WWE: 10 Bloodiest Matches Ever

By John Canton /

The use of blood in pro wrestling has been a part of the business for many years. While it's hard to track down when it first started being used in matches or who was the first to do it, the fact is that it's been a tool to tell stories within a match for several decades now. In today's WWE, you won't see matches with blood. A guy may get a cut above an eye because of a punch or going into some object, but there's no more intentional blood. The PG era restarted again in 2008, so there won't be anything on here that came after that. From the mid 90s until 2008 there were plenty of bloody moments, though. A popular term that announcers would use to talk about blood in match is "crimson mask." Crimson is a dark red color, so if somebody had a bloody face they were wearing the proverbial crimson mask. The intentional showing of color was usually caused by taking a small blade, cutting the forehead and then bleeding as a way to show that one of the wrestlers was in a lot of pain. Some wrestlers bled more than others. Who bled the most? Probably Ric Flair. Dusty Rhodes is another one. Just look at his forehead! In most recent WWE history, Triple H was a guy that bled a lot too. Mick Foley was another guy that bled a lot. Others like The Rock or Kurt Angle didn't bleed that much. Some guys didn't mind doing it because it helped the story. Here are some quick honorable mentions: Joey Mercury at Armageddon 2006 - Jeff Hardy jumped off the top ropes and onto a ladder that hit Mercury in the face. He was bleeding profusely immediately. He had a serious injury to his face because of it. Mick Foley, Edge & Lita vs. Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer & Beulah ECW One Night Stand 2006 - Terry Funk's blood loss was pretty crazy in this one. Wild match. Pat Paterson vs. Sergeant Slaughter 1981 - A great brawl that saw Slaughter's face busted open and covered in the proverbial crimson mask. There are countless others that could be included and I'm sure you can think of more as you read this, but this is a top ten where some things have to be left out. It's a list that is WWE only because if we included things like the NWA, WCW or ECW there would be dozens of others under consideration too. If you're squeamish about blood you don't have to click on the videos, but if you're cool with it then let's go on a journey to remember some of the bloody good times in WWE history.