If Hangman Adam Page wins the AEW World Championship at All In Texas, it would be more than a monumental, organic, feel-good moment. It might be a change to foreshadowed plans. It risks “waiting too long” for Will Ospreay’s ascension. However, it allows AEW to adjust two aspects of history.
It’s the right move, and I’m someone who openly wanted Ospreay, Page’s Double or Nothing opponent, to challenge Jon Moxley at All In.
Will Ospreay embodies AEW’s fighting spirit. Yet undeniably, Page is AEW’s heart and soul. I wanted Ospreay to win for two reasons.
- The Hangman’s internal character arc should not finish with a title.
- I want AEW to move on.
There’s been a wound on AEW’s arm for the past few years that creative has not left to heal. It’s a scabby, crude, and ugly cover-up tattoo of a black cloud over a Pepsi logo. It’s been picked and prodded and added to. Ironically, the symbol representing AEW is moving on has grounded three separate “promotion-threatening” takeover attempts in the criticism of detractors and a guy who doesn’t even go here anymore.
Hollow, no stakes battles for the heart and soul of AEW, where Page’s role has seen his character development stagnate. Unlike others involved, Page has avoided regression and/or polarisation. Something I missed until the euphony hit 20 minutes into Hangman Page vs. Will Ospreay.
Page’s long-term redemption might be AEW’s best chance of redemption.
In the Cloud
The rest of The Elite and Jon Moxley’s factions, to different extents, remain caught up in the fallout cloud of CM Punk. The disconnect between inconsistent character and story development and their ceiling-shattering in-ring capabilities highlights two glaring issues.
First, a lack of listening to fans’ wants. Second, a betrayal of the personal, emotive stories AEW was built on in favour of a wider, self-aggrandising, WWE-like narrative where the promotion’s initials come first.
A creatively putrid 2023 for The Elite was defined by not giving the fans what they wanted. A feud with the Blackpool Combat Club was an ideological surrogate for the fallout of Brawl Out. Without stakes or AEW’s usual attention to detail, creative potholes emerged. Rejoining The Elite underwhelmed. The Dark Order’s sidelining reduced the faction and undid a key element of Page’s growth.
Attempt two, The Elite’s Corporate turn saw The Young Buck’s career-defining attitude of leaning into the criticism hit a sore spot rather than the funny bone. The Bucks alienated some loyal AEW fans with a slowed-down in-ring style and a parody of WWE authority figure storytelling.
Airing the All In footage confirmed folks’ confirmation bias. Page’s minor involvement as a sympathetic heel turn, driven by a mental health relapse, was momentary and embryonic.
Attempt three, the Death Riders continue to evolve with each month, and it has received a spectrum of negative reactions, which I’ve dissected here. Other wrestlers’ characters, like Page, suffered from nearly becoming a Flanderized angry man stereotype for the sake of the four-way. Page’s escape occurred because the gravity of a personal and introspective storyline pulled him into a different orbit.
Page, better than anyone else involved with Punk’s exit, moved on because the character returned to peak AEW storytelling.
Hangman Did Nothing Wrong
Page’s character became obsessed not with changing the world or AEW’s DNA, but himself. Swerve Strickland’s initial challenge to a “soft” Hangman addressed the intersection of fiction and reality. It challenged the character to break free from the darkness.
Break out of the character paralysis that impacted him. Besides Page’s “I’m a man” promo and Moxley feud, Page had tread water that year. There were holes in the cowboy’s heart and characterisation after winning the AEW World Championship, before Page lost the belt.
Strickland became the obstacle and all-consuming spectre haunting Page. Their violent and historic feud became a classic. Page became what he hated. To the extent that, in July 2024, AEW’s social media account referred to Page as “the black cloud.”
Page became what he hated, and a dark mirror version of his initial impostor syndrome arc ensued. We, as fans, know from history that a better man was there who could be reached. Throughout the heel run, it was clear in subtle choices, words, and actions that this was not the real Page. We believed that Page did not do anything wrong, but he did make a mistake. Page, as we know, is too good and too real to be denied.
“They’re able to believe in the parts of us that maybe we don’t, and that’s what that has been for me. In all the things that I’ve done in the past few years, the people who watch AEW every week believed in a better me than I did. It’s something I don’t mention extremely often, but it is incredibly meaningful.” Hangman Adam Page, Variety.
Change of Plans?
By design, Hangman Page was chosen to be AEW’s main character from day one. However, Page remains many fans’ main character because the character and wrestler have remained committed to the truths that ground the character in reality. Page is multi-sided: tough and vulnerable. At times contradictory due to inner conflict. Presented in a way that’s understandable and sympathetic.
There’s a parasocial aspect to Page the wrestler and character that few wrestlers will ever possess. For years, when AEW was artificially battling for its heart and soul, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, they seemed to forget that they had it the entire time.
Undeniably, Ospreay will ascend eventually. A long-term focus for Wembley in 2026. Darby Allin’s climbing of Mount Everest is a great story, but Page was climbing out of hell. Both great stories, but only one of them brought the audience with them every step of the way. Allin’s ascension doesn’t need the AEW world championship yet. Instead, if Allin returns and gets a career-making win against Moxley, that would be enough for now.
Page, more than anyone else, represents both the promise and reality of what AEW can be. There’s history. Victories over Moxley and the previous era-defining storyline chase for the AEW World Championship. A victory could bridge the gaps between peaks and feelings.
That’s the hope. However, it’s going to require more than a victory at All In to fix Page’s and AEW’s past failings.
The Championship isn’t the Cure
Page’s first title win suffered the post-chase blues. Creative moved from the battle against personal demons/impostor syndrome to a series of traditional wrestling stories. Proving oneself as the best, old friends collide, etc. It went from individual to formulaic. The matches kicked ass, but Page remained static. The internal story of struggle evaporated.
Page’s success comes from his realness. Page talked the week before Double or Nothing about wanting his wife and child to see the old version of him. It would be refreshing and honest to see a character in wrestling learn that a championship isn’t a cure. That being on top isn’t a magic bullet for all their problems.
To repeat history would be a disservice to Hangman Page and his fans. The story can’t finish in Texas. Instead, the personal, introspective focus should continue for Page and AEW for a truly fulfilled redemption.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – AEW – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on Hangman Page, AEW, All In, and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8 pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content is available on their YouTube channel.
