We all know the story by now, blading is no longer in effect in the world of the WWE since its change into kid-friendly television.
Blading, or any instances of blood, will put the superstars involved under harsh circumstances similar to chairshots, thus preventing any action that adds blood into the match.
But is the banning of blading really necessary?
Enhancing the Show, Feud, and Match
Blading, it’s good for one thing and one thing only. It adds to the match. It adds the element of blood into the tale of the match and makes the story evolve into another level.
It makes the brutality in a match seem real.
Imagine a feud, a feud with two bitter rivals that have nothing but hate for each other. To end the feud, a big finish in their final encounter has to be done.
What better way to represent their hate by not only adding stipulations such as a Cage, Hell in a Cell, Ladder, Last Man Standing, TLC but by also applying blood into the match.
Now, many of you may believe that blood doesn’t really add much to the match but in reality, it does add to the match even if it’s a little.
Blading always elicits a reaction, whether it’s a negative or positive one depends on the circumstance, but blood does catch your attention doesn’t it?
It catches your emotion, which makes your perspective on the feud seem real.
It makes the anger between the rivals seem personal.
Remember Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho in 2008? Wasn’t it one of the greatest feuds ever?
But what made it great? The wrestlers didn’t do it entirely all by themselves because the story of their feud is what made things interesting.
It was a feud with many transitions in the story. It had many twists, which made things all the more interesting, but perhaps the most interesting aspect of the feud’s tale was the “damage” to Shawn Michaels’s eye.
Michaels was the recipient of an eye injury by the hands of Jericho, which infuriated Michaels to the point of challenging Jericho to a match when he returned.
With the scar of the eye “injury” still there, Jericho took advantage of that weakness and exposed it for leverage. He focused his attacks on the eye which caused Michaels to bleed and as a result, be deemed unable to continue by the referee.
The result of the match caused by Michaels’ blading, sold the hatred and built up the anger between two rivals into something personal.
Without the blood, the eye injury wouldn’t have worked. With the blading, it did.
See what blading does yet?
If not, let’s take a look at Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar at No Mercy 2002 for the WWE championship in a Hell in a Cell match.
Brock Lesnar was being built up as “The Next Big Thing” as he was booked to dominate every single opponent that he faced.
He was booked as a monster, and as a monster he had to dominate.
He was made to beat every single superstar in dominating fashion.
As his progress started peaking, he was put in a match against one of the most dominating superstars of the latest decade in the Undertaker.
To further the intensity of the match, the match was to take place in the Deadman’s favorite structure, a Hell in a Cell.
The Hell in a Cell match, as many of you know, is made to highlight aggression, domination, and destruction.
What better way to further the description of Hell in a Cell than by putting on a show of brutality?
The blading of the deadman did just that.
As the battle of the titans, Brock’s force was shown through the Undertaker’s blood as he beat the American Badass and proved his dominence.
He showed why he was deemed as “The Next Big Thing” by defeating the Undertaker.
In this case, the blood showed the domination and enhanced the hype of Brock Lesnar as “The Next Big Thing” by making him seem as if he truly was a dominant monster.
He “made” the Undertaker bleed, almost no one else can say they did that.
The blade job made a star, story, and match even bigger. It helped the match instead of hindering it.
In this case, blading was needed but if it was completely banned, how would Lesnar have been put over as “The Next Big Thing”?
Blading helped make Lesnar’s star rise and enhanced the match as well. But if you think that this was pure luck, look back a few years.
The PPV event was Wrestlemania 13 with the main event being Bret Hart vs Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWE Championship.
Stone Cold was yet to be completely established as the star that was to be the face of the company.
He was booked to face ‘the Hitman’ Bret Hart who was literally ‘The Best There Is, The Best There Was, and The Best There Ever Will Be’. He was the champion yet before the event, Austin vowed to not be a victim of the Sharpshooter and tap out to it.
But eventually, the time comes to face your words.
Stone Cold realized this as he was put in the sharpshooter.
Not wanting to break his promise, Austin kept fighting to not tap out.
Painfully and in agony, Austin did as he promised but eventually passed out due to the blood that he had lost.
He had stayed true his words, and the fans cheered him. A star was born as the heel became the face.
Austin was made and his status to icon couldn’t have been done without being put into a sharpshooter alone. The blade job helped enhance the moment as the blood crafted the iconic image into our minds forever.
Without the blading though, would we have lost this iconic moment? I would definitely say yes, as the blading is what made the moment and the memory as well.
Blading makes moments and memories. It makes matches memorable as well.
Remember Eddie Guerrero vs JBL at Judgement Day 2004?
Do you remember anything from that match aside from the huge blade job done by Eddie Guerrero?
No? Don’t worry you’re not the only one because the blood made the match.
If you actually paid attention to the match, it was fairly good bout but the blood is what made it standout.
It helped show Eddie as a champion because he kept fighting and helped transition the feud into the Great American Bash where JBL won and became champion. It made JBL in a way and helped make the passion of Eddie for the championship even stronger while making the moment one we will never forget.
The blading helped this match and the superstars’ careers while making the moment as well.
Blading, it helped make moments and legacies.
Without blading, would all of these moments, superstars, and legacies have been lost?
I believe so.
Blading makes things standout, it’s as simple as that. The blood catches your attention and you can’t deny it. Even now when there’s no blading, the rarity of a blood sighting makes things that much more intriguing.
With the ban on blading, there is a smaller chance of seeing blood than before, thus losing some chances to make a moment truly standout.
But without a ban on blading, we can regain some moments that otherwise wouldn’t have been made.
We could regain moments that could permanently stay on our minds.
Blading should not be banned entirely.
Yes, I know that there are risks but isn’t that what the business is about? It’s not like blading is any worse than doing stunts from 20-foot ladders or from any other high platform where you risk your life, right?
In fact, blading is quite safer than jumping from high places or getting hit with objects.
Think of it this way, would you rather get bruised or a small cut?
Sure, both heal but the toll of bruises is far worse than blade jobs where you give yourself a slight cut.
There is a risk though, which I completely understand but banning blading entirely is a bit too much.
Blading brings a risk, but if a performer or wrestler doesn’t want to do it then they shouldn’t, but if they volunteer to do so, then I say “Why not?”.
Blading enhances the product, there’s no doubt about it. But don’t overdo it.
Drop the ban on blading and see how it goes, it’s not like it’s more of a risk than any other stunt right?
Plus, the rewards of a successful blade job can help transition a feud and further enhance the flow of a feud while making moments that the fans won’t soon forget.
Why? Because blading helps make a standout moment. Don’t believe me? Look at every example I have given, didn’t the blood made from the blade job enhance the moment?
Case in point, blading should not be banned.
It could be useful, just don’t overdo it.
Blading, where the reward is greater than the risk if used at the appropriate times.
Don’t ban blading completely because in the end, it could help enhance what is already great.
It can make something go from great to iconic.
