On a recent edition of his “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast, TNA veteran Matt Hardy discussed the plastic bag spot at AEW All Out 2024 featuring Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson and the violent Unsanctioned Lights Out Steel Cage Match between Swerve Strickland and “Hangman” Adam Page.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the violence at AEW All Out: “I feel like we are at this point now, just because enough people know that pro wrestling is some sort of show business in some aspect, that they understand that the moves are done, people kind of work with one another. They’re not trying to kill each other. But then there are these other things that just like — they go, ‘Ew, what is going on?’ And there’s some stuff that still, like — I’m still not crazy about a lot of the mixing of blood. Even though guys get tested and whatnot. Like, there’s a bloody mess, I’m not a big fan or advocate of that, not a big fan of the barbed wire stuff.
“I mean, there’s stuff just personally that I don’t like. But I mean, there are definitely scenarios where there’s stuff that seems so violent, it could turn away potential families, kids and parents of those kids that from watching your product on a regular basis. And once again, I’m not saying I don’t want it to be a G product where it’s just like, brutal. It’s nice when there can be some stuff in it that makes you think, and there’s some stuff in that’s like, ‘Oh, I got that. I got that.’ Which, AEW does do a lot of that, which I dig. But I think too, you just have to be smart in how you do things, you have to think about like, ‘What would parents think about this if their kids were watching?’“
On AEW not being able to grow with this style: “At the end of the day, I will say this. I mean, if Tony Khan — you know, sickos is his thing. If he is promoting to the sickos, have at it. It’s his company, it’s his money. Do what you want to do, but that’s what I’m saying, like I don’t know how much you’re going to actually be able to grow your audience if you’re doing that. If you aren’t able to go outside the parameters of those sickos.”
On AEW not needing to do that style: “One of the things that needs to be said is, AEW has such an incredibly talented roster. They don’t have to do those things. You know, whenever people are talking about violent [content], they don’t have to do, you know, just the violence for the sake of violence. Because there are so many amazing athletes that can do incredible stuff, and they can have incredible matches. And that is — even if it’s a ladder match, or a falls count anywhere match, or whatever else. But they can be real smart in the way they portray violence.”
