Matt Hardy thinks blood should be used in specific scenarios in wrestling because it means more that way.
In past generations, blood was regularly used in wrestling, but it has become less common in recent years, at least in major promotions. It is rarely seen in WWE these days, but blood is still frequently used in AEW. Jon Moxley particularly bleeds in many of his matches. He recently stated that wrestling is a combat sport, so there's potential for blood in every match.
Speaking on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, the veteran shared his thoughts on blood in wrestling. Specifically, he was asked whether there's any merit to the argument that Moxley has damaged his reputation due to how much he bleeds.
“I do think there’s an issue for saying there’s too much bleeding on the show. I think bleeding and blood is best when it’s used in the correct spaces and not every single week. It doesn’t need to be done too often because that’ll kind of kill it. That hurts its effect as well. When blood happens in certain scenarios, it means so much more," Hardy said.
Hardy made it clear that he was sharing his general opinion of blood in wrestling. He noted that Moxley's approach of making matches feel like fights and bleeding a lot is his preference. Hardy stated that he wouldn't want to do that every week because the frequency lessens the value of the blood.
“That’s my general opinion of blood in pro wrestling, generally. Apparently, with Jon, he’s doing this thing as far as making it a real fight, it’s a fight club with the BCC, so that’s his thing. He’s in there, there’s violence, and he bleeds a lot, and that’s his preference, and that’s what he wants to do, I guess. For me, I wouldn’t want to do that every single week because I think, once again, that kind of minimizes the value of bleeding," Hardy said.
Overall, Hardy expressed his belief that blood should not be overdone in wrestling. He described how he feels like it means more when it's used in specific situations so that it's a special thing. He noted that others can bleed every week if they want to, but he was simply sharing his own personal preferences.
“I just think blood is one of the few things in wrestling that shouldn’t be overdone. I feel like it means so much more when it is done in specific scenarios, and it’s a little bit of a sparse, special thing. If someone wants to go out there and they want to gig every single week, go nuts. If someone wants to go out there and have a death match every single week, go nuts. If someone wants to go out there and have a classic chain wrestling match every week, go nuts. I don’t care what you do. That’s your stance, that’s your choice. If there’s people that enjoy that, then great. It is what it is. But I’m just talking about my personal preferences on all these issues," he said.
When co-host Jon Alba stated that Hardy is a big fan of Moxley, the veteran praised the former AEW World Champion. He stated that Moxley works hard, and he is the heart and soul of AEW. Hardy stated that Moxley has been a constant for AEW, and he has been a flag-bearer for the company in a number of ways.
“Huge [fan]. I think Jon busts his ass, I think Jon is the heart and soul of AEW at this point. I think he’s been consistent when it was needed in AEW. He was the first guy that really jumped from WWE to AEW, and he had already been a big star at WWE. He has really been a flag-bearer for AEW in so many ways. I’m a huge Jon Moxley fan," Hardy said.
On the same podcast, Hardy compared The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro) to AEW's Blackpool Combat Club. Check out his comments here.
WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H previously stated that blood isn't necessary, and it would be irresponsible to go back to using blood in WWE. Click here to see what he had to say.
Check out the card for the July 12 episode of AEW Dynamite here. Fightful will have coverage of the show as it airs.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.
