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"Don't try this at home, school, or anywhere else" - This is what WWE tells its viewers before all their shows. Reason? Because who we see on our screens are trained athletes and the action they perform inside the ring has a chance of serious injuries. As much as one can practice, there's always a chance of something going wrong.
Throughout WWE history, there have been several instances of Superstars getting busted open during their matches. This could be due to a wrong spot, accidental botch, or a predetermined agreement of getting busted open the hard way.
Interestingly, WWE Superstars also used to use the technique of "blading" in which they make a small cut on their skin through a hidden blade which later results in blood pouring through it. This creates the illusion of them getting busted open and increases the overall intensity of the match.
Let's take a look at three times WWE Superstars bladed and three others where they got busted open for real. Be sure to comment down and let us know your thoughts on the same.
#3 WWE Superstar bladed: Batista (RAW 2008)
2008 was the time when WWE was just starting the PG Era but not every Superstar was happy with it. Before that, Superstars used to blade often, especially in championship matches, to increase the drama involved.
During Batista's steel cage match on RAW against Chris Jericho in 2008 for the World Heavyweight Championship, the Animal decided to take matters into his own hands and performed blading. The match was intense, with both of them bleeding all over the place. But when they came backstage, they were met with a furious Vince McMahon who was not happy with the amount of blood involved and even went on to fine them heavily.
During an appearance on Talk Is Jericho, Batista revealed the following:
"Then he starts passing out fines. So my fine was $100,000…My heart dropped. I thought it would be like $25,000…When he said $100,000, I was just heartbroken. I literally think that he sucked the life out of me that day. I think that's the day that I knew things were never going to be the same."
Batista quit the company in 2010 and returned in 2014 before quitting again. He had his last match at WrestleMania 35 against Triple H and then announced his retirement from in-ring competition to focus on his Hollywood career.
#3 WWE Superstar busted open for real: Randy Orton (SummerSlam 2016)
SummerSlam has been the playground of The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar throughout the 2010s. He main evented WWE's "Biggest Party of the Summer" for six consecutive years from 2014 to 2019. The incident in consideration here took place during Brock Lesnar's infamous match against Randy Orton at SummerSlam 2016.
The two took on each other in the main event of the pay-per-view and the match ended in a brutal way as Brock Lesnar legitimately busted open Orton with multiple elbow strikes. Lesnar continued hitting him until the referees separate them and declared him as the winner via Technical Knockout while Randy Orton lied there in a pool of his blood.
While the ending was planned, the spot looked so vicious that Chris Jericho reportedly got into a fight with Brock Lesnar backstage only for Triple H and Vince McMahon to break them up. With Brock Lesnar being involved with UFC at that time as well, it was almost as if he forgot that he was inside WWE's squared circle and not inside the caged octagon. Randy Orton received multiple staples to his forehead following the match.
#2 WWE Superstar bladed: Brock Lesnar (WrestleMania 31)
The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar's name will appear multiple times on this list as he is one of those who still like to take things to another level. The incident in the discussion here took place at WrestleMania 31 where Brock Lesnar defended his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns in the main event.
While it was Seth Rollins who stole the show with his "Heist of the century", another topic of discussion from the match was Brock Lesnar's alleged "blade job" during the match. There was a GIF that was floating around that saw the referee hand a blade secretly to Roman Reigns to pass it on to Brock Lesnar later on. The Beast Incarnate soon went into the steel post and started bleeding.
WWE later issued the following statement:
“WWE programming is TV-PG and we don’t permit intentional bleeding. The communication or contact between our performers and referees is part of our safety protocol. That said, unintentional blood sometimes occurs, and we do our best to minimize.”
The match was received with mixed responses, but it was the ending that stole the show as Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and pinned Roman Reigns to become the new World Champion.
#2 WWE Superstars busted open for real: The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar (Hell in a Cell 2015)
When one talks about the greatest opponents of The Undertaker, one name that surely comes into the discussion is the man who conquered his once undefeated WWE WrestleMania streak, Brock Lesnar. After losing to the Beast Incarnate at WrestleMania 30, The Undertaker took a year off and returned at WrestleMania 31 to face Bray Wyatt.
Later that year, the Phenom restarted his rivalry with Brock Lesnar leading to a match at SummerSlam 2015 which The Undertaker won. With one victory each, the two stepped inside Hell in a Cell later that year. In what was a brutal match, the two went on to bleed all over the place. It was later reported that the two were busted open the hard way.
Vince McMahon and backstage WWE officials were furious over the amount of blood pouring from both the Superstars. They sent a doctor to clean Lesnar's cut up only for the Beast Incarnate to "shoot" attack the doctor. In the end, it was Brock Lesnar who defeated The Undertaker after an F5 on the exposed ring mat.
#1 WWE Superstar bladed: Shawn Michaels (The Great American Bash 2008)
Shawn Michaels has had several memorable matches against Chris Jericho throughout history. Yet, their encounter at WWE Great American Bash in 2008 has become so famous as this was the match that led to WWE banning intentional bleeding in matches.
The match saw Shawn Michaels make a small cut above his eye, but his face was covered in blood within seconds. Chris Jericho kept on attacking him and HBK bled throughout the match. The match ended when the referee deemed Shawn Michaels unable to continue after Y2J's shots on his face, leading to Chris Jericho being declared the winner via technical submission.
Following that, Shawn Michaels announced his retirement (kayfabe) at Summerslam, only for Jericho to interrupt. The two then continued their feud with an "unsanctioned" match at WWE Unforgiven.
The blood involved during their match at WWE Great American Bash 2008 surely added to the drama and intensity of the match as well as the storyline, but it led to Vince McMahon making the decision to ban intentional bleeding in matches.
#1 WWE Superstar busted open for real: Samoa Joe (WWE NXT TakeOver: Dallas)
WWE NXT TakeOver: Dallas in 2016 was considered by many to be the better show than WWE WrestleMania 32 that took place a couple of days later. The main event of the show saw NXT Champion Finn Balor defend his title against Samoa Joe.
During the match, Joe got busted open by accident which led to the medical team stopping the match to treat him. There was so much intensity in the match between Balor and Joe, that the crowd started chanting "Let Joe Bleed".
Speaking of the incident, Samoa Joe revealed the following during an interview:
"Sometimes you find yourself in these unusual circumstances, and at that point —I liken it to an old fighter saying ‘no plan survives first contact.’ And that was definitely a plan not surviving first contact. At that point, the crowd’s charged up, the energy is charged up and you’re trying to serve a lot of matches and keep the energy up, but at the same time the medical personnel are all over you, and you’re trying not to scare them to death. It’s funny because after we got back, one guy stitched me up and he’s like ‘I realize you’re a little angry out there, but I appreciate you being cordial with me out there and my medical staff because the last guy we had to seal up was Brock and he threw me halfway across the ring.’ He goes, ‘you grabbed me one time and I thought I was dead.’ And I can admit, I was planning on throwing [him] somewhere. [laughs]"
It was Finn Balor who won the match but this incident again proved how tough Samoa Joe is. Joe is currently out of action and is serving as a commentator on WWE RAW.
