Only in professional wrestling can a home invasion carry fame and success instead of a prison sentence. How about burning the perpetrator’s house down in retaliation? Yep, same thing. Swerve Stickland and “Hangman” Adam Page shifted roles throughout their feud. Both have been the hero of the day and the villain of the story.
Hangman’s descent into madness and Swerve’s lust for revenge created a beautiful disaster in their unsanctioned main event steel cage match at AEW’s All In pay-per-view last Saturday night in Chicago. The words beautiful and disaster are apropos as the reaction to their bloody battle garnered mixed results. Some feel it was the perfect match for such a hate-filled saga. Others believe it was garbage wrestling akin to pointless Death Match fodder.
I’m with the former, but I wouldn’t disagree with anyone who falls with the latter. Several uncomfortable moments in the match teetered on insanity—compromised safety for the love of the crowd. Hangman took a verterbreaker on a legit cinderblock, with Swerve later getting powerbombed on the cement block with no give.
Every wrestler has a bump card, a certain amount of high-impact blows/falls to their back. No bump card is the same, and no one knows when they will use up all of their bumps. High-risk bumps such as the cinderblock powerbomb mentioned above take several bumps off the wrestler’s bump card.
Bumps might be the least of the match’s problems.
The finish of the cage match saw Hangman rip Swerve’s grill (gold teeth) out of his mouth and stick a syringe needle through Swerve’s mouth. Hangman followed up with a brutal-looking unprotected chair shot that broke the chair. While the chair was gimmicked, the broadcast cut away from the moment of impact with the chair. AEW knew the chair shot was a bad look, so even on pay-per-view, they cut away from the shot.
AEW most likely cut away from the shot so viewers couldn’t use the clip to fuel their criticism of the match. However, fans on social media are doing exactly that with the clip of the needle stuck in Swerve’s mouth.
So, the needle is okay, but the chair shot is where Tony Khan drew the line? The thought process seems weird on this one. Ultimately, if AEW was that worried about the chair shot, they should have cut bait with the spot. Otherwise, fully commit to the spot and take your talking to.
Despite my rant so far, again, the juice is worth the squeeze in this particular match due to the narrative of the feud. More seasoned eyes would probably be disappointed with other aspects of the match, such as the cage not being lowered until after the wrestlers were in the ring, which isn’t the usual procedure or weapons and tables seamlessly appearing in the ring, which is something the steel cage structure is supposed to prevent.
Here’s the deal: professional wrestling is a much different animal today. If wrestling were “real,” two combatants like Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland, who hate each other, wouldn’t go to the typical spot-orientated attacks. They would try to rip each other’s heads off while letting the fisticuffs fly.
Magnum T.A. vs. Tully Blanchard I Quit Steel Cage Match is the GOAT regarding hate-fueled grudges. It’s the perfect blend of wrestling’s theatrical fare while exuding the emotion of a real fight. Yes, Magnum and Tully did try to stab each other in the match, but the onslaught of punches they threw was not only a work of art but expressed more than any table spot could convey.
The problem is a lot of wrestlers today can’t punch and throw forearms instead. A punch is universal; everyone understands it. While effective when thrown correctly, a forearm smash doesn’t carry the same emotional resonance. It’s also not 1985. The style of wrestling is different today. It’s less concerned with convincing the audience that what they see is real and focused on spectacle.
Swerve/Hangman is the apex of a climatic battle in 2024. A spectacle of violence between two people with the most profound animosity toward each other. It’s more about stunts and big bumps weaved throughout the narrative instead of the less-is-more approach of punching and kicking someone as often as possible. Is it too violent? Perhaps, but it fits with the state of the genre, which is why I not only didn’t have a problem with the kind of match we got but expected it.
What if Tully and Magnum worked the same exact match in 1985 that Swerve and Hangman did at All Out? Wrestling would be canceled on all Turner networks. Today, it’s another violent act to go along with strangulation by plastic bags and more.
While AEW needs to appeal to more casual fans, and ultra-violence is the past of most resistance, it is par for the course regarding Tony Khan’s presentation of pro wrestling. That doesn’t mean we must like it, but to say it’s unexpected and shocking is a bad-faith argument.
RingsideLogic.com 