A change is coming to WWE TV shows because Vince McMahon realizes that they are losing young viewers.
Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE management is fully aware of how out of touch the product is with teenagers so changes are being made.
“They were very aware that they had lost touch with the teenagers,” Meltzer said. “They were afraid of completely losing teenagers, especially when AEW starts. This is a direction they felt they had to go.”
You can already see some changes in the product with Corey Graves yelling “holy sh**” during the opening segment. The segment with Mike and Maria Kanellis is something they wouldn’t have done before and on SmackDown Live, Kofi Kingston gestured at Samoa Joe with his middle finger.
Last month, during an interview with TalkSPORT, Mick Foley said that there were plans to get edgier during the third hour. It looks like that plan has changed and the entire show will be edgier. Here is what Foley said last month:
“The idea is that the third hour is going to get rougher, wilder, and more unpredictable,” Foley said. “When I was GM, I knew that people were breaking towards the SmackDown show because it was the darling of the Internet.”
Foley added, “The idea was ‘why don’t you try [having] a third hour.’ It was like a giant albatross around your neck. The third hour is really difficult. I think it’s an idea to have the third hour more unpredictable and more like the Attitude Era.”
As noted by Meltzer on WOR, WWE is well aware that they have to compete with AEW for the younger audience so those changes are starting to happen now and they are not waiting until AEW’s weekly show starts in October.
Speaking of AEW, Stephanie McMahon publicly commented on them for the first time when we caught up with her last week. Check out the video below with her take on AEW being competition to WWE:
