Hangman, MJF are finally the most important AEW characters

Forbidden Door was not the first time Hangman Page and MJF stepped into the ring together. They have many times, and for lesser reasons, circled each other periodically since the company first got off the ground.

They have fought over MJF’s very meme-able  and ever useful ring, they competed in the first ever Casino Battle Royale to determine who would get a chance to fight for the AEW title, a number of multi-man matches, and then finally at Revolution 2025. Sprinkled throughout their encounters are backstage segments that flesh out their history and give their character interactions more weight, but Forbidden Door felt like the first time they truly felt like rivals.

We’re in a moment where the future is now for AEW, and with Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland on the mend, this is a critical moment for the company. For years we have asked for the youth to step up and assert themselves. We have rolled our eyes with mostly every Chris Jericho title reign whether it was for the AEW or ROH championship. We have watched both their title reigns either be subject to a comedy act with a bad reveal, or frankly bad decision-making on title reigns ending in the case of Page. That landscape created the conditions for the necessity of Jon Moxley’s run from late 2024 to All In 2025.

Now with the year nearing the fall months, with Mox’s mission for AEW seemingly complete, we find him in the upper-midcard closing out his feud with Darby Allin. With the year nearing its end, we’re starting to hear rumblings of Jericho potentially not returning to AEW. The old guard of AEW is finally taking a backseat from the world title picture as Kenny Omega has for example, and possibly the company as a whole. That creates a vacuum at the top of the card that is more apparent with Swerve and Ospreay both out for the rest of 2025 and likely beyond.

Hangman and MJF have almost always been central figures in AEW. I believe it was some point in the middle of last year when the company began having them interact a little more on TV during backstage segments. Prior to that, aside from their match at Revolution, Page and MJF had not wrestled a match together since a 2020 6-man match between the Inner Circle and the Dark Order that also featured Alex Reynolds, John Silver, Santana and Ortiz. Think about that for a moment — two prominent characters/wrestlers orbiting the world title had not wrestled in over four years. The “why” is simple, and their Revolution matchup is truly the prologue to a story that truly began at Forbidden Door.

AEW has been slow-brew building this feud for the last several years, sprinkling those backstage moments onto the programs to prepare for the execution. It’s a fair argument to say neither character was prepared for the gravity of what an Page-MJF feud needs to be and what story beats it needs to hit. That becomes especially true when you consider that aside from them being mentioned in the same breath when discussing AEW’s future, their 2024s were riddled with Page losing his way only to find redemption while MJF needed to rediscover his inner prickish assholery. Attaching any labels of greatness to their feud is beyond premature, but for what it is, the company needed to get its ducks in a row before they could do what may become a company-defining storyline if done right.

Forbidden Door

Their match at Forbidden Door was a classic example of the heel throwing everything at the babyface champion in a dastardly effort to steal the championship. Despite those efforts, MJF lost on the back of his own failings, and with an assist from Mark Briscoe. Although the 31-minute match was a hard fought win for Page, the aftermath feels more like a first chapter coming to a close rather than an ending. Their story has only begun.

I think there are two pieces of evidence to outline where this storyline is heading. First, MJF’s volatile backstage segment depicted an enraged MJF hellbent on regaining his AEW world championship. The post-Forbidden Door tirade made it clear that even though Friedman’s contract cash-in now requires notice, his intent is to still pry the title from Page’s preferably dead hands. Secondly, he made it clear that he is coming for Page’s soul. That feels like a little more abstract of a statement considering the year Hangman had leading up to his title win. Coupled together it’s clear the company has no intention of keeping them separate for another four years.

That phrasing of the “soul” is interesting because that calls back to the Swerve-Hangman feud where the very fabric of who Page is was broken down and reassembled like a shattered vase. It’s very accurate to say Page was on a villain arc throughout 2024. Although that ended with Page finding redemption prior to his return to the top, the question we have to wonder with where this story can go is how shaky the ground is that he’s standing in. His foundation has never been strong as a character, and narratively a driven MJF running on pure conviction is probably the most dangerous character in AEW.

The present versions of Hangman and MJF are the most evolved iterations of their characters. Considering that, it allows the company to tell more evolved stories with them as centrepieces. Although it’s still early it’s worth thinking about their endgame and how this forthcoming feud will materialize. We’d then have to consider the point, and where that’s going to leave the characters in the aftermath of their next chapter. The answer to that can be two-fold. Firstly, I think when the time is ripe MJF is going to win the title from Page. I don’t think that’s a ridiculous prediction because considering what their story beats are it makes sense. Secondly, although I don’t think that’s going to be imminent, once the slow burn is complete and MJF wins, it also won’t be the end of their feud.

The trajectory they are on allows them to feud almost endlessly for the AEW title. Their feuds will have peaks and valleys, lulls and booms, and it will work because their character traits make them complete polar opposites. They are near perfect foils to each other. Their relationship is very much Superman-Luthor-esque, although perhaps Hangman’s Superman is more like Henry Cavill’s “snap happy” version? The traits are there though. Page’s hero means well, stands by his convictions and is also very prone to his flaws and failures despite his successes. Conversely, MJF is a true villain with little remorse for the cattle in front of him. It’s those character beats that I think will lead to him winning the title at some point in the next six months.

MJF saying that he was coming for Hangman’s soul implies he will do anything to regain his lost property. If you consider that for a moment, that means over and above what he already attempted at Forbidden Door. That means beyond the conventional MJF chicanery. I think that’s where the ending of Wednesday’s Dynamite might come into play.

Hangman’s Second Championship Reign

At this moment Hangman Page has been AEW champion for about 47 days. If we were to run with a 6-month time span for his reign, that would put him around 220+ days. In terms of AEW’s calendar, that would approximately be when Revolution would be held (February to March). I would doubt this reign lasts until February. The length of their feud is another matter, but this Hangman reign probably doesn’t make it that far. The hows and whys of how we get there are anyone’s guess, but I think incorporating the Don Callis Family into the mix is deliberate and part of the bigger story.

First let’s talk about the title reign, or reigns in general. Title runs are defined by the opponents and how the champion either falls to them or fights them off. Together those defences, and eventually the losses, define how we judge the value of their championship reigns. For example, if we look at something like Roman Reigns’ most recent run at the top, that reign was defined both by its length and the calibre of his opponents. Additionally to that, we associate the Bloodline story, Cody Rhodes’ story, the Usos+Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens’ repeated challenges with him. On those merits we had a run that incorporated huge swathes of the roster, treated Reigns as the centrepiece and built multiple stories off the reign that are still rippling today. It’s difficult to find a similar modern reign that hits those points AND lasted even a fraction of the time.

Even though you can fairly argue that Reigns’ run sputtered toward the end, it’s a good measuring stick for what you can do with a title reign. His reign is one that is not easily matched; I certainly don’t think we’re going to see something similar from Page and MJF. However, Roman Reigns highlights how a simple story can branch off, become more complex and evolve. That aspect of the arc is something I think Page and MJF can touch on. In this scenario Don Callis’ Family stands in for Reigns’ challengers, and I think they will make up most of Page’s challengers.

Callis coming out on Dynamite to declare the AEW title was going to be coming home to the Family is not a coincidence. If we look at who is available, Lance Archer and Page have history, so that is one defence. Josh Alexander is a fresh, underrated matchup that will deliver. You could perhaps throw Kyle Fletcher in the mix, but given his own comments about the world title after Forbidden Door that wouldn’t make the most sense to pursue. A match with Hechicero on a CMLL show could work. Beyond those, I think the two big “Family” matches are Takeshita and Okada.

In all of those scenarios Page would be coming out on top. Each match builds the Family feud, starting with something as simple as Archer and ending with either Takeshita or Okada to position Page in a strong place. You can very easily milk this Callis dynamic for at least five defences if you exclude Fletcher, and then also account for other AEW wrestlers that might get a shot. That can play out a number of ways, but between now and December AEW has these shows scheduled:

• All Out
• WrestleDream
• Full Gear
• World’s End

Beyond those four, we can assume they will run TV specials such as a Grand Slam, Winter is Coming, etc. AEW has a lot of runway for Page to rip through the family that he should beat. Where Okada and Takeshita are concerned that’s murkier. Both are generational Japanese talents that pose different threats to Page, but I don’t think either beats him for the title. With them I can see both going to draws, especially if Takeshita is holding the IWGP title after Oct. 13. Conversely, since it seems there could be some tension between the Japanese stars (Wrestle Kingdom main event? *shrug*), they could also get in each other’s way. In either case pitting them against Page gets tricky if all three are holding championships, which is where the draws become valuable.

Regardless of how this materializes, with or without a match against the returning Wardlow, Page should run the gauntlet of the Callis Family.

The Second Coming of MJF

Let’s take a step back a bit to the beginning of his storyline with the Hurt Syndicate. At the outset his purpose was to find backup because he realized it was an absolute necessity in the present AEW landscape. That was the impetus. I assumed that was going to lead to a rekindling with FTR and maybe Alex Hammerstone arriving in AEW, but now I’m less sure.

With the Hurt Syndicate and his failed title challenge in the past, MJF is again by himself. However, with his promo making his intent to claim Page’s soul clear, his resolve and disdain are more heightened than ever. We are certainly in a moment where his character is as vile as it’s ever been. Coupled with a degree of desperation, we have to ask ourselves if the endgame is MJF joining the Callis family if it means reclaiming the championship.

Imagine what an MJF-Callis partnership looks like. It’s nauseating, right? And that’s why it would work, and considering what we have in front of us it is a plausible end to Page’s second AEW title reign. Additionally so, while Takeshita and Okada are amazing talents, their association with Callis doesn’t hit the same way MJF being a member does. They are all alphas in their own right, but the value of a potential MJF-Callis alignment is that where Takeshita and Okada need Callis as their mouthpiece, MJF doesn’t. That element alone increases the visual value of the Family on AEW television. Even as a second-rate Heenan Family knockoff, Callis’ troupe aligned with MJF at the top of AEW gives the company a new post-Mox antagonistic crew orbiting and protecting the AEW title.

Any one of these pieces placed on the table is innocuous, with Page appearing to believe he was just dealing with Callis as any babyface would. However, considering their Forbidden Door bout was their first real match as their most evolved selves, their comments post-match, MJF’s obsession with backup and regaining his title, combined with Callis interjecting in Page’s business to proclaim he was going to bring the title back to the family; an MJF alignment with Callis is realistic.

Hangman Page and MJF are at the top of the card. From the point that AEW began, many could have predicted that we were going to end up with these two battling over the AEW championship. Their personalities naturally put them at odds in an organic way that works, and from my perspective it’s the type of dynamic where their war can be unending. Now that we have arrived, it’s become apparent how that paradigm could shake out.

Even though a Page loss to MJF shouldn’t be the end of their feud should it happen, an MJF win signals the evolution of the AEW main event scene that focuses on its two most important founding pieces. The timing of that is any one’s guess, but I think it’s an eventuality that MJF wins his second AEW championship with a possible assist from Callis. Page and MJF are too important to AEW programming, and considering how prominent and consistently featured Callis’ group are, everything lines up to serve that potential result.