who consider their output to have become stale.
Whereas TV-PG creates content more suitable for a younger audience, TV-14 contains material that:-
"Parents or adult guardians may find unsuitable for children under the age of 14...Programs with this rating contain crude humor, drug/alcohol use, inappropriate language, strong violence and moderate suggestive themes or dialogue."
There is a clear distinction between what the two ratings allow for, and only time will tell what the modern wrestling audience wants in terms of output.