TNA President Carlos Silva Clarifies New “Excess Blood” & Blading Ban for Matches

As noted before, TNA recently issued a new edict banning “excessive blood” and blading from matches going forward due to the company is currently shopping around Impact! for a potential new television deal.

Sports Illustrated’s The Takedown on SI held a recent interview with TNA President Carlos Silva. One of the topics discussed included Silva clarifying TNA’s new ban on “excess blood” for matches stating that there is no such ban in place but the company had encouraged their talent to use blood more sparingly.

“In the days following the report, several TNA sources, both talent and officials, reached out to The Takedown on SI to indicate the edict from the meeting was misrepresented, and that intentional bleeding was in fact not outlawed in the promotion. On Wednesday, TNA President Carlos Silva told The Takedown on SI that there is no such ban in place.

Silva did confirm an element of PWInsider’s report, acknowledging the company is being cognizant of potential advertisers and partners, alongside confirming The Takedown’s note on shopping for a new media rights deal. However, Silva said when addressing talent in the meeting, it was instead done to encourage the locker room to utilize brutality and intentional bleeding more sparingly, coming off of two extreme instances in a short period of time.”

Silva also gave his thoughts about when blood and heavy violence should be used for matches.

“He told The Takedown on SI that if creative or the talent feel intentional blood or heavy violence is earned for their story or the stakes of the match, it is “absolutely” something TNA is open to exploring using.”

Silva also gave his thoughts about the logistical issues that are by “heavy blood or mass violence” when TNA holds batch tapings.

” The TNA president also mentioned how the heavy blood or mass violence can lead to logistical challenges in batch tapings, such as the canvas being damaged or stained. TNA routinely tapes several weeks of TV over the course of a weekend or even a single night. He said there is also the obvious area of concern for talent who engage in that level of violence, and Maclin’s situation in particular prompted worry after he suffered a “gusher” in his match with Young.”