Swerve Strickland Looks Back On AEW Syringe Spot

The "Lights Out" Unsanctioned Steel Cage match between Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page at AEW All Out 2024 is considered by many to be one of the most violent matches to take place on American soil. The two men had reached a level of hatred that was unlike anything that AEW fans had seen before, with a cinderblock, a burnt piece of Strickland's childhood home, and a syringe all being used as weapons. The syringe in particular caused quite a stir as some people believed that the use of a hypodermic needle in a wrestling match was simply too far, but during a recent appearance on the "Insight" podcast, Strickland explained why he thought the syringe was the right weapon to have in that match.

"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 like 'Why would you do that? Why would anybody do that?' Good, that's why I'm doing it." Strickland also pointed out that a lot of people already have a fear of needles, making the moment where it went through his cheek even more painful to watch. "[It went] all the way through, yep, all the way through. I think I still have the needle, I think I do. As for whether it hurt or not, Strickland had a very simple response. "I felt it."

Strickland was then asked about the reaction to the spot online and how some felt it was too much, to which he stated that it's a moment that people are still talking about, but it was also the right match to do it. "I wouldn't do that with anybody else. Right there, Unsanctioned, Cage, with Hangman, like somebody that like I was already depleted because I got powerbombed on a cinder block right before that. So I'm like 'It's just punishment.' He's like 'We've already took it so far.' He already burned down my house. Where else further do you go for someone that you hate?"

Immediately after having a syringe shoved through his cheek, with nowhere to go and no fight left in him, Swerve Strickland took a vicious unprotected chair shot to the end that resulted in a knockout victory for Hangman Page. That moment also caused a stir online due to the knowledge of concussions and CTE that have become more prominent over the last two decades, and Strickland didn't hold back in admitting how much that shot to the head felt.

"It felt like I got punched in the head from two fists. It was like from two different sides of the skull," Strickland said. "It was very John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, end of a movie 'POW you're dead.' It's just as simple as that. Like 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."

Strickland explained that the conclusion to the match felt like his character got what was coming to him as he has done terrible things to people in AEW in order to reach the top. Taking a syringe to the mouth and a chair shot to the head was simply karma for what he had done, regardless of whether the crowd were cheering him or not. The AEW fans still cheer Strickland to this day, and have been even louder in their responses to him since returning at AEW Full Gear 2025, where it seems that Strickland and Page have put their differences aside (for now at least) in order to take down current AEW Men's World Champion Samoa Joe.

Please credit "Insight" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.