"Hangman" Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland: The Feud
So, βHangmanβ Adam Page. Heβs worked his way up to the top of AEW, it was a long and beautiful story, he struggled with drink, self-worth, personal relationships, all because wrestling was everything to him, but he managed to become World Champion! He eventually lost this title, but he kept on fighting, and even welcomed his first child before this. His stock had really risen in the last few years even when it looked like it wouldnβt. His thing is also that he does βCowboy Shitβ.
Enter: Swerve Strickland. Heβs genuinely connected in the music industry, but wrestling has long been his main thing. He had tag team success as the mischievous partner of a very virtuous man named Keith Lee, but he had since fully embraced his evil side. He joined up with manager Prince Nana and his team of baddies to form the Mogul Embassy, and has long had the single-minded goal of becoming AEW World Champion. A storyline last summer saw him break into 18-year-old wrestling prodigy Nick Wayneβs house and leave him extremely injured, it was very brutal. His thing is also that he says βWhose house?β and everyone says βSwerveβs Houseβ and his manager does a little dance to his music.
One year ago, Swerve confronted Hangman on TV. He laments why Hangman is not still on top of the company, not main eventing, not winning world titles, not getting new merchβ¦ and accuses Hangman of not trying anymore. Swerve says he would not get so comfortable in Hangmanβs spot, and if he had got his opportunities he would have never let go. He said Hangman had a choice: walk off into the sunset, or show him just what he is made of.
The feud would escalate after these harsh words from Strickland. His stablemates would attack Page for him, who Hangman and friends, The Young Bucks, would defeat for their ROH World 6-Man Titles in turn. Swerve would continue to get under the skin of Hangman, trying to bring everything he can out of him. Repeatedly invoking the name of Pageβs family, Swerve would even tell him:
βDonβt worry about your kids. Donβt worry about your job. Donβt worry about your wife. βCause youβre gonna need an empty mind.βΒ
Swerve and Hangman would meet to sign the contract for a match at WrestleDream 2023, where the cowboy would even stab Swerveβs hand with a pen. The stage was set.
βI had a fiance. I got rid of her for this! I had a family! I got rid of them for this!β -Swerve Strickland
This would be a hate-filled match which proved to be a real treat for the fans. Both men unleashed vitriolic attacks on one another, each trying to destroy the other. As the fighting continued, the fans definitely acquired a certain respect for the villainous Strickland even as he beat the peopleβs hero Hangman Adam Page.
Β It would all come to a head when Prince Nana, Swerveβs manager, involved himself in the match to save his client from defeat. This would lead to the referee ejecting Nana, but what he failed to notice was that he was without his crown as he did so. With the referee preoccupied, Swerve smashed the crown into Hangmanβs face as he leapt in with a Buckshot Lariat, delivered a pair of House Call (running leaping kicks to the head) and a JML Driver to defeat Hangman Page. Indisputably the biggest win of Swerveβs AEW career.
Following this massive win, Swerve had the resumΓ© to move up into title contention and would soon receive a chance to challenge for the TNT Championship on TV. As he tried to again implement the crown and earn this shot, Page would reemerge to prevent this. Swerve would subsequently lose his match as a result, which certainly didnβt sit right with him, and he is not a man you want to be on the bad side of.Β
βYou could have challenged for the World Championship, but what you decided to do instead was the biggest mistake you have made in your sad, pathetic, and meaningless life.β - βHangmanβ Adam Page
With Page in the ring on live TV, Swerve would appear via video on the titantron in front of him. But Swerve wasnβt backstage: he was at Hangmanβs house. He and Prince Nana let themselves into the Page home, calmly and callously making their way through the house as they observed Hangmanβs personal life such as his young childβs first drawings hung up on the fridge. The moment that truly broke Hangman, however, was when Swerve approached the crib of Pageβs only child, letting him know just how close he could get to everything he loved. He would even leave one of his T-shirts as a reminder.Β
Knowing what Swerve was capable of, this sent Hangman into a rage, and it guaranteed that at Full Gear 2023 their Texas Death Match would be a truly violent affair. Hangman was of a single mind, and Swerve was happy to finally be done with Hangman.Β
This was one of my favourite matches in recent memory, with an array of notable and wince-worthy moments. There was Hangman stapling his sonβs drawing to Swerveβs face, amongst a barrage of other staples, and then there was Swerve beginning to laugh them off and start to staple himself for fun. There was a barbed wire chair, with barbed wire that would end up being wrapped around each manβs body. There was a cinder block which saw Hangmanβs head driven into it, and another delivered to his back. Splashes into broken glass, attacks from Swerveβs allies, and even choking with a chain. Oh, and donβt forget: lots of blood. Of all the visuals from this brutal battle, the most memorable was Hangman drinking in the blood that dripped from Swerveβs head and spitting it out into the sky.Β
In the end though, it would be Swerve who again got the best of his opponent, knocking out Hangman for the win. Swerve had defeated the former world champion for a second time, and earnt a lot of support from the AEW crowds for his fearless and entertaining matches.
Things would move on for Swerve, he would enter and nearly win the Continental Classic, and remain in the picture into the new year. The same couldnβt be said for Hangman, who was still hyper-focused on the man who he couldnβt beat, the man who had broken into his home, and the man who the fans were beginning to love despite it all. He vowed to never let him become World Champion.
Both men were unbeaten for the start of 2024, putting them each in contention for Samoa Joeβs AEW World Championship. With this predicament, a third match was announced for them to decide a Number One Contender in the main event of AEW TV. This was yet another tense encounter, with neither men wanting to let the other win, and both men knowing the other inside out. Swerve even planned to win without any help from his team at this point, but it was a struggle.Β
After 30 minutes, the designated time limit, neither man had defeated the other. A tired Swerve begged that this canβt happen, and asked the always determined Hangman if he agreed to five more minutes. Itβs tense, the energy is palpable, but Hangman is laughing. He tells his rival that he had to beat him tonight to become number one contender, and with a look of glee, he states that he failed before rolling out of the ring and leaving. Swerve appeared to have lost.
Following the draw, however, it would be announced that both men would challenge Samoa Joe at Revolution 2024 in a triple threat match! An irate Hangman vowed that if this must happen, he would ensure Swerve never became world champion. Strickland remained confident despite this, and champion Joe was far from pleased.
This was another intense encounter, with the hatred between the two playing perfectly to the championβs advantage. Swerve nearly had it won, but the virtuous Hangman would attack referees on two separate occasions to prevent them from counting a win for Swerve.Β
In the end, Hangman would find himself trapped in Joeβs Coquina Clutch. The fans and Swerve knew that Page had the heart to endure this, that he would never quitβ¦ until he tapped out. Samoa Joe would retain, and Swerve would lay heartbroken as his enemy gave up, and his dream seemed to fade away.
Hangman Adam Page would be suspended for his assaults on the referees, leaving him away from AEW for months. Swerve, in the meantime, would continue to garner support and rise back to facing Samoa Joe in the main event of Dynasty 2024, where he would finally achieve his goal. With Hangman gone, Swerve finally became AEW World Champion.
Time would pass until the summerβs Owen Hart Cup, where the winner would gain a shot at the AEW World Champion, Swerve Strickland. When the time came for the Wild Card to make his entrance, who else could it be but the championβs mortal enemy: Hangman Adam Page.
βI would give my blood, you know Iβd give my blood, Iβve done it a thousand times over, I will probably do it a thousand times over again! And I would spill every last drop that I have to win this and to take away from him and to burn his world down! He broke into my home! He threatened my family!β - Hangman Adam Page
Hangman would viciously and callously tear through his quarter-final and semi-final matches, reaching the final against the legendary Bryan Danielson looking to finally win the World Title. Page would take any chance to win this match, but all it took was a moment where his temper engulfed him for Danielson to pin his shoulders for three in a flash pin. Hangman had failed.
He had another chance to get his hands on Swerve though. His now-villainous old friends in The Elite needed a fifth man for the Blood and Guts match, a match Swerve was on the opposite team for. Upon his defeat, Page signed up immediately.Β
When his entrance finally came in this match, he was nowhere to be seen. The time passed, and now their opponentsβ final man would join the match: Swerve Strickland. With zero hesitation, Hangman would attack Swerve, beating him from pillar-to-post and handcuffing him to the cage. He only entered the match when he was threatened with suspensions and firing by The Elite, top brass in the company. The two would eventually continue to fight though, literally tearing in and out of the cage before plummeting off of the stage. This was far from over.
Swerve would continue to Wembley, where he would defend against Danielson. Meanwhile, Hangman still struggled to keep his head in the game despite his new aggressive and single-minded attitude, a mindset much like that of Swerve Strickland. He would take a loss to Darby Allin, and even fail to win the Casino Gauntlet match where he could earn another World Championship shot.Β
As Swerveβs Wembley defense came to an end, there was a disturbance in the crowd as a wild-eyed and angry Hangman emerged to try and cost Swerve his title. Security would take him down and the match would continue, but who knows how this affected the mind of the champion. With an impressive display, Danielson would defeat Strickland in this main event to become World Champion, leaving Swerve to recoup and target one man with his frustrations.Β
βI came out here to look you in your face and tell you: I feel sorry for youβ -Swerve Strickland
Swerve comes face-to-face with Hangman on TV, letting him know that his obsession, his anger, all it does is take him further from success and help Swerve to achieve it. Hangman had become everything he had accused Swerve of, but Hangman didnβt stand for this from Swerve. He tells him, he wants him on his own and he wants him on his kneesβ¦ like in a defeated way.
But Swerve reminds him of just how close he was to his family. He tells him that before Revolution, he drove up to Pageβs house again, and watched as he drove his pregnant wife to the hospital to deliver their second child. He said it was then that he realised that he shouldnβt be worried about Hangman Page, he didnβt need him, and that that was the man Page was meant to be, whilst he reached the top. He told Hangman once again to choose: keep hating him, and keep failing, or go back to being a family man who can succeed at his profession. The stage was set for a Steel Cage match at All Out 2024. However, there was one more stop on this roadβ¦
Having signed a lucrative new contract with AEW, Swerve Strickland recorded a meaningful video as he stood outside his beloved childhood home. He recounted how many beautiful memories he had there, and how it became foreclosed upon as his family struggled financially. Yet, now that he had reached such success, Swerve had a chance to reclaim his past. He announced he had purchased his childhood home in a wonderful moment for him.
That very evening on AEW TV, Swerve would find himself in the ring for the contract signing for All Out, where Hangman Page was meant to meet him in the ring. But there was no sign of the cowboyβ¦ until he appeared, via video, next to a front door. Hangman admitted that he had never been able to get to Swerve on a personal level. He couldnβt find out where he lived, he knew Swerve had left his fiance, his kids, he couldnβt find anything but wrestling: until he finally showed his weakness that very day. As he walked around Swerveβs childhood home, he berated Swerve for everything he had done, insulted his family, and crucially: he doused gasoline around the room.
With Swerveβs tortured screams ringing out in the arena, Hangman sat himself down in a chair outside the property. He said heβd made his choice, and that he would take everything from Swerve, so he better say goodbye to it all. Then, he lit a match, and told him to practise tonight by saying goodbye. Goodbye to Swerveβs House.Β
In a matter of seconds, Hangman was sitting before a raging inferno, as a similar feeling exploded within Swerve Strickland miles away. The only way this was going to end was at All Out 2024, nearly exactly a year since it began, in a steel cage.
βIβm going to take what is left of you. Iβm going to take your pride. Iβm going to take your dignity. Because you will be on your knees begging for my mercy, pleading for my forgiveness, but I will not give it to you.β -Hangman Adam Page
