Injuries – Has WWE gone mad?
WWE Over The Limit has just passed and WWE have pretty much had a disaster when it comes to injuries in one show. Dibiase received a concussion from R-Truth’s heavy slap, Batista hurt his back going through the stage and Randy Orton separated his shoulder pounding the mat in his “vintage” viper antics.
Even though this was a bad situation for WWE, one other situation stood out to me. When Rey Mysterio took a heavy shot to the barbers chair on the outside, CM Punk was within the ring with a cut to his forehead. The medic ran down to ringside, glanced over Mysterio (Who was hardly moving) and went into the ring to try and stop Punk’s bleeding forehead. Now the medic may have been able to speak to Rey to determine everything was ok but at first Rey’s body language seemed to point to the fact that his arm looked to be a genuinely injured.
Whether this is right or not, how did it look that a guy was hardly moving on the outside but the bloke who is fine in the ring with a small cut to his forehead was being tended too?
Surely there must be a better way of dealing with this situation? Within this PG rated era we are not allowed to show blood, why? I might be wrong on this but take a look at football (sorry Soccer! For the US readers)
Players can have a collision during a game and one can get his head cut open, take Steven Gerrard’s injury this past Monday evening playing for England as an example. He got bandaged up and continued the game with a massive white bandage round his head. This happens quite regular and how many people remember the iconic image of Terry Butcher with his blooded bandage round his head whilst he was still playing?
You didn’t see the camera’s go off Gerrard whilst he was getting the blood wiped out of his eyes, it just happened. This situation is common and is part of the game, it’s a contact sport and guess what? It’s shown in the middle of the day and no warnings are given about the possibility of blood because it just happens and it’s a sporting game.
Why do WWE seem so obsessed with trying to stop us seeing this blood? It’s PG, I get it. But fact of the matter is it’s suppose to be producing a believable product which contains contact.
I completely agree with the fact that wrestlers shouldn’t cut themselves open anymore to enhance the effect of a brutal match but I also can understand that if this was to happen then it just happens and life goes on.
Why completely stop the match? (Which is suppose to be extreme in some cases) You completely negate the believability in the story produced during the match. You don’t see boxers get stopped when one starts bleeding; you deal with it and move on.
Now the fact of the matter is that you are never going to prevent wrestlers getting hurt or cut during matches. Just look at what they are doing to each other for a start. The Undertaker simulates the fact of picking someone up and dropping them completely on his head for god’s sake. It’s getting ridiculous when you’re watching something as physical is wrestling and not expect injuries and some cuts occasionally.
The whole point in the match outcome with CM Punk was to shave his head. How effective was it when the camera couldn’t even show the front of his face because he had a cut forehead. All we had was the back of his head, which didn’t contain blood shots.
Now correct me if I’m wrong here but when I watched wrestling as a youngster I like most children who watched wrestling as a youngster wanted to become a wrestler when I was older. As soon as a watched Austin and Bret in their bloodbath at Wrestlemania 13 I felt sick because I’d never seen blood like that. So it has had an opposite effect. I sat there and thought “No, I don’t think I could handle that”
It was almost like a shock tactic to make me never jump on my mate from the couch again. All because I saw first hand what I might end up doing to someone if I imitated it.
Now when CM Punk got busted open at Over The Limit, wouldn’t it have been a good opportunity for a parent to turn round to their child and say, “Now that’s why you shouldn’t copy these guys because you can get hurt like he is”
But no, WWE covers it up and makes a mess to fans who can see through this PG rating and makes no difference to children who will watch the product no matter what.
It wouldn’t be half as bad but WWE can’t control it like they wish to anyway. Look at Punk’s tape on his forearms, it’s covered in blood. Towels they used are covered in blood and the mat has blood drops all over it for the rest of the show.
There is a reason why it’s called an accident and that’s never going to change.
I think it’s time WWE cannot control everything and just look at things realistically.
If I was a parent, I would be more concerned with my child watching a man get dropped on top of his head rather than him busting his lip. I would be happy if I saw the results of the accident more as I could use this to demonstrate how dangerous a show could be.
Maybe I’m wrong, maybe you agree with me but if you want to drop me your opinion or your own experiences with your own children in these situations, or if you just want to tell me i’m wrong then please contact me on [email protected]
Martyn
