John Cena: PG Era Was Turn For Better

It's generally accepted amongst most long-term WWE fans that the promotion's switch from more edgy content to a PG mindset in 2008 hasn't helped the overall product. In reality, subtle touches of a by-gone era are still there, with notable elements missing being a heavy blood presence and the use of swearing. WWE's overall marketing of its top star has also changed remarkably since the Attitude Era. The goofy, smiling John Cena is a far cry from the beer-drinking, foul-mouthed Steve Austin.

Of course, the lack of genuine headline stars currently on the WWE roster doesn't help the situation. WWE have less money-making individuals than at any point in the past decade, relying far more on the brand itself to sell tickets and Pay-Per-Views. Has WWE been missing some magic since shifting to a far more family-friendly business plan, or is it all simply superficial?

One such money-maker, John Cena (WWE's biggest seller of merchandise), recently shared his opinion on the matter during a recent conference call to promote the Tribute To The Troops special on NBC. Feeling it was a change which had to be made, Cena defends WWE's radical change just over 4 years ago.

"Our programming has changed so much over the years. I started in 2002, our programming was more TV-14, edgy, anti-hero based, more conflict-hero based. Since then, I think our programming has made a turn for the better into more of a PG environment. All of our programming platform-wise is PG.

The reason is simply because the people who attend our events. More families began to attend and more children began to attend. When you have those young and youthful eyes looking at you, you know you're global, you tend to have choices to make. Me being portrayed as a good guy on our programming, it was an obvious choice. I wanted to do my best to use my TV time to set good examples."