TNA President Carlos Silva has clarified recent reports about the promotion banning blading and intentional bleeding in its matches.Silva, as well as various others within TNA, told "The Takedown on SI" on Wednesday that intentional bleeding is not banned in the company.He said that in a recent meeting, talent were encouraged to utilize intentional bleeding more sparingly coming off two extreme matches in a short period of time, including a dog collar match pitting Steve Maclin and Eric Young against each other on "TNA Impact!"
An initial report of the ban came from Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, where he wrote that TNA talent were told that blading was banned, outside of specific exceptions. He reported that TNA made the decision to keep "Impact!" family-friendly for advertisers, as TNA and its parent company are searching for an outside TV deal in the United States. Silva confirmed to "The Takedown" that the company is being cognizant of potential advertisers and partners, something that was also reported by PWInsider. He also confirmed "The Takedown's" report that TNA and Anthem are shopping for a new media rights deal.
Silva clarified to the outlet that fans can expect to see less blood on television, but there is no ban on blading in place in TNA. He didn't mention TNA's multi-year partnership with WWE, a company that has previously banned blading, in his clarifications to the Sports Illustrated property. Meltzer had speculated in his report the move was done to bring "Impact!" more in-line with WWE, which doesn't appear to be the case from Silva's clarification.
