30 Best AEW Matches Ever (So Far...)
18. Hangman Page Vs. Bryan Danielson (Dynamite Winter Is Coming 2021)
The strategy behind the match was obvious, and not entirely effective in the long-term. Hangman Page going an hour with Bryan Danielson was an ironic shortcut designed to make his World title reign feel epic and worthy. It’s how the fabled champions of yore built their legacy.
It was a nice idea undermined by the fact that Page wasn’t presented as the biggest deal in the company afterwards. For one night, though, the run was as good as the chase.
This was special; one of the highlights of a time when AEW was in its invincible era.
The match was designed to go long. It was signposted, but that was the point: in a great subversion of his babyface WWE run, it was Danielson who questioned Page’s championship credentials. In the best condition of his life, he suspected Page did not have it in him to go the distance.
The story of the match was thus premised on Danielson’s bid to control Page. The Dragon pecked at his psyche by flexing his stamina in the early phase and treating the match as a sermon in big match psychology.
Danielson was on fire in the ring. He was able to slip out of Hangman’s grasp just as Page had barely motioned to execute one of his signature moves. With brilliant dramatic timing, Danielson often waited just long enough for fans to register the attempt before countering. This was effective on two levels: he effectively presented himself as a brilliant and intuitive pro wrestler, and Hangman’s fans suffered palpitations when they sensed he could barely attempt to close in on victory.
But Hanger could escape, which became the key thread.
Danielson started to lose it; Page was more crafty and spirited and tough than he’d anticipated. Bryan switched to different limbs too quickly, attempted the same moves too often.
Restless and impatient, he ran out of time in the end. In the best beat of this story, Page back-flipped out of an avalanche backdrop suplex at the very last second. In that awesome moment, he was the action hero who’d just dived out of the path of the bomb.