Too Much Blood: WWE Toronto House Show Ends Early.

[Silkk]

They shoulda called an audible and had someone else from the back come out and job to Roman

This

 

[TrueEpic08]

It's a transitional period they're going through and it takes years. They've gotta deal with the fallout from fans old enough to remember and appreciate blood actually having a role in wrestling storytelling, and balance that with educating today's fans differently: make them understand that blood is unacceptable.

Young fans have barely seen any blood and are more accepting of a blood situation ending a match.

A few years from now (not sure how long it will take, but it will happen) the majority of fans will be in that camp; blood just isn't something they will associate with pro wrestling, and ending a match because of blood will be normal and acceptable.

I see what you're saying, but a combat sport ending because of middling blood loss (not catastrophic blood loss which causes impairment) is simply ludicrous. And as much as WWE and wrestling fans don't like to admit it, pro wrestling is and always will be simulated combat sport.

Because of that (and the fact that other wrestling promotions aren't shy about using blood when appropriate), blood will always have a place in wrestling. It may not be nearly as prominent (and thank goodness for that), but I just can't see a time when blood will be completely off the table when writing and executing storylines. It's just a fundamental part of how combat sports work.

(Note: On your last point about educating fans and cycling newly educated fans in, given that WWE shareholder reports have been showing the average age of the WWE viewer trending older for at least a decade now, and the average age of other promotions's viewers are even older, I wouldn't bet on this happening any time soon, if ever.)

 

[Sghost597]

I don't understand the blood thing when majority of these lil kids play COD and GTA all while looking up violent shyt on the internet on their free time.

It's more about protecting the workers and heath concern. Very little to do with being PG and more about having moderate employee protection and improving the safety of the work environment from the concussion lawsuit. WWW can't real defend themselves in court while letting these guy bleeding out over the ring.

 

[Golayitdown]

No backup plan, tho? No random ass heel to at least come out and spot start?

And because they're at a house show, they could throw anybody out there and sent the crowd home happy

 

[NYChase718]

You can have a first bllood match in wwe2k18 tho

 

[NoMorePie]

You can have a first bllood match in wwe2k18 tho

But the match is stopped when the blood starts pouring out though

 

[Hoss]

(Note: On your last point about educating fans and cycling newly educated fans in, given that WWE shareholder reports have been showing the average age of the WWE viewer trending older for at least a decade now, and the average age of other promotions's viewers are even older, I wouldn't bet on this happening any time soon, if ever.)

Interesting. Genuinely did not know this (but I admit, I haven't been paying close attention to demographics) and it's surprising to me that this shyt is losing younger viewers and mostly retaining its older audience. It's already lost me, and pretty much everyone I personally know around my age who used to watch it.

People generally too lazy to look for an alternative? Watching out of habit? I admit, I watched out of habit without really enjoying the show for quite awhile, so that's probably it.

Still, since older customers of all businesses eventually die, WWE has no choice but to cycle in new fans in order to survive long term.

I see what you're saying, but a combat sport ending because of middling blood loss (not catastrophic blood loss which causes impairment) is simply ludicrous. And as much as WWE and wrestling fans don't like to admit it, pro wrestling is and always will be simulated combat sport.

Because of that (and the fact that other wrestling promotions aren't shy about using blood when appropriate), blood will always have a place in wrestling. It may not be nearly as prominent (and thank goodness for that), but I just can't see a time when blood will be completely off the table when writing and executing storylines. It's just a fundamental part of how combat sports work.

Yeah, I wasn't clear in saying I'm talking about WWE rather than pro wrestling in general. I think you're right about the bolded above, but what WWE does isn't really pro wrestling and they're fine with that. I think they're quite happy to remove intentional blood from the equation and protect themselves from any potential legal issues. I think their ideal scenario is to cycle in new fans while simultaneously conditioning those fans to not consider blood as a storytelling tool.

 

[CJ]

Lol wow. I almost went last minute too.

 

[jackswstd]

Vince should have them start rockin head gear to prevent these sorts of things. Probably shoulder pads, cups and mouth guards as well. Better to not scrimp on safety, seeing blood badly traumatizes children.

 

[Ill Lou Malnati]

No backup plan, tho? No random ass heel to at least come out and spot start?

No one hangs around backstage anymore after their matches. Just ask Brian Kendrick.

 

[WaveMolecules]

UFC has blood though.

WWE should occasionally have blood.

 

[Cartier Murphy]

I can get the logic behind why they’d stop the match, but in a time where attendence is dropping I’d have personally found an alternate solution have the match devolve into a mess of fukkery with a bunch of run ins, change it into a tag match, etc. Just ending the show can leave a sour taste in people’s mouths, especially for older fans who remember blood being a regular part of a match

 

[patscorpio]

Terrible smh

 

[Nero Christ]

I get ending matches where severe blood loss has happened and the wrestler clearly can't go, but you can't make wrestling some sanitized disney show. People have expectations for what this is supposed to be and when you wipe out the violence, the edgy characters & storylines, what exactly are you selling?

You don't have to overdo it but wrestling needs violence. Also, you look at the most popular dramas on TV today, they all feature extreme violence (GoT, The Walking Dead, Westworld), & movies and video games are no different. Vince and the shareholders need to smarten up.

 

[R=G]

Scust.