WWE 2012: Bloodshed, Booze and the Beginning of a New Era

Last Sunday, Extreme Rules washed away the stigma that it is now focused on children and women, by having the most violent displays of competition since 2007.

Last year, many saw the reality-driven storylines as the start of a new era and last night, that era was cemented into people’s minds.

The “reality era” as it has been dubbed, has never been as evident as it was at Extreme Rules. Chris Jericho and CM Punk are the perfect example of this.

By having Chris Jericho ridicule CM Punk’s family for real issues they have faced with addictions to alcohol and drugs, WWE showed that matches can once again have that raw emotion that has been lacking for the past 5 years (with the exception of The Undertaker’s WrestleMania matches of course)

The match was slow to start, but as Jericho soaked Punk in booze and taunted him for being drunk, even heckling his family members, this was a route that the WWE would not have dared to go down three years ago.

Mentioning drugs and alcohol in any fashion on television is not PG to me.

It is argued that kids should not be exposed to that sort of thing on a family friendly show—it is a taboo subject when addressing the problems of our own society such as binge-drinking.

With children seeing all this on television, it could be argued that they would be influenced by what they see and may now associate alcohol and drugs with the fun-loving WWE.

On the other hand, the fact that CM Punk reigned supreme and overcame the demons that Jericho had been using to taunt and rile him, could show kids that being "Straight Edge" always prevails over these addictions and also that addictions and temptation can be beaten.

Even if that is the case, is it not a bit deep to be raising these issues on a supposed family show?

I’d like to turn the attention to the Brock Lesnar/John Cena match. This really was one of the most physical matches we have seen since the WWE changed its rating to PG, much to the chagrin of many older fans.

With blood aplenty and Brock Lesnar showing unrivalled anger towards Cena, this was a contest filled with emotion, coupled with violent beat-downs, realistic holds and weapons.

The first thing to point out here is the blood situation. Now granted, the doctor went into the ring in a vain attempt to stitch Cena back together again. After failing twice to get the blood under control, I guess WWE officials decided to just let it flow.

When Brock Lesnar got busted open by Cena’s chain, there was no doctor in sight, helping Brock’s character immensely by suggesting he is in a different league to not just Cena, but WWE superstars in general.

There was a time where all specks of blood were edited out of WWE programming (see the Cody Rhodes incident covered here) to protect fans from the taboo side of wrestling.

However, since Brock punched Cena legitimately on Raw, they have focused on the fact Cena bled. I believe this was purely to change the direction of the WWE, and move away from the misguided view that it is just for children.

If we look at the way Cena and Brock fought on Sunday night—fists flying, full on knees to the ribs, severe elbows to the head—it suggests an entirely fresh angle on the acrobatic, choreographed dance moves we have become accustomed to.

By incorporating proper fighting techniques into wrestling matches, I believe WWE will be gaining a new audience, not turning away the old demographic.

UFC and MMA fans will watch WWE just to see Lesnar fight and see if he does do anything legitimate in the ring. Even if they didn’t watch his return, they will certainly watch in the future if they read any of the articles that covered his match at Extreme Rules.

Furthermore, watching Triple H get beaten down by Lesnar was an excellent experience. It added to the whole “reality” concept as Triple H’s arm appeared to pop out of its socket when the Kimura Keylock was applied by Lesnar on Raw this past Monday.

The final point I would like to address regards the line between reality and fantasy. This line has become increasingly blurred for a while as wrestlers now call each other by their real names as opposed to their stage names and real-life issues are used in storylines.

Using real-life issues is nothing new, but when you consider that fans did not know as much as they do nowadays thanks to the Internet, using real situations for storyline purposes has changed.

Terms that were reported to have been banned are now used by the company’s top superstars—“ass”, “wrestling”, “pissed off” and “fight” just to name a few.

Times are changing and by blurring reality with fantasy, the WWE keeps its audience on its toes, it keeps the content fresh, and from looking at the arguments I have presented, pleases the most amount of people. The WWE is definitely embarking on a new era.

Will it come with a rating change? I doubt it.

Will blood become as frequent as it once was? I doubt it.

But what we are seeing is something that feels fresh and exciting, and it is long overdue.

I’m back, and I’m better than ever.