Of course that’s actually what they did. You didn’t see most of the hits, just heard them, they were either in reaction shots, or angled so you just saw Negan’s head. The funny part about that is that showing less actually makes the viewer see more. When you just suggest stuff the brain of the viewer inserts the details, and the brain of the viewer is usually way more brutal than any director. Really compared to things like the Terminus assault or the Governor beheading Hershel there was actually significantly less gore, but they spent a lot more time contemplating it. Usually they do something brutal and move on, since last week was all about breaking Rick they lingered over it.
They could have lingered without showing Glen’s eyeball. Like I said, the gore they show adds nothing to the story for me, and I usually just get up and leave, or fast forward, if I’ve got it on DVR.
I don’t do Horror or slasher films for the same reason along with the fact that the plot is slim to none and utterly predictable.