Fresh on the trail of heat left behind by Survivor Series and those two incredible bloodbaths, there is perhaps no better time to present an article pertaining to the time-honoured art of blading. Both Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon bled heavily in their respective matches at Survivor Series, and every drop of blood they spilt was real. For those who are not `in the know`, so to speak, I present here a round-up of some of the facts regarding the very dark and arcane practice of blading.

- Blading is a term used in professional wrestling and refers to the practice of deliberately cutting oneself (on the forehead) to achieve the visual effect of bleeding.

- Blading is classed as a particularly taboo subject in wrestling, and is usually considered one `not to talk about`. This is due largely to the fact that most people do not believe that any blood spilt during a wrestling match is real.

- Blading is done with a small piece of razor blade partially wrapped in tape. The blade is stashed away before the match, either in the trunks, boots, or under the wrist tape. In a lot of cases it is the referee who will have it... Now you know what the ref is really doing when he bends down to check on a wounded wrestler who moments later stands up with his face covered in blood...

- Inexperienced wrestlers who are squeamish about the whole blading process sometimes ask their opponent to do the blading for them - it was Bret Hart who famously bladed Stone Cold Steve Austin in their match at Wrestlemania XIII.

- It is not unknown for wrestlers to receive cash bonuses in their salaries if they bleed during a match. There is an old saying in wrestling which reads, ?Red means green?...

- The forehead is the chosen spot to blade, primarily because of the vast number of blood vessels located there. The skin on the forehead is very easy to cut, and heals quickly.

- Wrestlers who blade commonly use aspirin or alcohol before the match to help thin their blood. This, coupled with the excess accumulation of sweat on the face, ensures that when the wrestler blades the blood will flow in rivers, making for an awesome visual effect.

- The increased amount of adrenaline in the body during the latter stages of a match means that the wrestler will barely register any discomfort caused by running a fine blade across his forehead. It is therefore unlikely that the wrestler feels much - if any - pain when blading.

- The most famous incident of blading going wrong was in 1996 at an ECW live event. A 17 year old lad lied about his age to get a try-out match on the show. Prior to the match, the ambitious youngster asked his opponent (who would be New Jack) if he would blade him during their match. New Jack agreed. However, when the time came, all New Jack`s attempts to cut the youngster with the typical piece of razor blade failed; so New Jack resorted to his pocket-knife in order to slice the youngster open - a wound that would later take over 50 stitches to close? The young lad was seriously injured as a result of the match (being inexperienced and untrained in the art of taking falls) and in the long-run was said to have been `severely traumatised` by the whole experience. The backlash of this incident saw New Jack facing criminal charges in a trial which lasted just seven days; afterwhich he was acquitted.


FOOTNOTE: Our members-exclusive Downloads section now features an image batch entitled `Bloody Hell!`, which features images of wrestlers bloody and busted after blading. Due to the extremely graphic nature of this material we have chosen to omit it from our Gallery section, although hardcore fans with a taste for the red stuff are welcome to help themselves from our downloads section!

Written by: Admin