It’s an unfortunate reality of pro wrestling that the people who perform it are sometimes going to get hurt. WWE just doesn’t want them sharing that reality with the masses.
According to Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live (h/t Bleacher Report), a new rule has been instituted by WWE that bars superstars from posting their own injury pics to social media, particularly when blood is involved.
That doesn’t mean WWE is necessarily looking to avoid acknowledging legit injuries, just that it wants to control what gets out to the public. There are also times when there’s no denying when wrestlers get hurt, like when the Hell in a Cell match between Finn Balor and Edge had to be paused last month to attend to a gash in Balor’s head opened up by a ladder — though it’s worth noting that Balor himself shared an image of his wound later on Twitter, something that apparently wouldn’t be allowed now.
(WWE also isn’t above capitalizing on that moment, as evidenced by the most recent Balor t-shirt that references the number of staples it took to close the cut.)
While there’s nothing to suggest WWE will do so more often, the new rule also hints at the company wanting to preserve the ability to say wrestlers are injured for storyline purposes — meaning they aren’t actually hurt and just need time off. That’s a long-standing part of pro wrestling, though it’s come under question more in the current product simply because ubiquitous cellphone cameras and social media make it a lot simpler to see through for fans who want to do so.
It’s possible that the new edict will help keep that option open for WWE going forward. In any case, less bloody images in their feeds might appeal to more squeamish fans, even if it takes away one direct channel for them to appreciate what wrestlers put themselves through physically for our entertainment.