The WWE has been working all year to project themselves in a different light when it comes to mainstream acceptance.

Vince McMahon stated earlier this year at the annual shareholder's meeting that they were going to work hard to be more accessible to the media and emphasized the "E" in WWE more so than ever.

This has reflected on television with the shows being moved to a "PG" rating with the elimination of blood, a toned down presentation of the Diva's, milder language and more FUN!

A few weeks back Geoff Rochester, who is the Executive Vice President of Marketing for the WWE did an interview where he drew the distinction between the WWE and the UFC by stating that the WWE can make their audiences laugh. On Monday prior to the 3-hour edition of "Raw" Vince McMahon went on the "Today Show" on NBC and the key buzz word he emphasized when asked about the appeal of "Raw" was the word "fun". These are not coincidences and the product reflects this change in direction to a more variety show presentation with more comedy (or should we say attempts at comedy).

It seems that the WWE is missing some fundamental points when trying to attract a more "PG" audience. The company has not geared their product towards children in such a direct manner since the mid 90's when the company was at its all time lowest point from a revenue generating perspective.

The company seems to be of the belief that if they present a product that is "PG" that it will attract kids and teenagers and yet when the product was at it's most risqué in the late 90's it was delivering enormous numbers when it came to kids watching the show. Put aside the morality question of whether it's responsible to be presenting adult content when so many young viewers watch the show, but the proof is in the pudding in terms of what connected with that audience.

Wrestling is not "cool" right now and that is the ultimate problem with professional wrestling in 2008. It is not a product that I envision kids discussing at recess or people setting aside Monday nights to tune into because the product right now is quite simply - lame.

Nothing makes that last statement more accurate than Monday night's segment featuring all of the nostalgia gimmick performers dancing in the ring and looking like the biggest collection of un-hip and un-funny performers to ever grace the screens of WWE television.

I have no problems with comedy in wrestling and some of the best stuff in the early part of this decade was comedy based with Edge, Christian, Kurt Angle along with DX. The key is having compelling characters that are actually funny. Santino Marella works as a comedy figure but Goldust, Dick Johnson and Funaki do not.

Today's WWE product is so far removed from sports that even Vince's famous "Sports Entertainment" term is banned from TV. As the company tries more and more to become an entertainment property they seem to be losing sight of the masters the promotion must serve. Unlike a show like "Saturday Night Live" they have to take this show and these performers on the road every weekend and sell tickets, they must also use their television time to promote Pay Per Views. Does anyone believe that if SNL (even with the show having their most success in over a decade in 2008) were to do a special on Pay Per View that it would draw? SNL makes their money off of television and that is the only master Lorne Michaels must serve, Vince McMahon has to serve more than just the executives at the USA Network - he has shareholders to serve as a public company.

Comedy is great in pro wrestling but the comedy bits on a wrestling show are not going to sell any Pay Per View buys. When the appetizer is presented as the main course fans are going to be disappointed and eventually find a new place to eat and right now with TNA going in the exact opposite direction where they are toning down the comedy there is suddenly another restaurant with items on the menu that WWE is not serving.

The key to success for this company is to know their audience and right now they do not know their audience. When wrestling was hot it became a part of pop culture and right now it seems to be in a vacuum with no connection to the outside populace. They have a huge advantage with having so many young writers on that team that are connected with what is going on in modern society and yet the show is still presented through the eyes of a 63-year old man. They isolate their shows from any pop culture influences whether it be character references or playing off of events going on that their audience may stop and say "hey, these guys get it". They had that factor in 1998 and clearly do not in 2008.

Comedy makes you laugh but it doesn't make you spend.