Ever since WWE went PG, the instances of bloodshed in matches have been extremely limited, typically to accidents. Lately, however, weve seen more and more situations where wrestlers have gotten a little color in their matches. Whether this is a slight reversal of policy, if done correctly, a little blood can add something to a match. Case in point, Dolph Ziggler was making a comeback against Sheamus. He threw a headbutt, only to be busted wide open. Almost immediately, he went from being on offense to too dazed to function and ate a Brogue Kick seconds later to lose. The sight of blood magnified how injured Ziggler was, tempering his loss a little. At the same time, it made Sheamus look like a killer, standing over a bloodied and beaten opponent. It will be interesting to see if this was something that was authorized, or if it truly was accidental. Even if the higher-ups okayed it, chances are well get the same denial we did about Brock Lesnar bleeding at WrestleMania which was another effective use of bloodshed to drive a bigger narrative.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
