Bleacher Report

That statement basically describes the brutal scene that apparently occurred last week at the Smackdown tapings.

Reportedly, after the Randy Orton/Cody Rhodes match where Rhodes won by disqualification after Randy Orton ripped off his mask and started beating him with it, Rhodes was seen bleeding heavily.

And by heavily, I mean a pool of blood.

According to the witnesses at the event, Rhodes started bleeding after receiving an unprotected head shot to the head by Randy Orton with the ring bell.

He shed a lot of blood, enough to make people into believers that this new "Reality Era" was actually legit. But was that really the intention?

No, in fact, none of what happened was supposed to actually happen. The only planned spot was supposed to be the assault on Rhodes.

The blood was unintentional, but it still happened so you can't ignore it, right?

As we tuned in to Friday Night Smackdown with hopes of witnessing long lost blood that had rarely appeared in the PG era, we saw our fears become reality. The blood was edited out.
Now why does this matter at all? It matters because it means that we are still in the PG era. Nothing's changed, there's just been a little bit more edge.

The blood would've signified a little bit of a more loose product. But alas, that was not meant to be. We are still in the PG era. Poor edits show it.

I'm not saying I want blood but on this occasion, I would've accepted it. It was an accident, it was caught on tape, why not show it?

It could've helped show Orton's brutality and how he would actually "go to hell" just to get his championship back. It would've help give Rhodes a real reason to wear his see-through mask.

It would have helped show the kids that this is what could happen if you tried it at home. It would've helped with the "Reality Era." Blood is real, the result of real violence.


It would've helped bring interest again because "anything can happen." The blood was an opportunity for change. It wasn't meant to be, though, as the blood just became a wasted opportunity.

What do you think? DISCUSS

i promise you they edited out the blood because of how disgusting it looked. i'm a fan of blood in matches if it helps emphasize the story, but i wouldn't want to see rhodes' fountain of blood. and, they've been PG for a while now, time to get over it and accept it.

wow thats crazy

I hate people who complain about PG-era. As long as they're not doing the "JBL is poopy" stuff then I really don't care what they do

i want blood back, the games looks stupid when they show that they are going to bleed or already bleeding with no blood

idk i heard it wazz fake lol

def not fake, lol. There was still blood EVERYWHERE - Cody had blood on his face/head, his thighs, Randy had blood on him, hell the towel cody had on his head when Randy dragged him to the table was half covered in blood. I'm ok with the PG era - though I think it pushes the old WCW and ECW fans away. I do NOT like when they have to edit their speech because the wrestler can't think of a safe word to say - i.e. - Del Rio saying he was gonna kick CM Punk and Cena's butt. Even Punk scoffed at him when he said that. Punk can thrive in this era due to his great vocabulary and ability to speak.

agreed tj, it only bothers me when they have to clean up promos for simple "bad" words like ass, or shit.

I miss seeing diva's tits

when Cody knew he was bleeding bad, he went to go get his towel to cover his head before he got RKO

Cody Rhodes is the man and hopefully a nice feud between him and Orton aftert Orton loses at HIAC will happen. Orton's definitely the type of guy to help elevate stars unlike Superman Cena.

I might ramble here a bit. But fugg it.

I can't help but complain about the PG era because it took some things out that made wrestling really edgy back in the day. Mostly the blood and swearing. They are being more lenient with the language so that makes it a tad bit exciting. I am just tired of them saying "I'm going to kick your butt" every week. That may have changed, I'm not sure. But I expected the blood to be edited out. I didn't expect them to show it since there have been no implications that the PG era was over. Do I think it will be over? Yes. Eventually. Anytime in the near future? Hell no. WWE is making way too much money off of parents bringing their kids to see the shows, buying their kids the outfits and everything so that they can see/portray their new favorite superheroes that they have seen on TV. Onto Orton, I think him just beating the shit out of Cody was enough for them to make people think that he's fucking insane. It's incredible for his angle. Also.. what the fuck is this "Reality Era"..? I'm so lost on that one. Lol

I'll fill you in, Justin. The Reality Era was initially started by Punk when he made his first shoot promo back in late June. Basically, WWE has exposes a part of the business and they are using much more realistic storylines. Examples, Punk's complete exposing of McMahon and HHH's crazy ideals, Mark Henry becoming monsterous due to being pissed off about being with the company for 15 years and never getting a chance, this new angle they just started on Monday where people from within WWE want to sue the company for being mistreated, this conspiracy angle they are playing to overthrow HHH from his power. Everything is definitely still kayfabed, but they've done an excellent job at making a good bit of it seem real, and they are all reality based storylines.


Also, I agree with most, if not all of your points. One thing I do like about PG is that the storylines are alot more realistic and you don't see rediculous shit like HHH getting dropped upside down in a car off of a forklift. They've used the word ass a good bit this year, but they still keep the language to minimal. PG rating though doesn't mean no language at all. I do miss the blood as well, because I feel it can really add to a match or feud. Take this for what it's worth, but there's dirtsheet rumors that HHH is supposed to bloddy up Punk at some point down the line, but I don't know if they're feud even still exists right now.

People can bash WWE all they want, but 2011 is by far the best the product has been in years. We've seen great wrestling all year, and amazing storylines. WWE has done fantastic job of appealing to all fan bases, but the IWC still bitches becayse it isn't what they want, yet the IWC isn't the one shelling out money into the product because the majority if them would rather watch free streams, not go to shows, not buy merchandise etc. I don't mind WWE being PG, but the only thing I dislike is that they have made kids there core target audience. At the end of the day, no matter how PG you make it, you're still promoting that fighting is the way to end a dispute between 2 or more people

^^^Well put

They used the staples in Rhodes' head to explain how bad the beatdown was, so that was a plus. I don't mind the PG era but I think if you're going to market to a younger audience you need to have shows that are on Saturday mornings again. I'm an old school guy and I remember waking up to watch WWF Superstars right after USA's Cartoon Express. And then on whatever local channel was carrying it, WCW Worldwide. And then later that night at 6:05pm on TBS was "The Mothership" WCW Saturday Night. I'm trying to make two points here - the WWE needs tv shows that are on at a time children can watch them if that's who they are marketing towards, and they need to bring back enhancement talent shows so they can build guys up before they show up on RAW or Smackdown!. The current Sink Or Swim situation in WWE is awful and a lot of good talents have gone to waste because they didn't get over immediately.

Ok everyone...here ya go.

Much like every other TV station in this world, USA and WWE are owned by MTV.

The US, of course, must keep things like violence, sex, money, etc., in kids' minds or America will die out, violence of course for the balance of life and death in America, not to mention law enforcement needs jobs. Divas for sex, DiBiase went full out face and his theme is money, same with Del Rio's expensive cars, violence overall of course. Not to mention, money's the main thing that people expect to make when working for WWE...and they believe it's gonna be LOTS of it, well it is, but you can't go buying $150,000 cars for yourself to pull up in every show.

Kids of course, are the driving force of America, always will be, because whatever you instill in them while they're young, will stay there typically all their life.

More examples...
CM Punk being the face of the company AFTER being the biggest heel, only to turn face doing...the wrong thing, when he WAS doing the right thing and was a heel for it.

Randy Orton, he's done NOTHING to make the fans like him...they simply gravitate to his psychoticness.

Beth and Natalya...why would wanting to bring wrestling back to a traditional state be wrong? They're just saying they're tired of the sluts running the locker room...why are they heels?

Even back in the day, Right to Censor being good, but bad to fans, The GodFather! All he did was pimp hoes, he was one of the biggest faces of that time..for making women sell their bodies!

I say all that to say this...

The PG Era probably won't end for a while, chances are, it'll end in a few years when their average fan (let's just say age 7) becomes 13, and WWE keeps the chronologics going til the "13 year old" would have typically stopped watching wrestling, then it'll begin again, it's happened before guys...simply business...promoting good AND bad together is always the best way to keep the product rolling...