Arn Anderson Explains Why WCW Banned Blood In The Early '90s

When you think about professional wrestling in the 1990s, a number of things come to mind. You might think of specific superstars like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Sting, Rob Van Dam, The Rock, and Diamond Dallas Page. Or maybe factions like DX or the NWO dominated that era for you. But no matter what side of the "Monday Night Wars" you fell on, it seemed like every promotion featured one thing — blood. 

If there was a hot feud during the Attitude Era, there's a good chance that it would end in a bloody battle. However, there was a period of time in the early part of the decade when Ted Turner put a moratorium on "juicing" in his territory.

During the latest episode of "ARN," he discussed the use of blood in wrestling. After all the epic battles he fought alongside The Four Horsemen, "The Enforcer" probably knows better than anybody that bleeding has always been a part of the business. On any given night when he would be in Flair's corner, his stablemate might have looked like he'd lost a gallon of blood. But as Anderson puts it, "you shouldn't bleed in some cases as often as they do."

That was a sentiment shared by World Championship Wrestling owner Turner in the early '90s. Despite being ever present in the sport (and contact sports in general), the world was more conscience of blood at the time since the world was at the height of the AIDS epidemic. So in an effort to keep his roster safe, WCW banned blood spots.

Of course, this ruling didn't stick as there's no shortage of bloodstained affairs from the company on Peacock from the years that followed.