Swerve Strickland Looks Back at Syringe Spot At AEW All Out, Weighs In On Reaction

Swerve Strickland controversially took a syringe to the face in his match with Hangman Page at AEW All Out 2024, a moment he recently reflected on. Strickland and Page battled for the latter’s AEW World Championship at the September 2024 PPV. Late in the match, Page used a needle on Strickland before nailing him with a chair shot to get the win.

Page was asked about the moment during his appearance on Insight With Chris Van Vliet He recalled the online reaction to the moment and talked about the brutal chair shot he took. You can see the highlights below:

On What Made Him Think of the Spot:

“It was just something that I don’t think has been seen on American soil, television-wise, in a major promotion like that in a while, because it’s something that’s like, why would you do that? Why would anybody do that? Good, that’s why I’m doing it.”

On People’s Fear of Needles:

“That’s the point. If you’re sitting at home, you’re already getting uneasy, which we have so many little, small things that make people uneasy. I knew a syringe would make people feel uneasy. [It went through your cheek] Yeah, all the way through. I think I still have the needle.”

On the Online Reaction:

“[People said] “That’s dumb.” “Why would you do that?” Well you’re talking about it, it’s the moment, and I wouldn’t do that with anybody else. Right there, unsanctioned cage with Hangman, like, somebody that, like, I was just already depleted because I got power bombed on a cinder block right before that. So I’m like, it’s just punishment. We’ve already took it so far. He already burned down my house. Where else further do you go with someone that you hate? And it was just like he hates me that much to just do something like that. That came out of his boot, he had that. So that was something he just wanted to just punish me with.”

On the Chair Shot After:

“It felt like I got punched in the head from two fists. It was like from two different sides of the skull. Honestly, it was very John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, end of a movie, pow, you’re dead. It’s just as simple as that, there’s nobody coming to help you. We’re off in the middle of nowhere. You’ve gone so far as doing bad things. From doing bad things to earn the success. It’s going to catch up to you, and that’s what happened to my character. I’ve done all these bad things, invaded people’s homes, kidnapped people, beaten an 18-year-old kid up to a bloody pulp in this ring where his dad passed away, done horrible things, just despicable things, all for my own glory and all my own success.

“I did it for selfish reasons. I made history but it was ultimately for the wrong things. It’s like the character at the end of a movie, a drug movie, you’re doing horrible things to make it to the empire. We’re rooting for you because deep down, we understand why you’re doing it, but ultimately, you’re ruining the community. You’re hurting people, innocent people. There are people that are getting hurt from the things that you’re doing that you don’t even know about. So there’s all these residual effects from what you’re doing as well. Dude, it’s just so much bad karma. It’s got to come back to you. And that’s basically what it was.”