In the WWE's PG era, blood and the act of blading have been banned. VinceMcMahon has been trying to make his product PG as much as possible, and to keep the wrestlers safe as well. Even with those reasons, wrestling fans are crying foul as bleeding and the act of blading have been part of wrestling since the early days.
I will try to give reasons why it is a swell idea to ban blood and why it's not.
Many wrestling fans know that it’s not ketchup packets that a wrestler uses to bleed. It is real, bonafideblood that is seeping out of their cuts. Many say that blood is needless to use in the art of wrestling, as it poses great risks to the performers.
The risks are big, as wrestlers could possibly contract AIDS and/or hepatitis from an opponent. The act of blading can be risky too, as the wrestler can cut too deep, cutting a major arteryin the forehead.
If any of you remember the Judgment Day pay-per-view event in 2004 with EddieGuerrerofacingJohn "Bradshaw"Layfield, then you’ll remember that Eddie was busted open byJBLwith a chair. Eddie bled from his forehead profusely, to the point where it was a bloody version of Niagara Falls.
Eddie sustained severe blood loss in that match, to where it affected him for two weeks in a negative way.
Others say that to bleed in a match is important to a storyline. To borrow a quote fromwrestlingtruth.com:
“New England Championship Wrestling promoter Sheldon Goldberg thinks it helps in certain situations. “It’s hard to explain the value and validity of blading in pro wrestling to anyone who isn’t actually in the business. It still has its place when the situation is right. For example, there are times when blood is the only way to drive home the importance of an angle or a feud. We only allow blading when the circ*mstances specifically call for it. We don’t over use it and it is not done if the workers are uncomfortable with it. For these reasons, it is effective for us when it is done.” (http :// wrestlingtruth .com/news/blading-without-the-wheels-the-history-of-blood-in-wrestling/ )
In 2008 there was a month-long epic feud between Chris Jericho and ShawnMichaels. Everyone can remember the now classic scene where Y2J tookHBKhead and threw it through the highlight-reel television screen. HBKreceived a Kayfabe-detached retina. The following Great American Bash PPVhas the classic match of HBKgetting his eye pummeled by a merciless Y2J, leading to HBK having a crimson mask.
The blood poured in that match was for storyline purposes, as it furthered the feud to new heights.
Another point made by wrestling fans that oppose the ban on blood is that classic matches that had a lot of blood poured would have not been as good had the blood not enhanced the match.
Take Hell in the Cell matches for example. Those matches are known for the blood that was spilled inside those steel walls. At the pay-per-view Hell in the Cell event, three Hell in the Cell matches were featured.
All three had no blood spilled from the wrestlers, which made the Hell in the Cell matches very different then say the third hell in the cell match, which hadThe Undertaker facing Mankind.
The current practice of stopping a match when a wrestler bleeds is destroying the flow of the match. Most of the bleeding that has happened since they started match stoppage has not been severe enough to warrant the match to be stopped and restarted.
Take the recent RAW, for example, in the Batistavs.KofiKingston match. The ref was putting on his white gloves and getting a towel ready. It was damn distracting and needless, as it was a very—and I mean very—small, paper-thin cut.
In conclusion, I think there is room for compromise. Blood should be a rarity inWWE—so when it happens it will be a big deal. The intentional blading should only be used for storyline-driven reasons. Match stoppage need to stop, as it really interrupts the flow of the match. What is your stance on the no-bleeding policy byWWE?
