Is A PG Era Rock A Neutered Rock?
Yes, this is the part about the Rock concerts. The Rock in the Attitude Era was cocky, brash and just plain bad-ass. He really didn't change that much from heel to face- he was compelling with the stick in his hand and willing to lay the smack down to anyone who dared step in his way. He was also fortunate in the Attitude Era to have some ideal foils to his character including Mr McMahon, Triple H, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mick Foley. Come 2013 and many of these aspects of the industry are long gone. Triple H is no longer the leader of the frat boys and the rest of them have pretty much bowed out of the limelight. Instead the Rock has John Cena and CM Punk- two completely different superstars with different characteristics. John Cena is as wholesome as they come while Punk is the Internet's darling- heel or face. This is not to mention the fact Raw is now 3 hours long with much more to fill and with a target market that is far, far more family friendly. Or that the internet has made the creative team's job much more difficult. So the Rock in the PG Era is definitely different from the one that we saw in the Attitude Era because of all of these factors- not to mention the fact that the Rock himself is now not just a wrestler- he's a movie star. So it'd be questionable if he would be willing to the more edgy things that he was once famous for. So instead the WWE tried to invest in his star power and we got things like the horrible Rock concerts that did nothing for anyone. It was a horrible attempt to try and reposition the Rock for the new age and it fell flat on its face (why they keep insist on doing it is a mystery...).