Is the blood showed on WWE real?

The short answer is yes, the blood is real!

But you have to know that since it entered the PG era, WWE doesn’t like showing much blood anymore in its shows.

Why? Because it is not advertiser’s friendly!

For people who are asking what’s the PG era and how it’s relevant to how much blood is WWE willing to show, here is your answer:

The PG era started on July 22, 2008 when WWE started using TV Parental Guidelines ratings to appeal to younger audiences and draw more sponsorships.

Hardcore fans have been very vocal against this decision of WWE, their main concern was how the show became watered-down and flat to appeal to kids and be family/advertiser-friendly.

The PG era is often described by fans as being soft compared to the Attitude era during the 1990s where WWE (then known as WWF) was more hardcore and violent, and less scripted.

Listen to Dave Batista talking about how PG caused him to leave WWE

Why fake blood is not used in WWE and professional wrestling in general

First, you have to know that fake blood is not used in WWE and other pro wrestling promotions.

Why?

Because when blood dries it looks extremely fake, even in big blockbuster movies. That is why pro wrestlers have been avoiding fake blood since the beginning of pro wrestling.

How professional wrestlers make themselves bleed?

1. The eyebrow technique

This is the hard way of making opponents bleed.

This technique consists of throwing a stiff punch directly to your opponent’s eyebrow where the skin is very thin and can easily get opened up.

Obviously, the wrestler who is going to deliver the punch has to call the spot before throwing the punch so the other wrestler can be ready.

Notice how the punch was delivered directly to the eyebrow

2. Blading

This is the oldest and most common technique used in professional wrestling.

Blading consists of cutting oneself with a very small razor that the wrestler was hiding, the cut doesn’t have to be big, it only takes 1/4 of an inch to make a bloodbath.

Once blood starts leaking, the wrestler rubs it all over their face and hair, and voilà! The show has become a thousand times more exciting.

It is worth mentioning that blading has been banned in WWE after it entered the PG era.

Here is an old picture where a razor blade falls from John Cena during a match in WWE.

3. Elbow slicing

This technique is used more in the indy circles and hardcore wrestling.

Elbows are very pointy, all it takes is to use them as knives to slice the opponent’s forehead. It is easy to do, but it can leave a big scar after the cut heals.

4. Blood capsules

Watch this scene where Seth Rollins takes a blood capsule before getting F5’d.

Here is a zoomed picture of the blood capsule trick