30 Best AEW Matches Ever (So Far...)

19. Hangman Page Vs. Swerve Strickland (Full Gear 2023)

Within minutes, this was one of the coolest and sickest matches ever.

It was grotesque and unhinged to a level rarely seen in any American ring, much less a major, and while nothing will ever touch Samoa Joe Vs. Necro Butcher, Swerve Vs. Hangman was a more theatrical and measured reach for the same transgressive feeling.

They achieved something close to it, and, since they couldn’t control everything, tapped into the same pure sense of wrong on occasion; at one awful and exquisite moment, Hanger flossed with barbed wire because a strand came loose from Swerve’s wrapped chair.

Hangman, out for revenge after Swerve invaded his home, tackled Swerve immediately and stapled his kid’s finger painting onto Swerve’s cheek. Then Hangman drank his blood.

Simply, this was one of the coolest things any wrestler has ever done. Then Swerve did one of the coolest things any wrestler has ever done by no-selling a staple gun rampage with a look of masochistic glee on his face.

The opening third was almost too incredible and iconic, although the second act was sickening in a more action-heavy way. Using the top of the barricade as a landing spot for bumps was almost as demented.

This war was so instantly, objectively great that it’s easy to forget the TV match finish. Swerve’s stablemate Brian Cage simply interfered after the last few minutes threatened to resemble a regular hardcore match, as opposed to something you couldn’t actually process was happening.

Still: the look on Swerve’s face as he hanged Page by a chain was genuinely murderous - a worthy and chilling coda to something so unforgettable.