Was Roman Reigns Bleeding at WWE Payback Planned?

As seen at the WWE Payback event, Roman Reigns was seen bleeding from the mouth in his brutal match against Braun Strowman. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that this is actually the first time the company has used blood on purpose, with the idea that he would help get the match over.

While blood occasionally appears on television sometimes, in the past it has always been “accidental” or in few cases in Brock Lesnar matches. In the Lesnar matches, the blood may be planned out but the company would pretend it wasn’t. In this case at WWE Payback, it was very clear that the blood was part of the storyline and the camera didn’t shoot away from it while the match was being taped.