This gif. Goddamn.
Also, Heyman was spot on on the Steve Austin show. Blood is ok to tell a story, you want to tell a story about a brutal match, blood is ok, it's not used on the WWE due to sponsorship reasons, but it's ok. Blading has zero long term consequences.
Chair shots, piledrivers, AJ Styles "please don't tuck your chin or you will die". Those we can totally live without. They could do more stuntman stuff in general in hardcore matches using scenic tricks, tho.
I don't know, I thought I didn't have a problem with blood, but then I saw a bunch of HBK and/or HHH matches from 2002-2006ish where they were just disgustingly bloody for no real reason that added anything to the story of the match other than "Well, Ric used to blade all the time for no reason".
Those two more or less killed the idea of blading to me during that period. They would bleed SO fucking much and it almost never made sense in the context of the match. Backlash 2006, for example. It's a triple threat between Edge, Cena, and HHH. There is no story reason why anyone would need to tap an artery. It isn't some kind of intense blood feud here. Yet HHH takes a slingshot into the ring post and has one of the most disgusting and thickest crimson masks I've ever seen just because. It legitimately looked like someone threw a bucket of red paint on his face, let it dry, then threw 3 more on it. I'm really not sure I've seen someone have that thick of a coating of blood on his face. Watch while he's in the STF and it is impossible not be be disgusted. And it wasn't like it was some brutal match or anything. It was a pretty normal triple threat. Very standard. If anyone had to be busted open, it should have been between Edge and Cena, since their feud seemed a lot more personal than Cena/HHH. But the match wasn't structured to be that kind of match, so HHH randomly covered in blood made no sense and was just stupid and gross.
HBK did the same thing at WM20. That match really didn't call for a massive blade job. Those two seemed to have a contest for a few years to see who could bleed more every other month on PPV. Those two alone spilled more blood than the entire Attitude Era I think.
All that said, blood SHOULD be an option for a few matches per year. We don't need guys busted open all the time, but something like Taker/HHH at WM28 really should have had some blood.
