Report: WarnerMedia Upset By WWE's 'Gory Self-Mutilation' Statement

WWE's latest statement about the violence on display in All Elite Wrestling has reportedly upset WarnerMedia, AEW's TV partner.

Vince McMahon's company have previously criticised the violence within AEW, calling the promotion's product "blood and guts" in 2019, a phrase which AEW then used for their version of WarGames.

WWE then unleashed another attack on AEW following the Street Fight at New Year's Smash, with the company issuing the following statement to the Toronto Star:

"If you look at the gory self-mutilation that bloodied several women in the December 31 event on TNT, it quickly becomes clear that these are very different businesses. We had an edgier product in the 'Attitude' era and in a 2022 world, we don't believe that type of dangerous and brutal display is appealing to network partners, sponsors, venues, children, or the general public as a whole."

WarnerMedia haven't taken too kindly to WWE's statement, though, and Dave Meltzer noted in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter the mass media corporation were upset about WWE's quote, believing it to be "an attempt at a personal attack against the company in an attempt to hurt their ad sales."

The statement was also believed to be a tactic to potentially harm AEW since the promotion's TV deal with WarnerMedia comes to an end in 2023.

The statement is similar to a tactic WWE have used in the past, notably during the Monday Night Wars when Vince McMahon sent a letter to Ted Turner about the "self-mutilation" in WCW, telling Turner he hoped stockholders would hold him accountable.