WWE Just Inadvertently Proved A Point

[Dave]

With this in mind, do you think in some respects the "PG rating" has actually helped WWE in some respects? Such as making things seem more meaningful.

I don't think it has helped the WWE as much as it has hindered it. The backlash from fans and casual viewers alike has come in full and ratings have dwindled over the time that they have decided to change to a more family-friendly product.

However, in this case, I have to agree with you. I do not champion the Attitude Era and I actually enjoy some aspects of the WWE PG elements. Both of them have their ups and downs and I have enjoyed the WWE just as much today as I did in the past. However, I have to point out that the Attitude Era's use of blood and violence tended to be too much at times. You would see Triple H, Ric Flair and Austin covered in blood and you would shit your pants. If someone had legitimately lost that amount of blood, they would be rushed to the emergency room for a fucking transfusion...

That being said, WWE PG has served to set up a lot more boundaries with wrestling and has managed to cordon off some of the aspects of wrestling that a lot of us characterised with the wrestling business. Things like blood and knife-edge chops are now all but gone and of course there are going to be people who do not like that. However, the thrill of seeing something like blood, as was the case last Monday, is heightened when you know that you really shouldn't be. It is exactly like doing something you aren't allowed to do... It is the same sort of rush.

What I do not agree with, however, is the breaking up of matches to wipe blood from the brow of a competitor. I understand that the WWE is a business who need to look after their aspirations and that means no blood is to be shown. However, when I see a trainer run down the ramp to clean up a competitor, it makes me sick. It takes everything out of the match and the momentum is all but gone. Truthfully though, it was nice to see CM Punk just get on with things even though he had broken his nose. No trainers and no bitching added a more deadly feel to his character and the attack.

 

[UnBEARaBULLfan]

I think the bigger story here is how much more of a man CM Punk is than Randy Orton, Randy inadvertantly hurts Punk and you dont here about punk running to Vince asking for Ortans release, if it was the other way around Orton would be crying his ass off and critisizing Punk for being reckless and a danger to others.

But I do agree that sence they dont use as much blading in the E anymore its probably more effective when someone does get busted open the hard way.

 

[thephenomenalone2015]

good point. making people bleed all the time makes it repetitive and not believable. Since it hardly ever happens, when it does, it make you look up and pay attention. same with cursing, it makes you think, "Wow! they never say bad words on this show! he must be really mad!"

I just hope they don't go overboard and have someone bleed every match or curse every other word.

 

[3/4 Facelock]

Blood happens. We all saw it. It was an accident. But in the ring, you have to go with it. It makes it that much greater.

I apologize to the fans in their mid 20s. They were raised during the attitude era. That era was the exception, not the rule. You grew up with blood and swearing and gritty realism on your wrestling shows. It's all good. I was there too.

The reason many of you say PG has hurt the WWE is because you fellas are not PG. When you talk with your friends it's all "SHITMOTHERFUCKERASSTITSPUSSYCOCKFICKITYFUCKFICKITYFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK" peppered in with regular words. Everyone who was in their mid 20s has done it and everyone that is going to be in their mid 20s in going to do it. It's natural. You can only see the world insofar as you know it.

As you grow older the need to use those words will diminish. That is why the older folks in their very late 20s and 30s and 40s and so on could care less. And come on, who doesn't love blood? I'm in my 30s and I still have bloodlust. I love watching MMA and watching people bleed. Shit, I remember ordering the UFC1 PPV back when they had no weight classes. Broken arms, dislocated limbs, blood all over...
But again, I am not that age anymore. I don't need it to be entertained. When I see blood and hear cussing in the WWE it's all good. I don't mind, but I also don't need.

This era with the PG being re-instated has forced more creative writing and angles and storylines. Getting from A to B used to be all hit them, make them bleed, swear, show skin, jump off something really high, repeat. Now it takes a little more. Keep me interested. Tell me a story. Shock me when necessary.

It’s a circle. All I can say is just wait. In 10 years when the next generation of fans pops up on the internet who have never ever seen the Rock or SCSA wrestle start posting things like “I just started watching WWE in 2015” and “Randy Orton needs to either step aside for the younger guys or retire” and “CM Punk is stale”

All in all, blading and cursing…all completely unnecessary. I am old enough to understand wresting is scripted. I do not need them to try to “trick” me into believing that it is real. It is insulting to my intelligence and it is insulting to the intelligence of people who know wrestling is scripted. I see blood these days and I know that those two guys in the ring are working their asses off. Punk & Orton showed me exactly what I wanted to see. That intensity and action is what I want to see and that is what we all deserve to see.

 

[jholcomb22]

While I agree blood nowadays has more of an impact, it takes away from other moves. If some non signature move by Orton can bust open CM Punk, it creates questions like, why can't the GTS or Sheamus' superkick draw blood ever?

If WWE continues having no blood, then when somebody bleeds, we know it's because somebody fucked up. The impact really isn't that impactful because as we saw in this case, Punk was unphased and ended up hitting Orton with the GTS and leaving looking superior.

 

[WWEIsLife2]

I agree I think when someone bleeds in the WWE in today it makes the Moment or Match be more intense. When Orton busted open Punk's nose it made the Segment that much better IMO. Anyone remember when Macho Man busted open Hogan's eye at Wrestlemania 5? Blood use was rare back then as well and it made that Match seem more intense. Back in the Attitude Era blood use was constant and after awhile it got to be overdone. I remember after the Eddie Guerrero/JBL Match at Judgment Day 2004 Eddie had lost so much blood he passed Backstage after the Show.

TNA has fallen into that trap using blood in alot of their Matches and its not needed. So when blood is used today it makes it much more meaningful to me as well. Good Post.

 

[tvcolosi]

I actually made a post about this about 4-6 weeks ago, it referred to Blood and swearing mostly, and the WWE retraining the fans. I am glad to see other people have the same opinion. There has been "swearing" 4 times that sticks out in the last year.

Bret Hart said "ass" 2 times when he called out Vince last year in his 2nd appearance. (Austin did too when he hosted, but I remember they caught then and bleeped them)
Mae Young calling Laycool "****s" and "bitches" which was soooo funny!
and the 2 very talked about John Cena ones


I have to say, when Cena said something along the lines of "it’s about me kicking your ass" i was texting and my head snapped to the TV. It was something different. While people say the product in WWE has suffered during the PG era. I think it is going to make it better in the long run.

It was getting to the point where someone would have to be sliced up all over their body or hit in the back with a 4x4 piece of wood covered with nails and look like he was dead... oh, wait... that has happened.

I think the WWE was ahead of the curve on this one... hearing the word asshole 17 times every time I watch imPact, with no meaning behind it, is actually a turn off for me.

Take the blood and cursing away for a while, and use it sparingly, and when it means something. It seems like a bigger deal... and I am all for it.

 

[Jackal960]

It's a bit complicated. One part is true, the less it becomes, the more affect it will have in your eyes. At Wrestlemania 2, after Bundy almost killed Hogan (in the storyline) on the steel cage match Hogan basically throw Bundy from one side to another till he made Bundy bleed. It affected the intensity of the match so much. It was very rare then, and to see Bundy like that made you feel Hogan finally had his revenge. If that match were 15 years later, it wouldn't even look like a feud.

That being said, although there were plenty of stupid and unnecessary storylines, i don't remember watching blood in every episode of Raw in Attitude Era. There was more blood than any timeframe of WWE, but it wasn't like blood everywhere, or some sort of ECW.

If you are going to have Extreme Rules, HIAC, TLC, you can't have too many limitations of what can be done and what can't be done. Because it will take away from the match. I always say the same thing, when you think of the greatest HIAC matches, which matches do you think of? How many of them have been in the last couple of years (unless you are too young)

So trying to minimize blood makes it more effective when you see it, but it takes away from certain match types/feuds as well.

 

[Malenko316]

Given the issue people on here seem to have with blood, I sure nope no-one is an ER Doc.

I have two problems with the OP and following banter:
1.) the lack of blood during the PG era, through no blading and editing out when it's outside live events, reduces the overall value of the product. As mentioned above, if Punk takes a mistimed flick of boot and gets busted open but one has so far shed even a drop from the Brogue Kick etc it makes the latter look even more fake and undermines the supposed damage of people like Seamus. - If you get caught with an elbow, knee, kick or punch in UFC, chances are good for a cut - this is logical as the blows are real. On the flip side, we're supposed to believe a move from Seamus is devastating and causes no blood (when even if Kendall Grove, who is 120lbs lighter than Seamus, does the same move, it would causes injury).

2.) While I am no fan of the Bingo hall, extreme style of ECW and the excessive blading of the mid 1990s, the overall damage to quality of the wrestling product brought about through the PG era BS far outweighs ANY marginal benefit to authenticity achieved from less blood - although the above point shoots down IMO any notion of credibility contected to lack of blood.PV

 

[Tech N9ne]

I totally agree. I have always said that as well. When people complain about the PG Era, I generally take it with a grain of salt. I have kids and I understand trying to appeal to them, and also trying to make it easy on their eyes.

Eventually they won't be PG anymore, then one day, they will probably be PG again. It is a process and formula that makes sense. I have to admit, seeing the look on Punk's face, while he pounding on Orton, with the blood pouring was awesome. It was one of the better scenes in a while I think.

Being that the blood thing rarely happens anymore, especially a significant amount of it. When it does happen, there is a much stronger effect. That one scene, in my opinion, made that feud move along a little bit, and made it seem a little more personal.

By the way, for shits and giggles, I do NOT think it was intentional at all.

 

[Thesage1989]

i agree with your point. wrestlers shouldnt blade, its just unnecessary. but if they get busted open for real it just proves these guys go out there a put their bodies on the line.

also how does this make cody rhodes look? i mean punk got his nose broken and wrestled later in the night. cody got his nose broken and has to have surgery and whine about it? i realize one is a story and the other actually happened but inadvertently it makes cody look like a pussy.

Actually i think Cody was excellent because he takes his gimmick seriously, hes all about looks so if his nose is busted then it ruins the images he wants to bring across and it work the promo was great. While in Punks case it helped enhance there story and it of course added that real effect that we sometimes love to see.

 

[Thesage1989]

The idea of it being so rare that the occasional bleeding adds so much more to the match is great, but the fact is that it.. hardly happens.
There's only like 2 times that I can remember when I've seen a bleeding superstar in the PG era and I always think 'silly him, he accidently cut himself open', instead of the mindset of it being deliberate and adding to the match.

And I thought the CM Punk thing was stupid. A struggled boot to the face and bam, you're bleeding. I didn't care for it that, knowing that something like Sheamus' kick, being about 10x more intensive than Orton's little kick, would never draw blood.

Just didn't do it for me.

The nose is a very sensitive part of the body and as such that kick probably it a tender nerve or something so it worked. Although like you i could care less about it.

 

[Nexus_h8r101]

And I thought the CM Punk thing was stupid. A struggled boot to the face and bam, you're bleeding. I didn't care for it that, knowing that something like Sheamus' kick, being about 10x more intensive than Orton's little kick, would never draw blood.

Just didn't do it for me.

actually if you look closely, it's randy's headbutt that busted punks nose. as soon as randy hits it, blood comes gushing out. IMO very effective to the scenario.

 

[skeet mg]

I liked the WWE having blood because in many cases it might add intensity to a feud and add more interest from the fans, but sometimes there was just an over use of blood. I remember Survivor Series 2003 when Mr. McMahon was busted open by the Undertaker's first punch, but that was funny and i guess humor was the goal there.

In general I like TV-14 more not because of blood, cursing, etc. but because i feel the elements of TV-14 could produce more in-depth characters and in-depth storylines.

It's just annoying how when somebody bleeds today, you know it wasn't planned it it was only an accident, not to be used to further a storyline, but I'm sure WWE would be smart enough to capitalize on something that can build a feud.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The idea of it being so rare that the occasional bleeding adds so much more to the match is great, but the fact is that it.. hardly happens.
There's only like 2 times that I can remember when I've seen a bleeding superstar in the PG era and I always think 'silly him, he accidently cut himself open', instead of the mindset of it being deliberate and adding to the match.

And I thought the CM Punk thing was stupid. A struggled boot to the face and bam, you're bleeding. I didn't care for it that, knowing that something like Sheamus' kick, being about 10x more intensive than Orton's little kick, would never draw blood.

Just didn't do it for me.

It wasn't a kick that busted CM Punk's nose, it was a headbutt. Orton headbutted Punk right in the nose, then delivered a kick to the gut that sent Punk to the canvas. Orton's foot never even came close to the guy's face.

As for the topic at hand, using blood works best when it happens on rare occassions. Now, granted, this wasn't something that was planned but at least they didn't stop everything so that trainers could come in and look at Punk. Even though it wasn't intentional, the fact that it happened added a little extra fuel to the fire for the Punk/Orton feud.

Wrestlers bleeding is a novelty that was always pulled out on rare occassions to give certain instances a little extra spark, such as a cage match for instance. However, over the course of the past 15 years or so, wrestling companies went apeshit and started having matches in which blood was a certainty on a very regular basis. It got to the point where it just lost its effectiveness because it became an ordinary part of the format.

Blood isn't necessary for a certain style of match to be good. If it is used, however, then doing it rarely always has more impact in my view.

 

[Archrival]

I guess I'll agree that less is more when it comes to the topic of blood. I hate one thing though and that's when they stop matches to nurse wounds. It just kills the match in my opinion.

 

[Calderownz]

Given the issue people on here seem to have with blood, I sure nope no-one is an ER Doc.

I have two problems with the OP and following banter:
1.) the lack of blood during the PG era, through no blading and editing out when it's outside live events, reduces the overall value of the product. As mentioned above, if Punk takes a mistimed flick of boot and gets busted open but one has so far shed even a drop from the Brogue Kick etc it makes the latter look even more fake and undermines the supposed damage of people like Seamus. - If you get caught with an elbow, knee, kick or punch in UFC, chances are good for a cut - this is logical as the blows are real. On the flip side, we're supposed to believe a move from Seamus is devastating and causes no blood (when even if Kendall Grove, who is 120lbs lighter than Seamus, does the same move, it would causes injury).

2.) While I am no fan of the Bingo hall, extreme style of ECW and the excessive blading of the mid 1990s, the overall damage to quality of the wrestling product brought about through the PG era BS far outweighs ANY marginal benefit to authenticity achieved from less blood - although the above point shoots down IMO any notion of credibility contected to lack of blood.PV

I don't think people really have an issue with the blood. That's beside the point. It's about the fact that constant streams of blood simply make it redundant and it's kind of a cheap way to sell a match if it's used every single time.

The fact of the matter is that WWE isn't boxing or UFC/MMA. It's entertainment. If you want realism, any time a wrestler lands a few punches, all wrestlers should have black eyes. If we want it to be realistic, then wrestlers would only wrestle once a month, tops. Because they would need to sell the the wear and tear like MMA fighters and boxers do.

Another thing that people lose sight of is that a little kick like the one Orton landed on Punk could break someone's nose easily. Ben Roethlisberger's nose was broken by a glancing blow. It only takes 9 pounds of pressure to break a nose.

The fact of the matter is that wrestling doesn't need blood. Doesn't need cursing. Doesn't need hardcore match after hardcore match. It's been around for a long time getting over in far more impressive ways.

 

[Arkham Noir]

Wrestling psychology 101 is know when to use things for the greatest possible effect. If you use things sparingly, than they come acroos as being much more epic when they are done. Look at Kurt Angle. I don't know about him in TNA, but when he was in WWE he had a moonsault that he saved for special occasions. It really wasn't a move he would use in just any match, and as a result, it was a big deal when he did it. Another good example is Undertaker's plancha he does at Wrestlemania.


This was always the thing I disliked about cruiserweight wrestling, or "High-flyers". Their entire aresenal revloves around high and crazy spots, and as a result nothing feels special because you become desensitized to it.

So yes, WWE proved a point, one that most everybody in the wrestling buisness should remember.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The less you use blood, the better it comes across. Quite like chair shots and high spots.

I suppose you could expand this thought to include the amount of WWE wrestling we see on TV. Almost 20 years ago, there was Monday Night RAW from the Manhattan Center in NYC.....and that was all. It was a one-hour show and the only original programming the company offered on a weekly basis. (There were a couple of re-cap shows on other days of the week.)

Everybody watched it because that's all we were given. Now, WWE puts on 5 hours of original programming a week.....and we wonder why pro wrestling doesn't generate the interest it once did.

As with bleeding and chair shots, an excess of anything dilutes interest in the product.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

Back in the day you could sit and watch a live PV with someone like Austin, HHH or Flair and they'd disappear out of view for several seconds, and then you'd go:

"Aaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnd now he's bleeding." and of course, they would be. Always made me used to laugh the way HHH would scrunch his face up and start puffing heavily to get it to trickle faster over his face.

I totally agree that using someting sparingly gives it a LOT more effect when it is used, compared to seeing the same old stuff every other week.

The old TLC matches became so predictable i could predict each of Jeff's main spots seconds before he did them.

Everybody watched it because that's all we were given. Now, WWE puts on 5 hours of original programming a week.....and we wonder why pro wrestling doesn't generate the interest it once did.

Too right. That's one of the main reasons why i don't watch Raw or SD anymore, because more often than not, the matches seem to blur together because it's the same thing week in and week out. Then when i watch the PPVs, i see the video packages that shows the bet parts of the fued and then i get, what is intended to be, one of the highlights of the whole angle.

I enjoy PPVs a LOT more when i haven't seen the TV matches that preceeded them.