10 Most Shocking Appearances Of Blood In The PG Era
7. John Cena (Monday Night Raw, April 9th 2012)
Hoofing John Cena's vibrant green baseball cap into the crowd, Brock Lesnar made a roaring announcement of his return without even saying a word. He'd just planted 'The Champ' with an F5 less than 24 hours removed from Cena's biggest defeat of his career at WrestleMania 28, and was stopping just short of literally kicking him while he was down.
He maybe should have. The following week, the two got into an explosive pull-apart that would set the template for several of Lesnar's segments in for years to come.
Welcomed as Raw's newest star by toadying authority figure John Laurinaitis, Lesnar had barely reintroduced him formally when Cena gave him a receipt in the form of an disrespectful slap. It triggered a spectacular brawl, curated to emphasise Lesnar's legitimacy as an MMA crossover.
A glimpse at Cena's face following their first exchange told the story perfectly. Looking short a few teeth from his glistening grin and with a lip busted so wide it looked like a second mouth forming under his nose, 'Big Match John' was the vision of a man that had just escaped the mauling of his life.
It set the stage perfectly for the bloody and breathtaking Extreme Rules match just weeks later, in which Cena had to sustain yet more ungodly punishment and deliver much the same in order to squeak by 'The Beast' in an electrifying finale.