Are the Blood and Injuries in Pro Wrestling Matches Real?

Most of us know that Pro Wrestling is fake and comes with a script to the point where the wrestlers and announcers know the winner of matches. (You may check the link if you’re interested in the things included in the script). However, there are times when we can see blood or wrestling, looking like they were injured. Are these blood and injuries real? Let’s find out.

Oftentimes, wrestlers hurt each other as not everything can be done without causing physical pain. Thus, there are times when the blood and injuries are real. However, most injuries in pro wrestling, such as WWE, that involve blood are prohibited since they need to comply with PG standards.

This blog post will discuss this answer in further detail. Mainly, why do we still see some blood on matches, and when are the injuries real? We will also have some talk on Pro Wrestling’s history when it comes to blood and injuries in matches.

Is the Blood Real in WWE?

Oftentimes, blood isn’t real in WWE since WWE must comply with PG or Parental Guidance standards. This means they have to remove or minimize the blood seen on matches. So these days, the blood we see on TV usually comes from blood capsules made with corn syrup.

Ever since 2008, WWE has had to comply with PG standards. Unfortunately, this means showing blood on TV isn’t allowed.

This is why when blood is apparent on TV, they usually change the camera angle to angles without blood or turn the video to grayscale.

However, this wasn’t the case in 1980.

Before, blood was common in pro wrestling as they found that blood on matches increases ticket sales.

Thus, pro-wrestlers are urged to do blading, also known as juicing, getting color, or gigging.

In blading, pro wrestlers self-inflict their forehead with wounds that bleed when punched.

Thus, the blood you see in old wrestling matches was real. What happens is that the tiny cuts caused by blading mix with sweat. This makes it look like the wrestlers bleed a lot, even though most of it was sweat.

While old pro wrestlers who do blade are famous in the 80s, the practice is now illegal in WWE.

Why? One of the reasons for this is that WWE needs to comply with PG standards. This means showing too much blood on TV is not allowed.

Another is that the awareness of blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis forced the management to stop these practices.

While many fans aren’t happy with the current pro wrestling practices, this needs to be done for these two reasons.

One question you might have in mind is if blading causes this blood, how about people who look like they’re coughing blood? Are these ketchup?

Well, in the early days, before matches, wrestlers extract their blood and put it in a tiny bag, which they put in their mouths.

Once the time where they need to cough or vomit blood, they pop the tiny bag in their mouth, causing blood to come out.

Thus, the blood we have seen before 2008 is most likely real. However, this isn’t the case with modern wrestling.

Currently, these scenes are done using blood capsules which are gelatinous pills that have red corn syrup inside.

When they need to cough blood, they bite the capsule causing it to look like blood coming out of their mouths.

If you’re seeing blood in modern wrestling, most of it comes from blood capsules. Thus, what you’re seeing on TV isn’t ketchup but corn syrup.

There is also a third way of inducing blood on matches done in the past. However, this practice isn’t allowed today.

The practice is to punch a person in their eyebrows which are rich in blood vessels. Eyebrows bleed easily. Thus, hitting a wrestler in the eyebrows causes them to bleed.

This practice isn’t allowed in modern WWE matches as they need to comply with parental guidance standards.

With all of these in mind, you might wonder if there are places where you can see the blading into action.

Well, there is.

For example, All Elite Wrestling allows their wrestlers to do blading. In fact, even female wrestlers are allowed to blade themselves.

For example, in a 2021 match between Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa, there was excessive bleeding because of blading.

Fun Fact: Do you realize that old wrestlers tend to have some scars on their foreheads? For example, Abdullah the Butcher, a famous wrestler, can hold coins on these scars caused by blading.

With all of these, did you know there are still times in modern WWE wrestling when the blood that comes from a person is real? So when can we expect these things? Let’s talk about that in the next section.

Are the injuries in WWE real?

Generally speaking, most injuries in WWE aren’t real and are scripted because WWE has to comply with PG ratings. Furthermore, they have to keep their wrestlers healthy and injury-free. However, some injuries caused in these matches can be real on certain occasions.

You might notice that most wrestlers overreact to simple punches. You’re right.

Most injuries you’ve seen in WWE matches aren’t real. They are scripted, and pro wrestlers are taught to act in pain even if they’re not.

However, some moves can still cause injury. For example, accidentally throwing enemies on tables can be painful.

Furthermore, jumping on your enemies on the floor is also painful and can cause injury. Just imagine some large dude jumping on you and free-falling 10 feet above the ground.

To give you an example, let’s check the picture below.

As you can see, there is no way you can make that painless. Gravity will cause you to be extremely fast and hurt your enemies as you fall on them.

Furthermore, some scenes like the ones the wrestlers know will be replayed a lot to cause pain and make them more realistic.

For example, a finishing blow would always hit the enemies at 80% of their true strength to show their force.

These are also the times when you might see blood as these punches tend to hurt a lot.

Of course, they won’t use 100% of their strength on those finishing blows. But they are painful enough to cause bleeding and injuries.

Lastly, the steel chairs they use on matches are real, and those juicy sounds mean that those blows hurt even if they are reinforced to be noisier than ordinary chairs.

Thus, even if wrestling matches are scripted, they are physical sports, which means that injury is still common.

However, the rate of injuries and blood isn’t the same as before.

What’s next? Did you know that according to a study from the American Journal of Sports Medicine, about 10% of wrestling matches involve an injury? To learn more about the safety profile of wrestling, feel free to check this post: Is Wrestling Safe?