WWE Critical of AEW For Use of Blood and ‘Gory Self Mutilation’

WWE has had an on-again, off-again relationship with the use of blood over the years. Some of the company’s most famous angles in history involved blood, both on purpose (Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13) and on accident (Becky Lynch after an errant punch from Nia Jax on Raw in 2018).

AEW has been much more liberal with the use of blood in their matches, and WWE didn’t shy away from taking a shot at their competition in a statement to the Toronto Star.

The piece looked at SmackDown and Dynamite’s ratings numbers on TSN in Canada and noted that AEW is very competitive in the younger demographics. The writer of the article argued that AEW’s edgier content was a reason for the overall competitiveness in the 25-54 demographic.

“If you look at the gory self-mutilation that bloodied several women in the December 31 event on TNT, it quickly becomes clear that these are very different businesses. We had an edgier product in the ‘Attitude’ era and in a 2022 world, we don’t believe that type of dangerous and brutal display is appealing to network partners, sponsors, venues, children, or the general public as a whole,” WWE stated.

Despite the statement, WWE has indeed leaned into violence and even blood at different times in recent years. The aforementioned incident with Becky Lynch bleeding profusely on Raw was shown over and over again on television, adding to Lynch’s rise in popularity. Additionally, Brock Lesnar drew hardway blood on Randy Orton at SummerSlam 2016 with some brutally stiff forearm shots. Roman Reigns also bled profusely in the main event of WrestleMania 34 in 2018.

WWE is also presently working to help promote the upcoming Jackass movie by including Johnny Knoxville in the Royal Rumble. The Jackass movies and television show feature a lot of gore and self mutilation, as well.

WWE was referencing the Anna Jay and Tay Conti vs. Penelope Ford and The Bunny match that aired on the New Year’s Smash edition of AEW Rampage on December 31st.