Hangman’s ‘Owen’ Win Was Adam Page’s Redemption
“Hangman” Adam Page is AEW’s main character, yet for the last year that characterization lacked familiarity following his feud with Swerve.
When AEW launched in 2019 Hangman was the chosen one. Above any other wrestler it felt like he was being positioned as the future of the company. It seemed as though he was earmarked to be AEW champion. The stage was set for him to ascend that year and ensure that at the time the “future” was “now.” However, the road was winding with no clear path or shortcut to the goal, and while he won the right to contest the world title, he fell short against Chris Jericho in his first opportunity.
Failure is the point. Rebounding and persevering is the response. The lessons learned along the way are the prize, and how we shape ourselves from all of that is the endgame.
“Life’s a journey, not a destination.”
The reason why his story resonated and why fans gravitated to him was because he is us. Each of us. Whether you read this, skip it over, watch him from the arena seats or your living room chair, we identify with the journey. Relatability derives from familiarity, and for most people success is not a given and the road is bumpy. Our destinations are not the same because what we all want from life is uniquely us, but the pathway through the ups and downs is where we find common ground.
Hangman’s career has been defined by three things:
- Failure.
- Resilience.
- Success.
His inability to punch through and rise to his potential was critical to his character development in the first few years of AEW history. The losing and worthlessness hung around his neck like an albatross until he finally rose to the occasion and claimed his first AEW world championship from Kenny Omega. That story was the focal point of AEW television for the better part of two years through his falling out with the Elite and multiple title eliminator losses. We stood behind him on that road as the “millennial cowboy” clawed his way back to contention, dethroned Omega and defended his title against a murderer’s row of contenders. He nearly spent 90 minutes in the ring with Bryan Danielson over two matches, 40 minutes with Adam Cole over two matches, and a defense against Lance Archer. Amid a few other defenses, he formalized the Texas Death Match as his signature match leading up to his title loss to CM Punk.
Hangman’s road and our journey with him saw him teetering on the fence between failure and resilience as he battled old rivals and made new enemies in Strickland. Swerve is truly where Hangman’s current arc is most important. Page has always been a white bread babyface in AEW and we gravitated to that because early on I think we identified that he worked hard, had a moral code he stood by, always stood up when he got knocked down and refused to quit. His ride was ours, his stumbles were ours and conversely we joined him in that moment he lived up to his potential.
Swerve changed that paradigm with a single home invasion; a single scene near Hangman’s child’s crib. It was arguably too far, and decisively pushed Page over the edge toward arson. Yet, despite being the villain, fans griddied on over to Swerve and left Page behind as he became more ruthless, twisted and violent in defense of the same principles we loved him for. However, as over as Swerve is, Page was the more captivating character as we watched him drift farther and farther away from the image of the man who walked into AEW six years ago ready to put the company on his back.
Their relationship and the dichotomy between them is the most interesting thing in AEW, because either can be “the guy” regardless of their blood feud’s status. We just inherently want to root for Hangman. That’s true despite coldly leaving him for Swerve. It wasn’t as though he changed, we did; we booed him and his twisted version of the moral high ground. As much as fans might love Swerve, in my opinion there’s something organically engaging about Hangman on the comeback trail because there are very human, identifiable qualities we share with him as an “everyman.” There was obvious escalation between them, but ask yourself how different your reaction would be if the conditions are the same as with the character pertaining to that night in Hangman’s home. That’s the point.
Us watching him break and erode into a callous husk is the same as watching him transform into a Frank Castle-like Punisher anti-hero who was pushed too far beyond the brink of their moral line. We nonetheless pulled for the person we knew and believed was still in there, “bought their comic book monthly” and through Christopher Daniels, resurfaced in a moment of compassion when put opposite one of their mentors. More than anything, as we always have we want that redemption arc. And we do that because at a minimum there’s a shred of ourselves in him, and were we in the same position we would want the same for ourselves. Even each other.
Hangman’s capturing of the Owen Hart Cup is that redemption arc.
All year we’ve been asking what the point of Jon Moxley’s AEW world title reign is. That question has largely hinged on the perception that it has felt directionless at times, or that it has been booked like the championship is maintained in a holding pattern until the right moment comes. At least for myself, looking back on it while eyeing the remaining avenues to explore, more than Swerve and certainly more than Darby Allin, right now Hangman Page is 100% the right person to dethrone Moxley.
There would have been no harm in Swerve ending Moxley’s run, and Allin returning to lay claim to Mox’s title for himself still makes sense. However, Allin’s potential return to help Hangman and cost Mox the championship pays off the same story beats for Allin while also leaning into Hangman’s own narrative. Capping off Hangman’s redemption by vanquishing Mox is the best approach.
Conversely, while I think it should happen, it doesn’t need to happen as his redemption as a character is underway regardless of what comes next. That was put in motion the moment he won the Owen and in the immediate aftermath where he returned to the ring after defeating Will Ospreay just to help him up to shake his hand. That is a more matured Hangman acting like the same man that was cheered for two years while he clawed his way back to Omega, but should he lose it changes nothing.
The Hangman we have now is the sum of all his experiences, and for that reason his redemption from who he was twisted into and then toward a better path has already been successful:
“Triumph in life is fleeting, it’s momentary. You’re on top of the world for the night and then you wake up in the morning and the moment, you realize, has passed you. But so is defeat. And in the last two years, and if I’m being completely honest with myself in the past three years, that’s something I let myself lose sight of. Because what matters is not the win, it is not the loss, it is what you decide to do with it that matters.
…
I can’t relish in it. This victory like any other is momentary, temporary, it is fleeting. I will never hold this championship, I will never carry it, I will never defend it and next year there will be another Owen Hart Foundation tournament and we will crown a new champion. So for now I will have to return this (title) to you. Look, I could stay out here all night and I could tell you how much winning this tournament truly means to me. Honestly means to me. But I must now look forward to the one thing this has always been about: the All Elite Wrestling men’s world championship. That championship has been the prize, the accomplishment and the responsibility that I have chased from the very moment that we saw these three letters together for the first time. But for seven months that championship has been hidden from the world, locked away in a briefcase.
…to me that championship was to be a shining light, a beacon to show the world what these three letters meant because it was about competition, it was about creativity, it was about compassion, passion and the human dignity with which we all treat each other. That is what this is about. And on my first day here in All Elite Wrestling I told all of you, all of you here tonight and all of you watching at home, that while I was here you would be my boss. So tonight I will make to you a promise. In seven weeks, here in Texas, I will win the AEW world championship. I will free it from that briefcase. I will hold it above my head for all of you, and all the world to see. I will carry it and I will defend it with every ounce of my being. That is a promise that I will keep.”
-Hangman Page, AEW Dynamite, 5/28/2025
If our actions are the product of our paths and all of the lessons we’ve learned, the positioning of Page’s character comes from a place where he sees the value in the journey and the perspective that comes with it. This Hangman Page understands the value of getting up every day, working hard and putting what matters first and paying forward those lessons that when simplified simply ask us to try our best and treat each other well. Those were not empty words on Dynamite; he meant each syllable and the honesty of them poured out as they always do when he’s at his best. Whether or not Page reclaims the AEW title at All In Texas is secondary, because his redemption from the last two off-course, directionless years is already complete.
