10 Anti-AEW Moves WWE Made Out Of Spite

8. Blood & Guts & Things Of That Nature

Attempting to present competitors as rinky-dink and low-class compared to his big, glossy Sports Entertainment empire has been part of Vince McMahon Jr.'s promotional playbook for decades. Once it became clear that AEW was going to be more willing to indulge in wrestling's bloodier, gutsier side, his script almost wrote himself.

Speaking on WWE's Q2 2019 earnings call that July, McMahon confirmed that even if his own promotion's content was to become edgier, it'd still be TV-PG. In doing so, he explicitly stated that WWE would not "do blood and guts and things of that nature, such as what is being done by our new potential competitor."

AEW had held three shows by that point. Dustin and Cody Rhodes' claret-soaked Double Or Nothing 2019 battle was almost shocking in its use of colour, given what American audiences had become accustomed to throughout WWE's PG era. This is likely what Vince was referring to.

But as has been the case with a number of barbs shot their way from Stamford, AEW turned it on its head. By November, the company had filed a trademark application for 'Blood and Guts', attempting to use it as a show name the following spring. Though the COVID-19 pandemic meant they weren't able to deliver on this until May 2021, AEW flexed on McMahon with his own comment on the "gory crap" he claimed WWE has above.