Fans took to Twitter to criticize and question the timing of AEW doing a “drowning” spot with Matt Hardy during the Stadium Stampede match at the Double or Nothing pay-per view last Saturday.
The criticism and timing comes after former WWE Superstar Shad Gaspard tragically passing the same week of Double or Nothing after he drowned in a riptide in the Pacific Ocean. Gaspard demanded that lifeguards save his son first, which they did.
You can read some of the Twitter exchanges below:
I’m throwing my TV out.
— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 30, 2020
https://twitter.com/wamcychrish/status/1266524965790117888
Didn’t your husband just do a drowning Angle a few days after shad Gaspard pass away
— Zach (@zachman1987) May 30, 2020
all i can say is yikes so uncomfortable to watch
— sam εїз (@nicolesamm_) May 30, 2020
There was no drowning except on commentary, except for floating motionless face down in the water, except for the "we killed him" part, except for the visuals and all the rest basically… two days after Shad was found dead. From drowning. This simply was in horrific taste.
— The Real Harlow (@the_real_harlow) May 31, 2020
During his Saturday Night Special YouTube and Facebook broadcast last night, Chris Jericho said that the ”the backlash was not unnecessary.” He went on to say that “there was the big chuck of Santana and Ortiz kind of ‘drowning’ Matt Hardy under the water as he then changed his personas.” Jericho then said that no one ever even thought about it, and that he (Jericho) “never even thought about it once.”
Jericho did say that if they could re-do the match, there would be things they would have changed. He did further state that “the spot itself – Matt’s being doing that for a long time. It’s not like we maliciously set out to do anything disrespectful – and of course, anybody who knows anything about me would knows that.” Jericho then further went on to say that was something that they didn’t notice until after – and in the future, obviously they should be more “cognizant of it.” He also then said he thought that “Shad would really appreciate that match “cause he enjoyed kind of those goofy sides of that sort of thing.”
Jericho discussing the Stadium Stampede match starts at the 18:03 min mark of his Saturday Night Special. You can view the entire show below: