9 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (6 Oct)

1. Hangman's Heroics

A switch flipped when Hangman Page made his grand Casino Ladder Match entrance as the Joker.

Philly erupted for the homegrown hero when he emerged, ran through his moveset, and grabbed the poker chip. Structurally, everything fell into place as well. Page was at the heart of a series of highlight-reel moments chained together with the fluidity lacking earlier in the match. His Deadeye to PAC from the top of the ladder and through a table was gnarly and his Buckshot Lariat on Lance Archer came completely out of nowhere, blowing the roof of the spot.

Then, when he felled Jon Moxley and claimed the World Title shot, pandemonium.

The win is as interesting as it is exciting. He'll now face Kenny Omega, presumably, but having slowly climbed the ladder, leaping various mental hurdles along the way, on more than one occasion now, Hangman has effectively scored a fast-track to a World Title shot. How will the Anxious Millennial Cowboy cope with this, particularly after being beaten down so brutally by Omega and his cronies in his last appearance?

Page is back, the people are into it, and those concerns (real or otherwise) that he was going to be lost in a Punk/Danielson/Cole-induced shuffle were blown away in a few brilliant minutes here. This is the kind of thing you watch the show for. Long-term investment is paid off and rewarded in AEW and in Philly, the reactions spoke for themselves.