10 Awesome AEW Booking Moments Nobody Ever Talks About
7. Just One, Beautiful Detail
In an endearing, quirky build that worked so well because it steadfastly refused to masquerade as a grudge match, Kenny Omega and Hangman Page and the Best Friends sold their Tag Team Title match at Fyter Fest with what was essentially a breezy chat about friendship, and how the stronger friendship would prevail.
"They can't even drink the same drink!" an exasperated Trent said.
Wry and twee, it nonetheless hid what would become a devastating storyline detail. With their personal bond finally formed at Double Or Nothing, Omega, because he was the heel all along, gently negged his partner for his loneliness. It was a despicable thing to do, really, but the cutesy music backdrop and lighthearted banter further obscured it.
Page sought the approval of his manipulator in the months to come because they - FTR - were intelligent enough to sense the divide. As Page sat down to take in the Elite Vs. Jurassic Express at Fight For The Fallen, a match they worked because they wanted to as the trio Page could never be a part of, FTR descended on the bar. He had two drinking buddies now. But they never were, even though they felt like, as hard Mid-Atlantic drinkers, they could be. That was the genius of the storyline. They used him to remove the title from him.
One day, the sheer depth of Hangman Page's AEW arc will be studied to map the future of episodic TV wrestling.