The WWE PG Era showed a marked shift in how WWE presented its product. In a move to attract more advertising, the company shifted away from the more violent product we had grown used to. In its place, a more family-friendly era emerged; hence, it was dubbed the PG Era. It was a challenge for WWE to adjust its booking to the new television designation. It was the biggest change for WWE in decades.<\/p>\n
As much as things changed during the PG Era, there was consistency in how the product was booked. There were still a plethora of PLE\u2019s that came to us every month. PLE\u2019s that had some of the greatest main events in company history, and others that contained main events that made us not want to watch wrestling ever again. Of course, we would always come back each month to witness which main event we would get. Below, we will look at the best and worst of these main events from the PG Era.<\/p>\n
Daniel Bryan was not the office\u2019s choice, but that didn\u2019t stop John Cena and the audience from pushing him into the main event of SummerSlam 2013. It was a fresh matchup that featured a man who always showed up for the big match and one who was the best technical wrestler on the planet. It was a dream match of the PG Era.<\/p>\n
SummerSlam’s main event was the battle of WWE\u2019s golden boy versus the audience’s choice. It was an incredible battle that saw great wrestling, amazing spots, and one of the best crowd reactions in years. The cherry on top was Daniel Bryan going over clean on John Cena to capture the WWE Championship. It was a finish that no one could have imagined, and one that left the crowd amazed.<\/p>\n
WrestleMania 27\u2019s main event was a great story featuring personal issues between John Cena and The Rock. The only problem was that The Rock wasn\u2019t the WWE Champion, merely just a side character in this quest. The Miz was the man with the championship, but was made to look like a second-rate wrestler and shoved to the back for the build towards WrestleMania 28.<\/p>\n
The Miz and John Cena\u2019s WrestleMania main event contained wrestling that would have been better off on a house show. This was a WrestleMania main event, and it wasn\u2019t treated as such. The Rock and John Cena stole the attention from the match, making it a moot point when The Miz took home the victory. The PG Era was not exactly rife with great WrestleManias, and this led the bunch.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Summer of Punk was a launching point for so many things in WWE. It changed the course of the company, blurring the lines between fiction and reality. The infamous pipe bomb promo started it all, but it was Punk and John Cena\u2019s five-star main event that set the wrestling world on fire.<\/p>\n John Cena and CM Punk\u2019s Money in the Bank main event was always going to be fantastic. Their wrestling skill was above reproach, but coupling it with the most compelling story in years made it one of the best in company history. No one expected CM Punk to win the match and, in doing so, leave WWE with its main championship. The drama surrounding everything they did brought the match to another level.<\/p>\n There was no redeeming feature in having John Laurinaitis as an authority figure. His personality left something to be desired, and his voice was the type of monotone drivel that put the crowd to sleep. It was great to see that his reign came to an end at Over the Limit 2012, but it\u2019s just awful that we had to suffer through a terrible main event to get there.<\/p>\n Johnny Ace was no longer a wrestler, and as much as the world wanted to see him ousted, he had no place being in the main event. This type of attraction is a fun respite on a card, but in no way should it be the last to go on. It\u2019s taking attention away from the real matches that should be closing out the night. Many PG Era stars lost a valuable spot to John Laurinaitis.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s hard to imagine that a program between two iconic wrestlers would fly under many a radar. Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels engaged in a very personal feud that saw Y2J accidentally assaulting HBK\u2019s wife. It brought out a vicious side from the Heartbreak Kid and led to some fantastic matches, the best of which was their blowoff Ladder Match at No Mercy.<\/p>\n Jericho and Michael’s ladder match hit all the high spots one would hope for. There was great storytelling, ladder spots, and a fantastic finish featuring a dramatic tug-of-war atop the ladder. Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels put on a show and ended No Mercy on the highest of notes.<\/p>\n When the Brothers of Destruction took up their old family issues, the Attitude Era had long passed. Kane had gotten to a point in his career where he lost his aura. His World Championship reign was a reward for all his hard work, but it didn\u2019t result in many great matches. Kane and The Undertaker were a nice nostalgic callback, but their PG Era Hell in a Cell didn’t set the world on fire. Yes, WWE’s new rating didn’t help matters much, but that shouldn’t have prevented a compelling match.<\/p>\n A Hell in a Cell match needs a level of violence to keep it interesting. It\u2019s a level that this match was sorely lacking. Kane and The Undertaker didn\u2019t put together anything interesting and seemed to be going through the motions. The PG Era hampered their ability to put on a compelling Hell in a Cell match, and it finished with some lazy interference.<\/p>\n There may not be a better duology than the WrestleMania classics that The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels participated in. WrestleMania 25 showcased the talent and chemistry that both men had, and it will go down as one of the great wrestling matches in WWE history. Not many thought that these two men could run it back so effectively, but as WrestleMania 26 closed, we saw they had much more left in the tank.<\/p>\n HBK and The Undertaker put on a clinic at WrestleMania 26. The wrestling was just as crisp as their first WrestleMania showdown, but the emotion was so much higher. HBK\u2019s career, and The Undertaker’s streak, were on the line. There was a sense of urgency surrounding everything they did, and the defiance with which HBK closed out the match was a perfect ending<\/a>.<\/p>\nBest: John Cena v CM Punk<\/a> (WWE Championship Match; Money in the Bank 2011<\/strong><\/span>)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Worst: John Cena v John Laurinaitis (Over the Limit 2012) <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Best: Chris Jericho v Shawn Michaels<\/a> (Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight Championship; No Mercy 2008) <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Worst: Kane v The Undertaker (Hell in a Cell Match for the World Heavyweight Championship; Hell in a Cell 2010)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Best: Shawn Michaels v The Undertaker<\/a> (Career v Streak Match; WrestleMania 26) <\/strong><\/h2>\n