WWE reportedly recently officially ended the PG Era of the company, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Paul Heyman’s usage of harsh language for their promos and interviews over the past recent months was considered by those within WWE to be the official end of the company’s PG Era.
Meltzer reported that WWE officials have yet to make an official decision about the end of the PG Era but this does not mean that the content for WWE’s television shows will be changing.
Meltzer speculated that WWE officials will likely make an official decision regarding the content for their shows by the end of this year when RAW moves to Netflix and NXT moves to The CW. Meltzer reported that WWE’s final decision will be based on what their new broadcast partners want for shows and also what their sponsors will be comfortable with.
Meltzer also reported that WWE’s recent internal memo informing talent to keep things PG for their promos and social media conduct is no longer the case for talent going forward.
In regards to Heyman, Meltzer reported that his Hall of Fame speech was meant by WWE officials to be their spiritual closing of the book on ECW. This reportedly was a key reason for the decision for Heyman to be the key act for this year’s Hall of Fame ceremony and also why he spent a lot of time talking about ECW during his speech. Meltzer reported that this was also the reason why former WWE CEO Stephanie McMahon wore a ECW bonnet and why ECW legends Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam, and The Dudleys were positioned where they were to hug Heyman as he came out for his speech. Meltzer also reported that Heyman was always going to go into WWE’s Hall of Fame as WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s first ever Hall of Fame pick but this year’s ceremony being in Philadelphia was very much Levesque’s way of acknowledging ECW’s importance to the city.