Former AEW star unhappy with Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page's syringe spot from All Out 2024

AEW presented its sixth annual All Out pay-per-view almost ten days ago, but the fallout continues. The violent main event between Swerve Strickland and Adam Page has been a hot topic of discussion ever since the match happened, and now a wrestling legend is weighing in.

All Out featured Hangman defeating The Realest in an Unsanctioned Lights Out Steel Cage Match in the main event. The ruthless action went almost 32 minutes and included the use of tables, chairs, barbed wire, a staple gun, cinderblocks, and other foreign objects, including a syringe with a needle that was jabbed into Strickland's mouth during the savage finish. Matt Hardy has now had his say in the matter.

Matt Hardy is no stranger to in-ring brutality. His 32-year career has featured several grueling contests, from TLC Matches to Monster's Ball, Full Metal Mayhem, and his own matches at the Hardy Compound. On the latest episode of his Extreme Life podcast, the TNA star discussed AEW's All Out main event and criticized his former employer for the syringe spot, noting how it makes sense for wrestlers to find toolboxes under a ring, but not needles.

"Does there just happen to be syringes underneath the AEW ring, does Hangman keep them in this pocket? A syringe felt very out of context for their match. I mean, they haven’t done anything in their past stories where they’ve used syringes, have they? It hasn’t been part of the story. I feel like, and my wife felt like this as well, that having a syringe and needle in a pro wrestling match is like... I don’t know, it’s just probably not the best thing to connect pro wrestling with," Matt Hardy said. [From 23:36 to 24:13]

Matt continued that with past scandals in the wrestling business connected with steroids and other narcotic substances, using needles possibly wasn't the best idea in professional wrestling. He also pointed out that there was absolutely no prior context to the needle spot and that it just did not seem to fit.

"You think about the steroid stuff Vince McMahon went through, and there was a time people took ketamine like crazy in the late 90s. Syringes have really bad connotations. I don’t know if that’s the greatest connotation for a wrestling environment. That’s probably what I had the most push-back on, the syringe. If you were going to stick the syringe through his cheek, lip, whatever his intention, why didn’t he just reach for a knife underneath the ring, something that would've been there? The syringe was a little much for me," Matt Hardy added. [From 24:14 to 24:55]

Strickland is currently on a hiatus from AEW in-ring action. Page was interviewed by Renee Paquette on the post-All Out edition of Dynamite, where he warned the roster that he's coming for anyone who tried to protect Strickland from him in the past. The segment ended with Hangman and Jeff Jarrett brawling.

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AEW Grand Slam title match update

There has been some conflicting information on HOOK vs. Roderick Strong. AEW announced that HOOK will defend the FTW Championship against Strong on Wednesday, September 25 at the Grand Slam: Dynamite event in New York City.

It was implied that the FTW Championship match may air on the inaugural Grand Slam: Collision episode, which is taping that same night, but airs on Saturday. However, AEW has advertising Strong vs. Hook for Dynamite that night.

The Dynamite special is expected to be headlined by a non-title match between Nigel McGuinness and World Champion, Bryan Danielson if the latter is cleared. AEW has also announced World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher for the titles, plus Darby Allinv vs. Jon Moxley with Allin's future World Championship opportunity on the line.