At AEW All Out, Swerve Strickland and Adam Page faced off in a brutal Lights Out Steel Cage match that saw all kinds of violence that shocked fans from start to finish. This included Adam Page using a hypodermic needle on Strickland and hitting him with a chair for the win. There was a ton of backlash for the needle spot, and now Strickland has defended the spot and the overall match itself.

While speaking to Adrian Hernandez, Swerve Strickland responded to the criticism about his steel cage match with Adam Page at AEW All Out, especially the use of a hypodermic needle. He said they weren’t trying to top their last match but wanted to create a different experience.

The Texas Death Match was all about shock and excitement, but this time, they wanted the audience to feel uncomfortable. He explained that they wanted people to be in awe but also uneasy, making it hard to look away.

“We didn’t want to run the race of trying to surpass what we did before. I was like, ‘No, let’s give them a different feel.’ The Texas Death Match was more about shock and awe. With this one, we wanted the audience to feel uncomfortable—that’s a different emotion than just shock and awe.”

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Strickland compared the reactions, saying the cage match made some fans feel disturbed, and that was exactly the goal. It wasn’t meant to feel like a regular wrestling match—it was supposed to go beyond that. The syringe and other extreme moments were included to make it feel like something that shouldn’t even happen in a wrestling ring, which is why they did it.

“It was about making people think, ‘What are we witnessing? Oh my God, I can’t take my eyes off it.’ The cage match made people say, ‘I can’t watch, I can’t watch,’ while feeling tingling sensations in their body and soul. That was intentional.

Even if people say, ‘This isn’t wrestling anymore,’ my response is, ‘Good. It’s not supposed to be wrestling.’ It’s unsanctioned. You’re not supposed to feel like it’s a traditional wrestling match. You’re supposed to feel like it’s something beyond wrestling, something that shouldn’t even take place in a wrestling ring.”

Strickland also defended the match from the backlash from fans and podcasts calling the match unsanitary and disrespectful to wrestling. However, he said that reaction was expected and proved the match did what it was supposed to do.

“That’s why we pushed the limits—why we went as far as the syringe through the cheek and everything else. It’s not something that should be done, and that’s exactly why we did it. Now, all these podcasts are reaming us out, saying, ‘This is garbage, this is unsanitary, this disrespects wrestling.’ But that’s the point. You know what I mean?”

A petition was also launched that urged AEW to end their programming after Swerve Strickland and Adam Page’s All Out match, showing just how seriously fans took the level of violence in the match.

The Swerve Strickland vs. Adam Page Steel Cage match will go down as one of AEW’s most controversial and talked-about matches. While some fans appreciate the gritty and extreme storytelling, others believe the hypodermic needle spot crossed the line and that’s simply not going to change.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.

Did AEW push the limits too far with this match, or was it a groundbreaking moment in wrestling storytelling? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.

Subhojeet Mukherjee has covered pro wrestling for over 20 years, delivering trusted news and backstage updates to fans around the world.

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