Paul Heyman Pushing WWE To Allow Banned Term On TV?
So long, "sports entertainment"?
"Wrestling" may be becoming less of a dirty word in WWE's televised universe.
Used increasingly across Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and pay-per-view over the past few weeks, it's thought that the promotion is easing its stance on one of Vince McMahon's most notable banned terms.
Where did the push come from? Paul Heyman, according to backstage speculation cited in a new report from Figure Four Online/The Wrestling Observer.
While Heyman's appointment as Raw Executive Director in 2019 hasn't brought wholesale changes to the WWE product, the tweaks he has made to the promotion's old flagship show have helped make its three-hour runtime more palatable. This would be another step in the right direction, as WWE speak, and the use of gibberish terms like "WWE Universe" instead of "fans," remains a big bone of contention.
Other signs that WWE's position on "wrestling" has softened is the increased number of references to performers as "wrestlers," not "Superstars," and the build for Randy Orton vs. Edge II being based around the "greatest wrestling match ever" slogan.
Will it stick? Who knows, though it's unlikely that we've heard the last of "sports entertainment" entirely.