Vince McMahon branded 'hypocrite' for Baszler-Lynch bite angle
This past Monday Night RAW saw one of the more gruesome segments we've been treated to in recent years.
Former NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler bit 'The Man' Becky Lynch in the neck, causing the RAW Women's Champion to bleed (kayfabe) heavily. While the angle has been well-received by most as a way to launch what will likely become a WrestleMania feud between the two, some have been quick to point out the obvious double-standards from WWE CEO Vince McMahon.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, long-time wrestling pundit Dave Meltzer, famous for his star rating system, and Bryan Alvarez discussed the bite and the controversial thinking behind it on the part of McMahon. Dave explained:
"I don't ever wanna hear Vince McMahon talk about blood & guts. You know, Vince can be the biggest hypocrite in the world and that angle certainly showed him to be that... It was a great angle, don't get me wrong, but you can't be doing angles like this and then playing puritan."
Meltzer was referring to previous comments made by McMahon (and other senior WWE employees) in which he belittled the use of blood in other current wrestling products and explained how WWE was trying to move away from shock-value blading and blood effects.
While it is true that the company has made a significant shift over the past few years to avoid the use of blood in order to keep with the current PG ratings, it can't be denied that blood is still on the table if the company wants to draw wandering eyes back to the product.
The WrestleMania 34 main event from a couple of years ago, featuring Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar, was particularly bloody after The Beast hit Reigns with multiple clean elbow strikes to the head, forcing a cut.
Give that fan criticism of the match was at an all-time high, it's understandable if Vince and WWE creative were keen to have blood make an appearance in the match to make up for what undoubtedly ended up being a poorly-received main event.
But this, along with several other instances (including from this past Monday), all but confirms Meltzer's theory.
You can hear the full discussion about the angle, including a review of the full RAW episode, in the video below:
Will we see more blood if the pair meets at WrestleMania? Does blood still have a place in modern-day WWE?