What's the best part of the recent oldhead Hall of Famer podcast boom? Listening to legit WWE legends like Mick Foley, Kurt Angle, and the Busted Open Radio crew discuss decidedly non-WWE matches like “Hangman” Adam Page's Texas Death match against Swerve Strickland at AEW Full Gear.

While WWE would never, ever, ever allow a match where wrestlers – or, as they would say, Sports Entertainers – hit each other with cinderblocks, drink each others' blood, and ultimately hang someone for the ten-count victory with a literal chain, hearing wrestlers who cut their teeth in the promotion discuss outside matches, hardcore or not, has been illuminating, especially when they don't quite get what's going on.

One such match belongs to Page-Strickland II at Full Gear, a match so violent, so vicious, so bloody that it confused the you-know-what out of the “Olympic Hero,” as he explained on his podcast.

“I don't mind that happening every so often, every blue moon. But when you start doing that week after week, the fans start to expect that out of you, and then you're going to have to produce it every week. And that's going to take wrestling back, they're going to take a big step back if they do that because wrestling is about telling a story. It's not about beating the s**t out of each other with weapons. And don't get me wrong, there's a place for that, you just have to be very careful about how many times you do it. Do that every once in a while, every blue moon, and continue to wrestle, continue to tell a story in a wrestling match. That's the most important thing,” Kurt Angle said via Wrestling Inc.

“They're dumba**es. Either that, or they're just crazy. You know what, they're both talented wrestlers. They don't need to be doing that stuff.”

Are Strickland and Page crazy, let alone “dumba**es?” Maybe yes, maybe no, but it's just as likely that after decades of eating smash burgers, a rare steak is going to take some getting used to tasting.

Swerve Strickland's match at Full Gear immortalized his legend.

What does it take for a professional wrestler to truly transcend the medium to become a legend? Is it a matter of longevity? Of building a portfolio of incredible matches that simply can't be denied? Or is it instead a matter of the quality of the matches in question, with a few legendary efforts outweighing a few decades of mediocrity? Can a wrestler who only works a few matches a year be a legend for their incredible storytelling abilities?

Well, in the opinion of Swerve Strickland, his recent string of actions in AEW, from his creepy character efforts to his fantastic efforts in Texas Death put him into that stratosphere, as he explained in an interview on TMZ.

“Leading up to it, I’m always a believer of, talk is cheap, I’m gonna do what I say I’m gonna do. There’s a lot of people in pro wrestling that are great villains they like to perceive themselves as, and shoutout to them. Shoutout to those guys that are on the microphone, rocking it across all industries. I’m gonna be one of the guys that, no, I’m not gonna just talk about it. I’m gonna actually do it. I’m gonna reach through the screen and actually touch and be able to get close to the loved ones that you keep so dear to your heart that are at home,” Swerve Strickland said via Fightful.

“They’re in play too. That brings another menacing side to me, as Swerve Strickland, in that you feel that emanating, not only through my entrance but through the wrestling as well. That’s what I believe, you gotta keep that entire aura and villainy and just despicableness all throughout all your actions, the way you walk, the way you look, the way you talk, the way people can honestly feel something from you. Honestly, I feel like I’m becoming something that people can honestly portray in other films or portray in another form of media. I feel like the cherry on top of this match, the Texas Death Match, it’s like, okay, he’s immortalized. Now I understand the full understanding of what Swerve, what he means, what the Mogul Embassy is, Nana, all the traits of me, people truly understand that full through now.”

Has Strickland become a legend in professional wrestling? Frankly, at this point, it's hard to say, as he's in the middle of a run that's certainly ascending but is far from the pinnacle of what it could be. Still, based on where Strickland's career was at when he was fired from WWE a few years back, it's been a pretty incredible turnaround in the best way possible.