One of TNA Wrestling’s most intense competitors, Steve Maclin, has never shied away from bloodshed inside the ring, but even he understands the value of restraint. As the company prepares to scale back its use of blood in matches, Maclin recently opened up about the reasoning behind the new approach.

Speaking to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, the current TNA International Champion explained that the updated blood policy is all about giving violent moments greater meaning.

“The past few pay-per-views, with the Dog Collar Match, you had Santana and Ali killing it at Rebellion, and then you had the Barbed Wire Massacre at Unbreakable, the same night that I won the International Championship. There’s a lot of blood recently. So I think that’s their way of scaling it back a little bit and kind of making it mean more for when it does happen again,” he said.

Maclin noted that during his brutal Dog Collar Match against Eric Young, reportedly the last match before the new policy was enacted, he was kept under close medical watch throughout.

“I was perfectly fine. Referee was checking on me the entire match. Asa [Andrew] was right there to check me and docs as soon as I came to the back.”

He added that the post-match moments, soaked in blood, were too valuable to waste.

“I was perfectly fine, too. Then went straight to the table. EMTs were trying to start to wrap me up and stop the bleeding, and I told them to get off of me right away so I can cut my promo, please. This is money right now, so let’s use this. It doesn’t come free. So it was kind of nice. Then Carlos, Dreamer, everybody, majority of the roster, mainly my wife was right there looking at me, smiling, knowing you’re just an idiot. There’s no in-between for me. It’s just either I’m gonna do something full-heartedly and put every bit of it into it, or I’m not gonna do it at all. That’s when I tell people, like the day you know I’m hurt, is when you look at my wife and she’s actually concerned,” Maclin said.

With TNA pulling back on excessive blood usage, the goal is to bring renewed impact to the moments when things do get extreme, ensuring they resonate with fans, rather than becoming expected.