The One Thing EVERYONE Always Gets Wrong About AEW
His ultimate failure in the Trios division existed for a grander purpose in a company that continues to bewilder wrestling fans, your writer among them at times, with an unprecedented patient approach.
On the March 15 Dynamite, Hangman Page and the Elite were drawn together in the post-match angle that followed the main event. A brawl that had broken out between the Blackpool Combat Club and the Dark Order spilled to the ringside area was joined by Hangman Page, who defended his friends. He found himself trapped between them and the Elite in a mirror of the scene at Revolution 2020. There, Omega and the Young Bucks stood side by side in the middle of the ring as Page, emotionally distanced from them, lingered by the ropes. The first (storyline) failure of the All Elite Wrestling project had scored the match-winning fall, and was well on his way to realising his potential, but he hadn't defeated Kenny Omega. He was still Omega's partner, not the other way 'round, and was only gradually rising to his level.
By March 15, the dynamic had changed considerably. This is why people are adamant that AEW is the best wrestling promotion (and why those people get buried for using the words "layers" and such). Jon Moxley is the most protected wrestler in the company. Since making his debut for the promotion on June 29, 2016, in a win over Joey Janela, Mox has taken just two three pinfall losses. He did a job for the Young Bucks at Double Or Nothing 2021, CM Punk beat him decisively at All Out 2022, and Page beat him on the January 11 Dynamite. He has lost to Lance Archer too, but was protected to a degree. The idea, and AEW has built this over almost four years, is that Jon Moxley is virtually unbeatable.
Hangman Page defeated Jon Moxley in Jon Moxley's ultra-violent domain at Revolution. This - and it is no accident - is something Kenny Omega was never able to do on his own. Omega lost to Mox in Full Gear 2019's Lights Out main event, and only defeated Mox in the Exploding Barbed Wire Death match at Revolution 2021 with the help of the Good Brothers. The mirrored Revolution post-match of March 15, and the continuation of the long-gestating programme, only works if Hangman Page has surpassed Kenny Omega in storylines. The idea now is that Hangman Page is better than Kenny Omega - and given the storyline result at Full Gear 2020, and the real notion that Omega was lowering himself to Page's level in late 2019, it can only be considered a promotional triumph.
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