7 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (September 27 - Results & Review)

2. Hangman Page/Swerve Strickland Contract Signing

Swerve Strickland cut Prince Nana's dance off before he even walked down the ramp, which was the most fantastic bit of cheap heat as well as ensuring that this was serious enough to justify its main event spot. It only got better as the two had their last verbal joust.

Hangman Page spoke about a "dark cloud" hanging over his head for the last year and a half, and it wasn't hard to infer what (and who) he was talking about even if it could realistically be folded into the fiction that losing the AEW Championship was the beginning of his quiet descent. That framed Sunday's showdown as a chance for him to finally face that demon, which will make it all the worse if and when he loses.

As a brooding heel that knew he'd gotten through to The Elite man in his original promo, Swerve Strickland was excellent again here. Overlooking the rage bubbling within Page made a shock pen stabbing feel like a transgression, particularly when Strickland had appeared too cool, calm and collected for the former AEW Champion to try any of his "Cowboy Sh*t".

This was as "go-home" as it gets, but an increasingly lost and in-denial Hangman still feels a long way from where he needs to be. Strickland can revel in that, even if he was left reeling here.