6 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (February 7 - Results & Review)

2. Great Opener Sets The Tone

Hangman Page Vs. Swerve Strickland was a superb 30 minute draw not without the odd flaw, which will be touched on briefly:

Deep in the match, Hangman sprawled himself over a table to set up a spot, but it collapsed under his weight immediately. A very pissed and flustered Swerve Strickland marched to the other side of the ring to retrieve a second table before rolling Page back into the ring and missing a 450. Why bother getting the second table if he wasn't going to use it as a weapon immediately?

The wasted time made him look foolish and made the match feel contrived for those distracting few moments. Also, the time limit expiring should have been announced by Justin Roberts. That's how it's usually done. Consistency is a good thing generally, and here, the lack of a countdown felt like a carny trick. Watching wrestlers work around the ticking clock is often a thrilling flex of their ability to pace a match, too. It's breathless, urgent drama. Beyond that, though, this was excellent.

Early on, both men wrestled with a tentative approach, wary of making unforced errors against an opponent they know to be very dangerous, but, in a great early thread, they remembered how much they hate one another also, suddenly exploding into a barrage of action. This was paced, elegantly, to make it feel like a big deal, with the back-and-forth acting not as obligatory filler but the theme of a match between two men that could not be separated.

Building on that idea, Swerve - who after the draw still can't beat Page without the interference of the Mogul Embassy - borrowed from Page's repertoire. Again, this familiar trope felts earned in this context. Their fates are now forever intertwined. Swerve's obsession is manifesting via imitation.

The work bar the odd flub was incredible - that Asai moonsault counter into the rolling falling reverse STO especially - and the idea that these men are equals was further explored via the obligatory finisher kick-out device. Again, though, this worked in the context of this specific programme and the way in which the story has been told. They are one another's mirror image.

Hangman Page despite being hugely acclaimed still doesn't get the level of praise he deserves. Watch how he positioned himself for Swerve's foot stomp compared to everybody else, how little time he left himself to not make it look contrived. His timing and positioning was and is incredible, so much so that everybody in the audience bought the near-fall even though the move wasn't executed in the obvious throes of a finishing sequence.

The weakest chapter of an awesome trilogy, Page Vs. Swerve III was still a fabulous and deafening match of the sort that reminds you how special AEW still is.

After the 30 minute time limit expired, Swerve demanded five more minutes. Hangman, teasing a heel turn, refused. This was clever. Like every good heel, he's justified in his own mind; what will scan as cowardice to everybody else is, to him, a fair measure of revenge for the relentless Mogul Embassy interference throughout their series.