Whenever there's a big show coming up, like AEW Full Gear 2025 this weekend, it can be instructive (not to mention fun) to go back and watch some older, related matches in the lead-up to the event. There are as many different ways to watch wrestling as there are individual wrestling fans, but here at Wrestling Inc., we love to cut up and rearrange wrestling history in interesting and unique ways, selecting a variety of matches with some sort of through-line connecting them and placing them side-by-side. And because thisSaturday, "Hangman" Adam Page returns to Full Gear site of his original world title victory in 2021 with the championship in hand again, we decided to revisit that first title reign, began as the culmination of one of AEW's most fondly-remembered storylines and ended at the hands of CM Punk.
Page had a few more title defenses than we had space on this edition of WINC Watchlist, but that just meant we didn't have to double up on Texas Death Matches or defenses against AdamCole. That said, wehad to double up on one particular Page pairing, and we might as well get to that right away!
Honestly, this might be the greatest match in the history of American television.
It takes a lot of guts to give out a one hour time limit draw on free TV, particularly in the age of social media and smartphones where you effectively need to craft your shows around the idea that people at home are going to look at their devices more than the screen, but AEW in 2021 was a company that could do literally anything and it would be received well. If you thought WWE had momentum when Triple H took over the creative direction of the company, the momentum of All Elite Wrestling in 2021 felt like the fans were part of a true movement, and just when you thought they couldn't top everything they had done in the months prior, this happens.
Hangman Page defending his AEW Men's World Championship against Bryan Danielson in a match that wasn't as predictable as some might have thought given it was Page's first defense. Danielson was operating on a different plain of existence in 2021, having one of his career best years (which is saying something considering he wasn't wrestling for one third of it), and the old saying of "winning the title is easy, it's keeping it that is the difficult part" lingering in the back of Page's mind. Danielson had the control both physically and mentally, continually getting the better of Page on the mat and in exchanges, and celebrating with the smuggest jumping jacks you have ever seen.
As time goes on though, the Hangman Page we have all come to know and love today arrives. Honest, but with just enough of a mean streak to legitimize him as a proud babyface champion that can kick the ass of anyone who tries to step to him, including a man who claims to be the best wrestler in the world. By the end of this one, the fans are falling over themselves to see a winner as the finishers finally come out in the closing minutes, one of the very few AEW World Championship matches where the finishers are used maybe once, and the only reason the Buckshot Lariat didn't end the match is because the bell did that instead.
There's always going to be an argument of whether a match needs to go 60 minutes, and to be honest, no match ever really needs to go that long. But when it does, you want it to not feel like an hour, and you want it to be good. This match is both of those things and more. One of the best matches in AEW history, and essential viewing for all wrestling fans.
Written by Sam Palmer
From the moment their previous match ended in a time-limit draw, it was inevitable that Page and Danielson would lock up again. Booker Tony Khan didn't wait long to make it happen, setting up the rematch for the TBS debut of "Dynamite" on January 5, 2022, three weeks after their first clash, with the AEW World Championship once again on the line.
Because of the inconclusive ending to their last match, both wrestlers agreed that a panel of judges would decide who won if they went to another time-limit draw, with Mark Henry, Paul Wight, and Jerry Lynn doing the honors. In the end, however, their judgment wouldn't be necessary.
Coming in at about half the length of their previous bout, this one is on par with the first in quality. Rather than reflecting on how much of an a***hole he'd been in the lead-up to their first match, Danielson doubled down here, with his disrespect for "Hangman" evident in every action as the match began. However, as the match goes on, it becomes clear that Danielson is taking his opponent more seriously this time around.
Page spends much of the match pouring blood from his forehead after being broken open by Danielson, with the challenger maximizing the violence by targeting Page's wound with repeated headbutts. The champion eventually bloodies Danielson with some headbutts of his own, evening the odds between the two.
Nearly 30 minutes into the match, following brutal offense on the outside and several near-finishes that almost saw Danielson win, the two desperate and bloody men start exchanging headbutts once again. This leads into the conclusion, with Page countering a Busaiku Knee from Danielson and finally landing his Buckshot Lariat to put his opponent down for the three-count.
This excellent rematch built off the strong foundations laid in their previous meeting, and served an important role in continuing to legitimize "Hangman" as someone worthy of holding the world title. Page and Danielson would meet again several more times down the road, but before that, the AEW World Champion would have to deal with a certain "Murderhawk Monster," among others.
Written by NickMiller
A match that is actually one of the more historically significant when it comes to the future of both AEW and Hangman Page as a performer; his first Texas Death Match.
At the turn of the decade, it was Lance Archer who owned the Texas Death Match as his signature stipulation. Of course it helped that he is from Texas, but he was such a wild man by the time he joined AEW that having the Texas Death Match as the bout that favored him the most just made sense, especially since his last win in under the match rules was against Jon Moxley for the IWGP United States Championship in July 2021. However, by the end of this episode of "AEW Dynamite," the blood-soaked torch had officially been passed from Archer to Page.
Over the years, the Texas Death Matches that Page has been involved in have become so violent and hate filled that it's interesting to see what he can do with the same style of match in a TV main event. There aren't any nails or thumbtacks, or even any brief stops so that Page can enjoy the taste of his opponent's blood, but this one establishes two things very early on; it isn't going to last long, and the Buckshot Lariat isn't likely to make an appearance either thanks to the interference of Dan Lambert disconnecting the top rope from the ring post.
The match flows as quick as the red stuff does as Archer is busted open almost immediately while Page gets a nasty gusher over his right eye that looks horrific by the closing stages, but the placement of the cut adds to the struggle Page faces. He's outnumbered, outsized, hasn't got the one thing to help perform his finishing move, and now he only has one eye. It also doesn't help that when Archer gets going, he is a true monster in this match, stabbing Page in the head with a fork, and giving him one of the best Blackouts of all time on to the side of the ring steps which looks like one of the most sickening bumps you'll see anywhere.
In the end, it's the finishing sequence that truly makes the match memorable, with Page ripping a piece of barbed wire off a chair, positioning Archer on the apron, and using referee Paul Turner as vault to allow him to finally hit the Buckshot Lariat through a pair of tables for one of the most underrated bloodbaths in AEW history. The Texas Death Match was officially Hangman's to keep, and if it wasn't for the efforts of Archer, the main event of All In Texas 2025 might not have happened.
Written by SamPalmer
If there's one thing we know about "Hangman" Adam Page (besides his love for plants and beer drinking), it's that he is one of AEW's most resilient performers. Other matches on this list may be more testing in duration, but at AEW Revolution 2022, Page both faced and aced the test of physical numbers when he battled Adam Cole over the AEW World Championship.
Adam Page vs. Adam Cole delivers what you'd expect on paper: two versatile performers showcasing a mix of high-octane moves, submissions, aggression, and reversals. A notable highlight saw Cole drive Page into the floor with a Panama Sunrise off the apron. When he then set up for another one in the ring, Page caught him and looked to land a Dead Eye. Cole ultimately countered the counter by escaping Page's grip and blasting him with a superkick.
With the benefit of the referee being distracted by his allies Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish, Cole followed up with a low blow, another Panama Sunrise, and The Boom on Page...somehow for only a two count. This moment alone encapsulates the theme of Page vs. Cole: even when he seems to be down, Page defies the odds.
In his journey to conquer the odds, one can't help but root for Page as well. After all, he's got that country charm and the relatable anxieties experienced by many millennials. In the height of his "Anxious Millennial Cowboy" era, it was also wholesome to see The Dark Order comforting Page after a scary spot through a table.
Of course, we didn't escape this match without a ringside brawl between Page and Cole's allies. Once the dust settled, though, an empowered Page gave Cole a taste of his own medicine (or rather, the ring rope) and put him away with his signature Buck Shot Lariat.
Written byElla Jay
It's strange how life pans out in retrospect, with "Hangman" Adam Page in his second reign as the AEW World Champion, entering Full Gear to defend the title four years on from the event he became champion for the first time. CM Punk is the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion, in his own second reign with the title, having returned to the company in 2023.
Page will be defending his title against Samoa Joe at Full Gear, a former ROH World Champion who spent time with WWE before going to AEW, and also the last man to face Punk in an AEW ring just months before he returned to WWE. But it was just in May 2022 that it was Punk dethroning Page for his first AEW World Championship at Double or Nothing. There had been an animus between them that would not even begin to be fully explained until months after, with Page swearing to defend the company fromPunk and ensure that he did not become the champion, and Punk doing a whole lot of looking around unsure why he was being hated on so badly. But weirdly enough the tangible atmosphere between them helped to add something to an otherwise very cookie-cutter babyface vs. babyface clash for the title.
Much of this should have been about Punk's journey from walking away from wrestling, returning and proving himself ready to take his place back atop the mountain, fresh off of his Dog Collar match against MJF at Revolution. But it took on a life of its own and, courtesy of "Brawl Out" and the other words said about it after, is a match with its own mythology between two people that really weren't getting on at the time. And when everything has been said and done, it is also a really enjoyable match to watch as itself, with Punk visibly going through the motions of having to prove to himself, then the fans, and then his opponent, that he is still worthy of the spot and the time.
Written byMax Everett
