WWE has thrown a heavy dose of shade at AEW for the use of excessive violence in its matches. In recent history, AEW has pushed the envelope in terms of where their matches have gone and can certainly be considered high octane, but isn’t this just a case of the pot calling the kettle black?
It was during the Attitude Era that WWE was of course at its most violent. Hardcore matches were as common then as ridiculous Contender’s Matches are these days on WWE’s repetitive programming. This was the era of the infamous Hell In A Cell match between Mick Foley and The Undertaker of course.
Lest we forget the film that detailed Mick’s rise as hardcore legend within the company after his runs in Japan, WCW and ECW in the film, Beyond The Mat – trailer below. WWE continued on in that vein until 2007, shortly after the controversies surrounding the death of Chris Benoit.
At that time…petrified of being implicated in yet another steroid scandal, WWE backpedaled and decided to cling onto CM Punk…a more wholesome character that couldn’t ever be charged with taking a single dose of D-Ball (a common steroid). Of course that didn’t exactly go as planned either, as it was CM Punk that tired of their ways.
Now, in yet another bit of backpedaling, McMahon and company have decided to point the finger at AEW for being too violent. It was in a Toronto Star article that WWE made the following statement, essentially throwing shade at AEW specifically for the street fight between Anna Jay and Tay Conti vs. Penelope Ford and The Bunny an episode of Rampage that aired late last year (the 31st of December), using the specific term: ‘gory self mutilation,” to describe their competitor.
“If you look at the gory self-mutilation that bloodied several women in the December 31 event on TNT, it quickly becomes clear that these are very different businesses.
We’re hoping that they don’t go on with blood and guts and gory things that they have been doing, which would be bad, And I can’t imagine, I can’t speak for TNT, but I can’t imagine they’d put up with that.”
It’s unfortunate, as it seems that McMahon and company have forgotten that it was they that set that trend in the first place…of course taking that style after seeing it first in Japan and in ECW, but regardless, they brought that style of wrestling to the masses in a big way, they being the larger promotion back then. That style was continued in the Ruthless Aggression Era as well, which is clear. Just check their library.
It was these fans that they acquired during the aforementioned Attitude Era that are missing something in WWE these days, and where they have to go is AEW. Many would be in their right to question if this isn’t a wee bit of jealousy on WWE’s part, as the fans they once had now have another hardcore product to root for. Food for thought, dear readers.
H/T F4W Online