10 Times WWE's PG Era Went Too Far
3. Brock Lesnar Opens A Hole In Randy Orton's Skull
This remains an astonishingly negligent decision, four years later - particularly since WWE could have achieved a similar effect with the blade Vince McMahon was historically averse to, when his company operated within PG guidelines. The man himself bled like a stuck pig when it didn't, incidentally, a wild quirk thoroughly consistent with his personality.
It was a dumb enough angle that requires no analogy to condemn, but this was genuinely as if the metallic twang of an aluminium baking tray shot was considered too loud, so they had Brock Lesnar smash Randy Orton in the face full-force with a brick.
At SummerSlam 2016, to further get Brock Lesnar over as an über-heel with unconscionable disregard for everything around him, he went over Randy Orton via TKO, thudding and scraping his elbow against Orton's skull to draw blood the hard way. A harsh spotlight was already focused on WWE for the effect of the gradual, concussive head trauma endured in its ring. It was as if Vince had to break one of his f*cking records.
A disturbing scene with an obvious, appalling consequence - Orton suffered a concussion - there is but one moment of lightness to it.
Shane McMahon arrived on it to condemn Brock's actions and square up to him, but the Beast later refused the match it was designed to build because he deemed the idea utterly laughable.