10 Most Shocking Appearances Of Blood In The PG Era
New Blood Rising
Enzo Amore has taken quite a punishing in the last 12 months. Hoofed off a touring bus by Roman Reigns, robbed of his babyface act and even forced to enter a shark cage on pay-per-view whilst nurturing a fear of heights, the 'Smacktalker Skywalker' has been made to suffer for his art.
Thankfully, he won't have to pay penance for his accidental blood-letting during a Cruiserweight Title defence against Cedric Alexander on Monday Night Raw. An errant shot left Amore seeing red, similar to Vince McMahon's own hardway cut brought on from a Kevin Owens headbutt in September 17th. The all-too-real cuts aren't ideal in the current era, but are at least free from McMahon's sponsor-friendly rage.
Batista and Chris Jericho weren't so lucky when the pair drew blood in their collective effort to draw attention in 2008. Sending a message to the roster, Big Dave was fined a whopping $100,000 for blading, with Jericho, agent Dean Malenko and referee Mike Chioda each billed $5,000 for their own involvement. Batista paid all the fines, but noted how he considered it a gross overreaction from the Chairman.
But the novelty of blood in the modern product is such that red once again equals green. Amore and Alexander will wrestle again, now with even greater stakes. Either intentional or by accident, the few times WWE have resorted to literally opening up old wounds in recent years have yielded impressive results.
10. Randy Orton (SummerSlam 2016)
Considering his style is almost safe to a fault, Randy Orton has absorbed more than his fair share of bumps and bruises during his 15 year stint on the WWE main roster.
Away from the surgeon's scalpel, 'The Apex Predator' has been opened up in the heat of the action accidentally (more on that later), but an intentional bloodletting at SummerSlam 2016 exhibited his bravery in the quest for a creative conclusion to his remarkably heatless battle with Brock Lesnar.
In truth, the two were feuding over nothing in particular. A case of having two big names at their disposal and little else, the Orton/Lesnar show closer was little more than vapid and underdeveloped clash of titans, but Randy was predictably overmatched for the bulk of the contest.
What few saw coming was the manner in which he was eventually defeated. Rather than the Lesnar's traditional methods, he mounted his struggling foe and delivered a host of violent elbow and fist strikes. An early shot busted Randy wide open, with his congealed claret quickly congregating in a pool on the canvas.
An immediate stoppage was called as both the show and Randy faded to black, but not before Shane McMahon came out to square up to the monstrously violent beast, stealing all the focused from the bloodied 'Viper'.