25 Worst Wrestling Moments Of 2023
13. AEW's 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre Death Match'
AEW is at its best when it is doing everything its opposition in WWE wouldn't do.
This has been shown in everything from Hangman Page burning down Swerve Strickland's house to regularly building stars around their in-ring performance more than their marketability as "superstars". Unfortunately, now and then, something will happen on AEW that seems like WWE at its worst.
That certainly occurred during the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre Death Match' between Jeff Jarrett and Jeff Hardy. Whilst the match itself was the kind of blood-soaked violence that would never be shown in the world of sports entertainment by then, it was also the product placement in this match that felt several million miles beneath AEW's usual standards on such matters.
Promoting the Texas Chainsaw Massacre video game, the match featured an appearance from the actual Leatherface. Yes, that one.
Hearing Tony Schiavone bellow about the horror icon as he was swinging his chainsaw around to buzzsaw noises booming from the PA was the sort of childish nonsense that saw The Miz eaten by zombies for a Netflix movie promotion. To his credit, Taz was on the verge of bursting into hysterical laughter as Karen Jarrett was chased down the ramp by the murderous villain, but this is a moment everyone associated with AEW should want to forget.