Jim Cornette Offers Candid Thoughts on Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland's "Texas Death Match" at AEW Full Gear

In a recent episode of his podcast, wrestling commentator Jim Cornette offered a candid critique of the "Texas death match" between "Hangman" Adam Page and Swerve Strickland at the 2023 AEW Full Gear PPV.

Cornette vividly described a moment in the match where Page used a staple gun on Strickland, questioning the realism of such an act in a fight. He said, “Okay, so then Hangnail gets a staple gun and staples Swerve’s chest, he’s stapling him in the titties. Not the nipples, that’s against the Geneva Convention. And then he gets a format or a piece of paper or whatever, and he staples it to Swerve’s arm. Now, meanwhile, Brian, you know what a staple gun looks like? You worked in an office? Do you think most of the people know what a staple gun looks like? It’s a big metal thing and you squeeze it and it’s got to thing goes across your fingers and you squeeze it and it staples, right? If you’re in a fight with a motherfcker, especially if you look like Adam Page and the other motherfcker looks like Swerve Strickland. And you’ve got a staple gun in your hand. Are you going to staple him in the titty? Or are you going to draw back and punch him in the bridge of the fcking nose with it? That’s the idea. He’s got brass knuckles on his hand and he’s stapling this motherfcker’s arm. And then he stapled his face and Swerve is letting him do it. And because we know that this is all fake, because of the general overall presentation of AEW, people are sitting there going well this stupid motherfcker is letting this other stupid motherfcker staple his f*cking cheek, and his titties!”

Cornette also commented on a particularly graphic part of the match, where Page appeared to drink Strickland's blood. He expressed his opinion that such displays could alienate certain segments of the audience, including women. He remarked, “Somehow he’s busted Swerve open also and Swerve hit a gusher and starts pouring blood. And this is where Page lays down on his back as Swerve is bending over bleeding from his head, lays down on his back and opens his mouth so that he can drink Swerve’s blood to show how badass he is. And I believe at that point, you know again I go back to when Lyndon Johnson said after Cronkite came back from Vietnam if we’ve lost Cronkite, we’ve lost America. I think they’ve lost the female audience that they might not have had to begin with on that one. And again, they might have lost the network that they potentially might or might not have had off of that one. You fcking idiot, he’s no better than the plumber or the fcking bank-addicted drug robber. He got more hair, Page. Otherwise, he is as stupid, and demented and f*cking distasteful.”

A clip from the podcast can be found below, providing further insight into Cornette's views on the match: