Hangman Page defeats Swerve Strickland in unsanctioned cage match at AEW All Out
The increasingly violent rivalry between former AEW World Champions Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page came to what appears to be a temporary end at Saturday’s All Out when Page defeated his rival via referee stoppage in their unsanctioned cage match.
The end came when Page took out Strickland’s decorative gold grill on his teeth and stuck a hypodermic needle into the inside of his mouth before hitting him in the head with a hard chair shot that resulted in the referee calling the match.
Strickland lay motionless after the bout as officials tended to him while Page left the ring, eventually letting out an emotional yell after scoring his first victory over Strickland — albeit one that doesn’t count as since the bout was unsanctioned and under “lights out” rules.
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Before the match even started, Strickland attacked Page as the cage was coming down from the ceiling, threatening to have it crush Page who escaped before it could crush him.
The unsanctioned bout featured the use of staple guns early on which Page initiated but then had turned on him when Strickland pulled out pictures of his family and stapled them to Page’s face before then yanking them off.
Chairs got involved as did barbed wire, a table and other weapons. At one point, Strickland lawn darted Page into a chair wedged between the turnbuckles and pulled out a cinder block from a crate that was put into the ring before the match started. After a struggle, Strickland dropped Page back-first on the block with a vertebraker, scraping up his already-bruised up back.
At another point, Page tried to use a piece of burnt wood from Strickland’s house he burned down last Wednesday to stab Strickland, but Strickland prevented it and stabbed Page’s head repeatedly instead. Strickland went to use it again, but Page low-blowed him and then power bombed him onto the cinder block.
It was the latest chapter in a rivalry that dates back nearly a year.
The two first did battle at last October’s WrestleDream that Strickland won, followed by their Texas Death Match at November’s Full Gear that Strickland also won. The two then went to a 30-minute draw on a February Dynamite that led to them both being included in a three-way with then-World Champion Samoa Joe at March’s Revolution that saw the champion retain. The men also battled on opposite teams in this year’s Blood & Guts.
It’s the second straight defeat for Strickland who lost his AEW World title to Bryan Danielson at last month’s All In — a match Page tried to interfere in after appearing in the Casino gauntlet match earlier in the night. It’s Page’s third straight AEW singles win.