Hangman Page: Maker Of Champions?

At AEW Full Gear, Hangman Adam Page lost to a celebrated wrestler who has been successful elsewhere but had not yet proven themselves as a main eventer for AEW. Their first match at AEW WrestleDream was a huge victory for his opponent, but it was the second victory that cemented the confidence of the company in this performer, helped by a selfless performance by the former AEW World Champion. Now — am I talking about ‘Swerve’ Strickland, or Jay White?

The similarities between the two are obvious when you look at them, both men stepping up to challenge Hangman at AEW WrestleDream in 2023 and 2024 respectively, before defeating him again the following month at AEW Full Gear in matches that helped fuel Page’s descent into madness. With Strickland, his victories allowed him to continue his momentum into the Continental Classic and a placing in his League Final, where Jon Moxley pinned Jay White to win, then into a strong victory over Dustin Rhodes at Worlds End to finish 2023 on a high. From there, ‘Swerve’ has become an MVP of 2024, winning the AEW World Title from Samoa Joe, defeating Christian Cage and Will Ospreay at PPV, putting over Bryan Danielson and being re-signed as a franchise player for AEW. The possibility of Jay White being similarly successful from here isn’t impossible — there’s a reason why many expected him to be a favourite for the Continental Classic and were surprised at his absence.

But while many will be looking at where Jay White goes from here, I wanted to take the moment to reflect on the ‘Millennial Cowboy’, and give credit to his work: helping to make ‘Swerve’ a main-event option and giving Jay White two huge victories to remind fans of his potential. However, anybody who looks over Page’s career in AEW can see that this is not the second or even third time he’s helped cement a future world champion. In fact, it all began back at the very first AEW All Out, where he lost to Chris Jericho for the AEW World Championship, helping legitimise the Judas Elbow in the process as a dangerous finisher. For the rest of 2019, Jericho as leader of the Inner Circle earned several huge victories for his team against Adam Page in tag team matches, both times Jericho alongside Sammy Guevara but Page either next to Dustin Rhodes or Kenny Omega, results that protected the champion and planted the seeds for Page’s future struggles.

Jon Moxley in his first title reign didn’t need victories over Adam Page, in fact they were kept separate (apart from a brief tag-team match and a Casino Ladder match in 2021) for the first three years of AEW. It was the third AEW World Champion in Kenny Omega whose build Page was vital for, not just in their tremendous title reign as AEW Tag Team Champions, but in their break up. After losing their Tag Team Titles at AEW All Out 2020 to FTR, both Omega and Page moved into the singles division, meeting in the Tournament Final of the AEW World Title Eliminator, where Kenny defeated Page to become #1 Contender. That victory propelled Omega to AEW Winter Is Coming, where he defeated Jon Moxley to become AEW World Champion for the first time and begin his ascent into the ‘Belt Collector’.

There is the most obvious example, where Hangman lost his AEW World Title to CM Punk at AEW Double Or Nothing 2022, a result that at the time I questioned as I felt Page would have gained more by being put over, and retrospectively has felt like one of the biggest mistakes in AEW’s history so far. One who could have gained more from defeating Page — and would have fit perfectly ironically — is MJF, who became AEW World Champion at AEW Full Gear 2022, but had also earned his first big victory back in 2019 as the winner of the Dynamite Diamond Ring over, interestingly, Adam Page. Even in 2019, a victory over Page meant something. And in 2024, it’s the same thing, a victory over Adam Page matters, as Bryan Danielson’s victory in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Final over Page set the Dragon on a path culminating in Danielson winning the AEW World Title a month later at AEW All In London.

With the examples above of how Hangman Adam Page has helped with the journeys of AEW World Champions, and especially looking at the AEW Dynasty and AEW Full Gear double bill which has put over two main talents in ‘Swerve’ Strickland and Jay White, who could be the next competitor to benefit from something similar in 2025?

I raised this challenge with some of my Pro Wrestling Musings colleagues: do you agree or disagree on Hangman Page being a maker of champions, and if you had to book a competitor to face Hangman Page in 2025 to become a future AEW World Champion, who would you choose?

Emiliana

Do you agree or disagree on Hangman Page being a maker of champions?

Nothing would make me happier than to say that Hangman Adam Page has always been a kingmaker. But I don’t know if that’s necessarily true. While Chris Jericho did end up winning the inaugural AEW world championship in a match with Page at the first All Out, and MJF did end up winning the inaugural Dynamite Diamond Ring in a match with Page later in 2019, I wouldn’t say that these matches made either of the two men. I would probably say the opposite — these matches were among many in a story that, in the end, cemented Hangman Adam Page as a main-event level player in AEW. The same can be said for Hangman’s run as tag champion with Omega. To me, there is a definite shift in AEW’s history, where Page goes from being the guy being built to being the guy that builds others, and that shift happens in 2022, once Hangman earns his reign as AEW men’s world champion and then loses to CM Punk.

As someone who knew very little of the Elite before AEW, I latched onto Hangman immediately, from the first Casino Battle Royale at Double or Nothing 2019. When he lost to Jericho at All Out, I was disappointed, but I like to think that I understood enough about wrestling even then — I had only been watching wrestling for two years by that point — that I understood that Hangman was a fairly new wrestler to an audience that was looking to find someone new and exciting to grab hold of. Many knew him, sure, but others didn’t — while Chris Jericho is a hall-of-fame level name. Regardless of my disappointment, I understood why Hangman lost. And frankly, it was a beautiful choice. Because had Hangman won so quickly, there would be nothing to hold onto. There would be no disappointment, no struggle, no drama — no journey to the top of the mountain. And that’s what I like to see in a character. But then that leads us to the shift in Hangman’s position. Once you make it to the top of the mountain, what is there left to do? It gets lonely up there. You have your belt, and a beautiful view, with nobody to share it with. I think you know where I’m going with this — the only thing left to do is to bring others up with you to share in that view.

I could argue that there is a moment in time — between Hangman becoming world champion to being the man who makes kings — where Hangman faltered. There is no secret that a great many factors came into play there, and I won’t waste time with them. But I do think it is important to note that Hangman’s character was reaffirmed and reforged by his feud with Jon Moxley. Kingmakers have to be made, or else they hold no power or influence. And it is only after this feud — and the subsequent BCC/Elite feud — that we truly begin to see Hangman share in Mox’s philosophy to bring others up with him. His next dance partner, already making waves in the tag division and in battle royals, would step up to Hangman Adam Page and fight him for his spot.

If you had to book a competitor to face Hangman Page in 2025 to become a future AEW World Champion, who would you choose?

But as for what man this kingmaker could make next, I’m not really sure. In the absence of men like Swerve Strickland, Jay White, and Orange Cassidy, we have Hangman Adam Page interacting with the likes of Christian Cage, Jeff Jarrett, and Christopher Daniels — all men with long and storied careers that need no introduction. A fresh face, someone who has potential, but needs to be pushed past his level — that’s what we need.

I had two names in mind, but I think one has a greater potential story than the other, because it’s been sitting there nearly untapped for three years — Wheeler Yuta.

Despite what’s happened since Yuta defected from Best Friends to become part of the Blackpool Combat Club and then later the Death Riders, it feels as if Yuta has been standing still. He feels sidelined in factions, not because he isn’t a great wrestler, but because he gets overshadowed by the personalities he pledges his loyalty to.

I think he and Hangman Adam Page have a lot in common, and I feel like a Hangman that becomes tired of thirsting for revenge could, one day, find solace in helping Wheeler Yuta break away from the men that hold him down. Think about it — Hangman Adam Page didn’t just leave the Elite because he was having troubles with alcohol — the alcoholism was a symptom of a much greater problem: he didn’t believe in himself, and he felt unsupported by his friends in his greatest moments of need. In the sit-down interview with Jim Ross before the tag team match with the Young Bucks, we hear Nicholas Jackson, frustrated, tell Hangman he was “just a jobber in Ring of Honor!” Largely, Wheeler Yuta is treated the same way now. He eats pins, and he takes the brunt of physical violence from other teams. The two have been on opposing sides in feuds before, and they had interesting matches.

thanks to yixura for letting us use their post and sketch

the image is a link to the post, this is a link to their ko-fi, too, why not?

The story is there. They have a lot in common, Hangman can relate to Yuta in a way many others can’t. And I believe if he was given room to work with him, it could pave the way for a compelling and satisfactory change in Wheeler Yuta that could propel him into the main-event scene. Yuta needs someone to challenge his character in a way the Blackpool Combat Club and the Death Riders have not.

As it stands, it seems Wheeler Yuta has become the target of Jay White. Perhaps the Switchblade will beat Hangman to it.

Abel

Do you agree or disagree on Hangman Page being a maker of champions?

I think the question of whether Hangman Adam Page is the AEW “Kingmaker” must be asked in the context of the timeline of his history in All Elite Wrestling. If you asked me if that was true during the first half of his time in AEW, I would say no. If you ask me now, post-Swerve Strickland feud, I would say most definitely, yes. However, one thing does stay consistent, and that is that the AEW World heavyweight title runs through Hangman. So, while I don't know if Adam Page has always been a kingmaker, he is a hurdle that every AEW champion, past, present, and foreseeable future, has to go through to lift the ultimate prize in pro wrestling. 

I think the conversation can shift from “Is Hangman Page a Kingmaker?” to “Hangman Page is, and has always been, the heart and soul of AEW.” If you look at every champion that has held the AEW World Championship, Hangman plays a big part in the story arc of them winning the title: Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Swerve Strickland, Jon Moxley, Samoa Joe, and Kenny Omega. The only two you can make an argument that Hangman did not have a hand in raising to the title were Bryan Danielson and MJF. That is a pretty impressive track record of people Hangman has wrestled, let alone the wrestlers he has had a World Championship feud with!

As of right now, there are two very distinct chapters in Hangman's tenure in AEW: Before Strickland and After Strickland. Before Strickland, Page was being built up as the main character of the company, even if the World Title eluded him. He was the plucky upstart that was reluctant to win the title. After Strickland, Hangman is a completely different beast. Swerve is the Joker to Hangman’s Batman, except this Batman stabs the Joker in his cheek with a syringe. 

In both chapters, Hangman is the most interesting character in the company, which is why the title runs through him. Whether Hangman is the chaser or the chase-ee, the chase has always gone through Page. That position in the company makes you an indispensable piece of the puzzle, and keeps the character of Adam “Hangman” Page fresh, and always at the center of the company. This is why he is the most interesting and compelling wrestling character in the world. It's easy to see why Tony Khan uses him as the springboard for other talent — the kingmaker. 

If you had to book a competitor to face Hangman Page in 2025 to become a future AEW World Champion, who would you choose?

So, now that Hangman sits in this position, who should be the next person to get the “Hangman bump” and get a shot to be the top guy in the company?

I think the obvious choice for a world title feud is the “Switchblade” Jay White. Their feud has a long history outside and inside of AEW, making for some great matches and story angles for both characters. However, if we want to go off the beaten path and REALLY create a star off of Hangman’s name, let's have him fight Brody King.

For the past couple of years, King has made a name for himself as the muscle of the House of Black, specifically in the last two Continental Classics where Brody has shown up and showed out. Now that Malakai Black is rumored to be going back to the WWE and King seems to be set up to be the new leader of the faction — as reports have indicated — then the time is right to pull the trigger to crown the new king of the black.

Who better to do that than the Hangman himself? How poetic would it be to make a king out of Brody King? The crowd has been behind Brody for a while now, and having Hangman stand in the way between King and the AEW title could be a program that many of us (... it's me, I'm "us" ...) would love to see happen in an AEW ring.

Sergei

Do you agree or disagree on Hangman Page being a maker of champions?

Emiliana makes an excellent point that the extent to which Hangman was a "champion maker" was very different before and after holding (and losing) the title himself. And Abel makes a good point that even before he had the status to raise anybody to main-event status, he was already inextricably linked to that Championship, to the point that he is a key part of almost every AEW World Champion's path to glory.

I would expand on that to say that even when he did not yet have that status of "former World Champion" to raise anybody to the main-event level, coming out ahead against the Hangman was already something that did a lot to raise a competitor's credibility. Not even necessarily to raise them to the level of becoming World Champion themselves: take the example of PAC. Back at the dawn of AEW Dynamite, PAC debuted as All Elite by coming out ahead in a series of matches with Page, and that was a sign that he was not going to be treated as "just a cruiserweight" by AEW, and that he was a credible main-event threat to guys like Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley in their respective quests for gold, even though PAC never held the World title himself.

How could a win over Page have the effect of raising someone's prestige, despite not yet being a consistent main-event level guy yet himself? That's because there were a number of storytelling devices — such as declaring for the World title in the first AEW press conference, and winning the first #-1-contender Battle Royal — that clearly set Page apart as the chosen "Future of AEW". And what does it make you to defeat the Future if not the Present of AEW?

If you had to book a competitor to face Hangman Page in 2025 to become a future AEW World Champion, who would you choose?

I think that one thing we are missing in this conversation is that being the "Kingmaker" is not necessarily always a positive. It's hard to be both the Kingmaker AND the King, and I think that the next couple years should focus more on building Page than on building guys with Page. I see many Hangman superfans BIG mad at all of the building and gatekeeping he's already done, and while I don't agree, I do understand their feelings. Don't get me wrong, Page actually wins a LOT, but: losing two months in a row in big PPV matches with a competitor you're feuding with? That's something most competitors at Page's level are never expected to do, much less two years in a row!

I believe that in the case of Swerve, the amazing story they told justifies it. (Shameless plug for my Blood Feud deep dive into the Hangman × Swerve story…) And with Switchblade, a case could be made that White "just has his number" — which could set up an interesting chapter in a redemption story a long way down the road where Hangman proves that "new me" is truly better by overcoming those yips.

But to attempt to do it again? Reeks of the Law of Diminishing Returns. You can't use Hangman to build others endlessly without putting more into building Hangman himself. And with the level of work Hangman has been consistently doing, the focus should be more on giving him the torch and seeing what he will do with it than on who he will next pass it to.