WWE Raw's PG Era To End VERY Soon?

Fourteen years of PG television could be coming to a close for flagship show.

by Scott Carlson
Vince McMahon Raw
WWE

WWE Monday Night Raw could be ending its PG Era soon, according to reports.

In a story that shifted during the course of the day Thursday, news broke from Andrew Zarian of the Wrestling Observer/Mat Men that a memo circulated at USA Network indicated that Raw was switching from a TV-PG rating to TV-14, effective July 18. But by day's end, Zarian reported that the memo was sent prematurely and that Raw would not be going TV-14 on Monday, "but still in consideration for a later date."

Fightful Select reports that there were "conflicting messages internally at USA Network" about this proposed shift. Sources within WWE had not heard about the rating change Thursday.

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WWE has been a PG show since July 22, 2008, which some fans have complained about when pointing at content, suggesting that it has put limitations on what WWE has aired.

However, Fightful noted that cable TV shows aren't required to meet certain standards for a rating -- it's a self-rating system. So, WWE could have been airing "PG" content years earlier. If this change actually goes through, there's no indication that WWE will produce more profane or lurid programming. It's worth noting that NXT 2.0, which is more risqué, also is rated PG.

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Monday's episode of Raw is still listed as "TV-PG."

Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.