How Hangman Page Will Change Everything About Pro Wrestling

How AEW's Hangman Page has elevated Dynamite to the realms of prestige TV.

by Michael Sidgwick
The Elite
AEW/Lee South

To fully understand and appreciate the incredible arc mapped by and for Hangman Adam Page, one must remember the enormity of the task he faced at All Out 2019.

He had signed with a new upstart billionaire-funded pro wrestling company, one that by rights should never have existed, looking at WWE's monopoly and the almost bottomless resources they had to maintain it. That company, AEW, was fronted by the most ambitious and talented field of free agents ever - it was Cody Rhodes who bet everything to will All In into existence, and it was the Elite who created the market conditions that encouraged him to place it.

It was the destination promotion before President Tony Khan even promoted the first show; PAC joined immediately, and the legendary Chris Jericho was so won over by the pitch that he elected to work for a non-WWE company after deciding years ago to only ever work for Vince McMahon. Between Jericho, Cody, Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks, AEW boasted the best talkers, best bell-to-bell workers and, on the strength of Being The Elite, the best episodic storytellers in the business. This thing wasn't just going to be big; it was going to be good. Really good. And it had to be. They talked it up as the next great chapter in North American wrestling, and there was giant to topple.

Page starred at that first event, Double Or Nothing, by winning the Casino Battle Royal.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!