Most wrestling fans are familiar with the adage “red equals green,” meaning that wrestling fans are attracted to bloody matches, and if you ever played with wrestling figures as a kid (“cough” or adult “cough”), there’s a good chance you’ve used a red crayon or marker to “customize” your figures to give them a crimson mask. Well, it looks like wrestling toy manufacturers have caught on to what bloodthirsty fans young and old have been asking for, and have begun to release a series of wrestling figures that come sporting a face full of plasma.
In December 2020, Jazwares released its first official AEW Blood & Guts figures to commemorate the match between Cody and Dustin Rhodes at Double or Nothing 2019, and since then, it has expanded its Blood & Guts line to include Dr. Britt Baker, Thunder Rosa, Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley (with added barb wire chair accessories), Wheeler Yuta, as well as CM Punk and MJF (attached at the neck with a dog collar).
The Major Wrestling Figure crew also recognized the demand for blood in wrestling figures, being collectors themselves, and have added bloody chase variants to their line of Major Bendies. Not every Major Bendie is graced with a bloody variant, but it only made sense to include bloody versions of Gangrel, Effy, and Joey Janela.
Unless you count its line of WWE Zombies, which feature undead versions of WWE talent, WWE hasn’t released a bloody action figure of one of its Superstars (please correct me if I’m wrong), but it did recently release an action figure that memorializes a certain talent’s injury, and I’m not talking about Cowboy Bob Orton’s cast. Ringside Collectibles’ exclusive Cody Rhodes Defining Moments figure showcases Rhodes in all of his torn pectoral, bruised glory, from when he wrestled Seth Rollins at Hell in a Cell, which means Rhodes has a bloody AEW figure and an injured WWE figure, which surely must be a first.
If this is a trend that continues, are there any bloody matches or wrestling injuries you’d like to see immortalized by a wrestling figure? A Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat injured larynx figure? A blinded Jake Roberts? A Sid Vicious and Arn Anderson scissor fight two-pack? Sound off in the comments!
RELATED LINKS
