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WWE has rarely acknowledged AEW or Tony Khan since the company's inception in 2019. However, in a recent statement, the Connecticut-based company slammed All Elite Wrestling for the street fight between Tay Conti/Anna Jay and Bunny/Penelope Ford.
The teams had been feuding for many months, with multiple matches taking place between all four women. Both teams traded wins, with their issues coming to a head on AEW Rampage in a Street Fight. What followed was a brutal and bloody battle, with thumbtacks, tables, barbed wire, and chairs involved. Tay Conti and The Bunny bled buckets as the babyfaces came out on top.
Women bleeding so much is unheard of in American wrestling on national television. While many fans gave the women the plaudits they deserved for the spectacle, many were critical of AEW allowing such brutality on national television.
Among those is WWE, which issued a strongly-worded statement criticizing Tony Khan and his company for 'self-mutilation' on the show, claiming such brutality was not appreciated in 2022.
“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 the 2022 world, we don’t believe that the type of dangerous and brutal display is appealing to network partners, sponsors, venues, children, or the general public as a whole,” WWE's statement read.
Vince McMahon said in 2019 that WWE would be less violent than AEW
As mentioned previously, WWE and Vince McMahon rarely acknowledge any existence of competition to their company. However, the WWE chairman did refer to AEW back in 2019 when he specified that his company will not go back to the Attitude Era and "do blood and guts."
Since switching to a PG product, WWE has watered down the violence in its shows. That change is understandable as RAW and SmackDown are both broadcast on major networks with the aim of being a family-friendly product. The use of strong language and blood would not appeal to the audience they are targeting.
Tony Khan has shown in the past that he is not afraid of fighting fire with fire, and will most likely have a sharp reply to this statement in the days to come.
