“Hangman” Adam Page is having a strong run as AEW World Champion

There’s a lot of fan opinion around who should be the AEW World Champion, but that title is firmly in the hands of “Hangman” Adam Page. At the time of this piece, he’s held the belt for 121 days. But the interesting debate that’s developing is how some are perceiving his run as champion. Some are twisting themselves into knots to believe that Page isn’t having a good run as the top titleholder, but the body of work speaks for itself.

Let’s look at what Page has done as a champion. First, he picked up the title in one of the most anticipated moments in AEW to date with his win over Kenny Omega at Full Gear back in November. From there, he goes right into a hot feud against Bryan Danielson, giving fans Match of the Year candidates for both 2021 and 2022.

Next, he and Lance Archer beat each other senseless in a Texas Death Match on AEW Dynamite before Adam Cole having an excellent match at Revolution. Oh yeah, he also puts over Dante Martin in a seven-minute sprint on another edition of AEW Dynamite.

How could anyone dispute that this isn’t the makings of a strong championship run? Page has the staple victory over Omega, one that puts them at 1-1 against each other, creating the stakes for the pending third match. He has the classic matches with Danielson with a victory over a man who has been described as the “perfect professional wrestler.” He has the barn burner with Archer and the early career-defining moment with Martin. What’s not the love about what fans are getting with this title run so far?

Has Page been featured as the “top draw” of the company at all times? No. There have been moments where Page’s title run hasn’t seemed like the central focus, but that’s not specifically a bad thing. AEW continues to break the “mold” of presentation in professional wrestling. In some ways, it works, and there are others where there are challenges, but the way the company has presented Page has been a success.

Even if PPV buy rate metrics are used as the KPI of focus, PWTorch reported the show did 110,000 to 170,00 buys which is a strong show. AEW’s record is All Out 2021 which hit 205,000 buys, anchored by CM Punk’s return to the ring and a load of other surprises. AEW Dynamite has also continued to see strong ratings each week with Page as the champion.

Opinions are always coming in hot in professional wrestling. Sometimes those opinions are marred by disingenuous feelings toward the product. Saying Adam Page’s AEW Championship run is a “failed experiment” isn’t good. In fact, it’s the opposite of Cowboy [expletive].