WWE veteran thinks AEW could have put its future with WBD in jeopardy following Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page's controversial All Out 2024 match
Swerve Strickland and 'Hangman' Adam Page had a highly controversial match at AEW All Out 2024. A WWE veteran believes that this bout could have put the company's future in jeopardy.
Al Snow is the latest to comment on Strickland and Hangman's match at AEW All Out. Swerve and Page's long heated rivalry came to a brutal finale at AEW All Out in an Unsanctioned Lights Out Steel Cage Match.
As expected, the bout was every bit as brutal due to these two men's hatred for each other. The match also drew a lot of controversy for its violent nature and an extremely controversial ending that saw Page hit Strickland with an unprotected chair shot to the head.
Speaking on Vince Russo's The Brand podcast, Al Snow mentioned that this match could have put AEW's television deal with Warner Bros. Discovery in jeopardy. Having some of their top talents perform in such a brutal and bloody spectacle before an imminent deal felt like a wrong move from the promotion, felt the legend.
"You now have a television deal that's impending. It's on the table and you're now allowing talent to perform like this. Do you think that now motivates a network executive to go 'Hmmm, boy! Can't wait to have that on my network representing my network and myself. I can't wait to have that on my network and trying to attempt to draw a family audience that will also breed sponsorships that allow me to sell that television time and make money,' he said. [2:53 onwards]
He questioned the mindset of the Jacksonville-based promotion for putting on such a blood-filled show. He felt that parents would want to keep their young children away from the product if it was of such a graphic nature, thereby decreasing overall viewership.
"Why? I mean really what would be the mindset? What would be the thought process? Because let's face it, regardless of whether you're a fan of that kind of wrestling or not, to the average person, to the mother or the father that are bringing their kids or going to allow them to watch it. That turns them off," he added.
You can check out his comments in the video below:
Sam Roberts also criticized Hangman Page's chair shot to Swerve Strickland at AEW All Out 2024
The conclusion to the Unsanctioned Lights Out Steel Cage Match was the biggest talking point of All Out 2024. Many people have criticized the ending to the bout for going too far. Even a WWE personality wasn't too happy with the spot.
Speaking on his NotSam Wrestling podcast, Sam Roberts said that he didn't like the chair shot Hangman Page gave to Swerve Strickland at the end of the match and that such spots were extremely hazardous and weren't needed.
"I think there are ways to do this without steel chair shots to the head even when steel chair shots to the head are gimmicked. Just the fact that we know how bad they are is enough just to say let's just avoid it entirely. I don't like gimmicked head shots. I don't like non-gimmicked chair shots to the head. I don't like any of it. I think it's bad. I think it takes you out of the match because you know how dangerous it is and you kind of object to it happening to anybody that you like seeing perform whether you cheer for them or boo them. If it were a one-time thing maybe," he said [50:35 onward]
You can check out his comments in the video below:
It will be interesting to see if the violent nature of this match was enough for Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page to squash their beef or if they continue with their rivalry.