10 Most Effective Wrestling Blade Jobs Ever

4. Hangman Page Becomes A World Champion

Austin McMahon
AEW

In a famous pro wrestling maxim, the money is in the chase.

How do you better a chase as emotionally resonant as that on which Hangman Page embarked between 2019 and 2021?

AEW responded to one maxim with another: red = green.

In a fantastic piece of booking, Page was positioned as the guy in All Elite Wrestling by going the distance with - and eventually going over - Bryan Danielson across two classic, claret-drenched matches. Danielson sought to systemically torture every body part required by Page to launch into the Buckshot Lariat. The sprawling nature of the limb work was very intelligent; it put over the Buckshot as a guaranteed match-winner, informed several mini-comebacks, and created new threads in which the TV audience could invest.

The hour-long draw has a certain, romantic prestige in pro wrestling lore, and the idea here was to present Page as a World Champion in the classic vein - which was further accomplished by the claret pouring from his head amid the struggle.

An ingenious match that positioned Page as a champ while also reminding fans that the struggle is never over, this was a masterpiece of an intermediate TV storyline.

 
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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!