“Busted wide open” a bit of an overstatement
A new study shows that wrestling commentators worldwide habitually overstate the severity of bleeding cuts by describing wrestlers as “busted wide open.”
Typically the opposite is true — the wrestler has suffered a tiny, razor-thin gash to the forehead that heals quickly and results in no long-term damage, according to the study published today in Athletics Commentary Monthly.
TNA Wrestling commentator Mike Tenay, for example, recently described Mr. Anderson as “busted wide open” during a match against Kurt Angle, even though only small rivulets of blood trickled down Anderson’s face from a tiny nick in his forehead.
Puzzlingly, World Wrestling Entertainment commentators abruptly stopped using the term “busted wide open” altogether several years ago after decades of chronic overuse.