On the latest episode of “Something to Wrestle”, Bruce Prichard discussed the WWE’s adult-themed content during the Attitude Era and the issues that it caused with the media that covered their programming. Here are the highlights:
On Vince’s Infamous ‘Steroid” Interview With U.S. News & World Report:
Well business was through the roof but part of the reason that business was through the roof was the accessibility and interest from publications like US News. So you’ve got a character in Mr. McMahon who’s building up his character doing a lot of these interviews. He can express himself as the character much more so than he can as the businessman Vince McMahon and blur that line. And that’s what he was doing a lot of the times. He was trying to blur that line to get people to tune in to see, ‘Well is this fish? Or is this foul that I’m looking at with Mr. McMahon? It’s a real guy, he really owns the company, but…’ Vince was a master of that, being able to court both sides.
On The Struggles With Media Coverage During The Attitude Era:
The hotter you are, the more detractors you’re going to have. The more supporters you have, obviously the more detractors you’re going to have. The media always loves to build you up and then tear you down as much as they possibly can. So it was an opportunity of, you know, ‘Okay they’re at the top of their game, well, by God, we need to get them down from there!’ That’s what the media does and I think that’s what people in general do. They love to… they love the success story, but they love the fall from grace even more.
On Vince Having To Meet With TSN Over The Content:
Vince always goes in with a plan and usually that plan is, ‘Move us where we’re going to be a little more acceptable.’ If you feel that our programming doesn’t fit in a four o’clock afternoon, which probably didn’t at that time, then move us to a primetime slot and you won’t have that issue. But it’s also funny because you have the Dr. Phils and Jerry Springers and all this other crap that airs at 2-3-4 o’clock in the afternoon everywhere! And it did in Canada as well. I would dare say that that those shows were a lot more risque than what you were getting on Monday Night RAW, but yet they were okay because people felt it’s okay, they’re not real. Wait a minute. They’re presented as real. We’re presented as entertainment. It was always a double-edged sword that we would be graded with and that was the difficult part. Move us to a time where it’s going to be more acceptable. Move us to a primetime slot and you take away those concerns.
You can listen to the full interview below:
Credit: Something to Wrestle. H/T 411Mania.
