12 Times AEW Was Better Than Literally EVERYTHING

12. The Kenny Omega Vs. Hangman Page Storyline

Traditional pro wrestling heat barely exists, which is less than ideal. The mainstream U.S. scene is still modelled to chase an unrecoverable emotion. When was the last time you earnestly felt moved by the conduct of a heel? Without playing along through an admiration of their performance? 

For many, it was 2020-2021. 

Hangman Page Vs. Kenny Omega was the storyline that best captured relatable audience investment in a time defined by social media. The misleading, glamorous lives our peers apparently live make it difficult to feel a true sense of self-worth. Many of us are anxious that we don’t compare. 

Page never felt Elite, and the buy-in was easy; he in 2019 was a very good worker and one of the funnier cast members of Being The Elite, but he wasn’t Kenny Omega. He’d never drawn money nor worked a truly iconic singles match. Kenny had worked so many of them that it defined his persona. 

They tagged at Kenny’s urging, the reason behind which slowly became apparent: Omega was in decline, he knew Page was his successor deep down, and he wanted to use him. Page scored the falls in their successful Tag Team title defences, but Omega still treated Page like he was doing him a favour. The fans caught on, and gravitated towards Page, who in parallel was putting forward genuinely hilarious character work. At All Out '20, Omega had the temerity to abandon Page, even though he had carried the team. This catalysed their singles feud, and put Page all the way over as a man who was Elite. The fans just needed to convince him. 

MJF Vs. CM Punk, conversely, somehow generated the real stuff. MJF was such a manipulative sociopathic piece of sh*t that it felt like he’d travelled back in time to a period where we could all get truly lost in the fiction.