WWE: ATTITUDE ERA VS 'PG' ERA

Hi Everyone, I've been reading loads of blogs on the site for a while now and always like to find out others' opinions, but there's one thing I feel a lot of people are missing out on, so I've decided to write my first ever blog and cover the issue that's nagging at me.

People have been talking about when HHH and HBK were in the ring together last week and how they referenced the 'end of an era' and being 2 of the last remaining guys. That era they were referring to is the Attitude Era. I grew up watching matches from that time and am still a fan today, but for me the product has massively worsened.

Yes at first when WWE went PG I was very unhappy that we would lose the blood, the weapons, the swearing, the give a f*** attitude that a lot of the characters/wrestlers had, but as time has gone on, as much as I would like some of those things back, I can't help but feel like it's not really just the 'PG-ness' of the product that's holding WWE back anymore.

Look at some Attitude Era wrestlers...Jericho, straight out of the Hart Dungeon. The Rock, a third generation superstar trained by the best. HHH, trained by Killer Kowalski, a 'classic style' former NWA champion. These are just a few examples.

Now look at the PG Era wrestlers. I'd say at least 60% of the current wrestlers are signed by WWE a LONG time before ever making TV appearances. They are all unfortunately for them, templates of the WWE mould. A standard 'man's' name, a generic theme song, a generic t-shirt, a strict script to read when doing a promo, a strict way to wrestle when in the ring. I mean, I'll put good money that when Andy (the winner of Tough Enough) is ready to compete on TV, he comes out with no gimmick, his own name, and is off TV again within a year....And the thing that really bugs me is how recently every single superstar, I mean wrestler, does an 'HBK tuning up the band type move hype up' before their finishers, making them EVEN LESS unique! I mean, at least TRY and think of something different!

Now look at the names and gimmicks of the Attitude Era wrestlers: The Rock, Stone Cold, Triple H, The Undertaker, Kane, Mankind. Each one a 'character' with an individual defining personality, whether it be on the mic or in the ring.

Compare these to our current batch of wrestlers or "superstars".

Wade Barrett, Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, Alex Riley, David Otunga, Justin Gabriel, Ezekiel Jackson, the list goes on an on.

There are so few gimmicked wrestlers that it's no wonder the creative can't think of any decent storylines as they have no inspiration to write to. I don't even really like him that much but I'm still thrilled to see WWE trying to do SOMETHING with Brodus Clay!

In a nutshell, I think unless you're a child, the product won't get better to watch (although I'm not saying I hate it by any means because I watch every week) until the WWE loosens the strings a little bit and finds a balance. We need more gimmicks, more inventive names to match them, more freedom on the mic within reason, more allowance to have an individual wrestling 'style', more blood (within reason, i.e. tell the refs to stop getting involved when someone gets a boo-boo and allow hardcore matches every so often), more tag teams, more cruiserweights, ONE BRAND (and get rid of the mediocre wrestlers who aren't even ever used anyway), less people like Cena being untouchable and predictable as hell, and obviously, most importantly, LESS MICHAEL COLE.

Tighten up the product and don't just push people to sell a T-Shirt, push them because they deserve to be pushed and the T-Shirts will sell themselves.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed my first EVER blog and it wasn't too 'ranty' for you! Would be interested to hear your comments/feedback.

Peace.