10 Times Blood Was Used In A Wrestling Match (When It Wasn't Needed)

Blood in wrestling used to be a huge deal and it was featured regularly to the point where fans became desensitized to it. There was so much that it no longer mattered, but that has since reigned back. However, even to this day, it is still used at times, whether intentionally or not.

It cannot be denied that in the right circumstances, a little blood adds a lot of excitement to a scenario and can help fans emotionally invest in the product. However, on the flip side, there are many occasions where blood is put into a match seemingly for the sake of it when it wasn't needed at all.

10 Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar (WrestleMania 34)

When Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar first collided, the decision to add blood was a good one as it helped the match a lot. However, in this encounter, it was not needed at all. Fans already wanted to see the match because of what they did before, but the audiences weren't demanding blood.

Plus, this encounter didn't just have a little bit of blood, it featured tons. Roman Reigns was bust open bad and it was a risk. The visual wasn't worthwhile, especially because Roman lost anyway, as he didn't get the fightback babyface moment from bleeding.

9 Cody Rhodes vs. Jungle Boy (AEW Dynamite, 5/28/20)

When it comes to bleeding in modern-day wrestling, few utilize the technique more frequently than Cody Rhodes. However, this was not the right type of match to do that in. Blood typically is used to provide sympathy for a babyface to get the fans on board, which was the idea here.

However, Cody was also facing a babyface and a young upcoming one at that. The goal of this match was to help get Jungle Boy over, even in defeat. Yet placing all the sympathy onto Cody stopped that from happening, which is why it was the wrong call.

8 Randy Orton vs. Edge (Backlash, 2020)

The storyline between Randy Orton and Edge was a lot of fun, and it was certainly heated. They made fans believe they hated each other and that is why blood could have been used. However, they chose the wrong match to include that.

Their last man-standing encounter would have been the time to do it due to the stipulation. However, blood ended up being used in their Backlash match, which was being billed as the greatest wrestling match ever, when the focus was on technical work.

7 Royal Rumble Match (Royal Rumble, 2001)

Steve Austin hits Kane with a chair at Royal Rumble in 2001.

A Royal Rumble match is one where blood is never needed. There is simply too much going on within these matches that blood always gets lots in the moment when it is put in. That was the case in 2001 when Steve Austin ended up bleeding.

Fans know that a wrestler has to go through a lot to win the match as there's always a lot of wrestlers involved in the ring at one time. Therefore putting blood in just for the sake of it feels very unneeded.

6 Vince McMahon vs. The Undertaker (Survivor Series, 2003)

This match was always going to need something to add to the story, but blood wasn't the right call here. Vince McMahon was bust open early on in this encounter, but it wasn't needed, nor was it wanted by people either.

The two men could have told a great story without the blood. It was glaringly obvious that Vince was not the favorite heading into this encounter, therefore adding a bunch of blood didn't enhance that thought process.

5 The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar (Hell In A Cell, 2015)

When these two men first met inside Hell in a Cell, the addition of blood felt right. They were both younger and had a passionate, hard-hitting storyline. However, in 2015 it wasn't something that people wanted to see, mainly due to The Undertaker's health at the time.

He had not looked at his best in several matches leading up to this one, therefore adding blood just had fans legitimately worrying, rather than providing heat. While the match between them was still great, the blood was not needed.

4 CM Punk vs. Jerry Lawler (Raw, 8/27/12)

The reason that CM Punk decided to blade in this match was clearly to put over that Jerry Lawler could still be a threat. While that made sense, the fact was that fans already cared and still had enough respect for the King to take the match seriously.

People knew that Punk was going to win, therefore adding blood was just something that provided some danger for zero payoffs. This wasn't an example of a sensible use of bleeding, especially with it just being a match on Raw.

3 Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels (Great American Bash, 2008)

Shawn Michaels wrestles Chris Jericho at Great American Bash

This is actually the match that led to Vince McMahon banning blood in WWE, mainly because there was so much and it was so over the top that sponsors hated it. The bout wasn't crying out for blood either because fans knew they hated each other in the storyline.

The two men had done such a good job that the intensity was there and the emotions were right. Adding some color into the match wasn't something that was needed at the time as it didn't enhance the match.

2 Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar (SummerSlam, 2016)

In the eyes of the fans, Randy Orton facing Brock Lesnar was a true dream match and that brought a lot of excitement to things. The two worked well together and there was nothing else needed here except to let them compete.

However, for some reason, the company decided blood was necessary, and it had to be extracted the hard way. This led to Lesnar hammering down on Orton's skull with genuine elbow strikes, which was not only a major health risk to the Viper but was completely unnecessary for the match itself.

1 SCU vs. The Young Bucks (AEW Dynamite, 5/12/21)

While this match was for the AEW Tag Team Championships, the addition of blood wasn't needed in this encounter. The two teams were supposed to be old friends, and even though SCU's career as a team was on the line, the bleeding wasn't something that added any drama.

It simply didn't feel significant to the match, mainly because the two teams are known for being great technical workers. Therefore having blood thrown into the mix just felt out of place.