After four and a half hours and nearly a dozen matches, I wrote an article to review the AEW Full Gear pay-per-view, a mixed bag of what you’ve come to expect from the Khan-owned promotion, earlier this week. Considering how lengthy the shows themselves inevitably are, I at least attempt to keep the columns to review them a more reasonable length so I often try to contain those write-ups to the broadcast itself.
However, considering the title switch, the heel turn, and the return in the main event segment, you have to wonder, was the rather abrupt change in direction the right move?
More than anything, the conclusion of the Full Gear event puts Adam Page 0-2 in terms of world title runs, and I think it’s fair to question, at least at this point, if he’s truly capable of being a main event guy? Sure, some of the fumbles, particularly in his initial title run a few years ago, put him at the mercy of questionable booking decisions, but that’s ultimately a part of any champion’s tenure at the top of the card. When Page originally won the title in 2021, it was at a time when the company still had a lot of momentum, with the addition of CM Punk, Adam Cole, and Bryan Danielson added to the roster within the span of a month. Taking into account where those three stars are today essentially tells the story of why AEW’s viewership dropped 40% over the past few years. Adam Page’s first title defense against the previously mentioned Danielson was a draw and nothing is more indifferent, which is the completely opposite of how to push a star, than a draw. Hangman’s whiny promos, including the segment that lead to CM Punk infamously blowing his stack at a press conference that led to a decline in momentum for the promotion, didn’t make him an admirable champion. His mic work over the course of the six months that he originally had the belt framed him as a whiny character, which created a disconnect with the fans in the role of the baby face champion.
As a way to further cement his middle of the road status, again the opposite of a position to draw money, he was booked in the odd feud with Swerve Strickland where he was switched from baby face to heel back to baby face, and again it left the fans with a convoluted narrative. The original formula worked because it was simple and easy to understand, Adam Page was the blue collar cowboy that wouldn’t make down from a fight. This is pro wrestling, not Shakespeare. Adam Page was in the main event of the first AEW pay-per-view, and there’s a reason that there was eventually a decline in his popularity when the booking strayed away from that original persona.
Fast forward almost four years and Hangman might not have been in the most popular position in his career, but the fans were looking for anyone to put an end to the drek of the Death Riders angle so when Page beat Moxley at All In Texas in July, it was theoretically a way to reignite his status as the world champion. Once again and less than three months later, Page’s title reign was undistinguished. In some ways, you could say that the rug was pulled out from under him with only three months as the world champion, but even a look at the booking of his challengers during that time didn’t necessarily put him in the spotlight as the top guy in the company. That brings up the question, was Hangman designed to be a transitional champion or did Tony change course based on lack of measurable results?
Page beat MJF at Forbidden Door, which was a lukewarm feud at best at the time, and I’m not sure the victory meant all that much in the big picture anyway because Friedman is more or less a part-timer now that isn’t nearly as over now as he was three or four years ago. He beat Kyle Fletcher at All Out with less than two weeks of build behind it so how much importance did it really have? That being said, I wrote it at the time and I still say even more so now that Page dropped the title anyway that Fletcher should’ve won the championship at All Out as a way to freshen up the main event scene. Don’t get me wrong, Page and Fletcher had a very solid main event bout in September, but we’re taking about overall perception as a commodity to the company, not star ratings. If Page was going to lose the title in a short reign, Fletcher should’ve been the guy to truly give an opportunity as the champion with the chance to rejuvenate the organization with new faces at the top of the card.
After that Page defeated Samoa Joe at Wrestle Dream, but that contest was secondary to the Darby Allin/Jon Moxley fiasco that was the main event of the card. So, at what point since Page won the title at All In Texas has Adam Page really been spotlighted as the top guy in the company? He hasn’t and at this point, he doesn’t have much of a direction as a character because there was the half-hearted attempt at a heel turn during the Swerve storyline. Scenarios like this where a talent is rather rudderless is one of the results of the trademark slapstick booking the company is known for.
The title switch was prompted by the Hook heel turn, and as I said briefly in the review of the cage match, taking into account that he was on the shelf with an injury previously and hasn’t done anything of major importance since he returned to the organization, I don’t know if Hook turning heel is a meaningful angle. The reason being is rather simple, there was a short period of time where Hook was organically very popular with the AEW fan base, but nothing was done to significantly capitalize on it so he settled in as just another name of the roster before the injury sidelined him. In short, I’d have to say that I think Hook has a much better chance of developing as a star in the NXT system. I don’t see this specific heel turn as anything that will result in something that boost his profile in the company. If you need a comparison, look how many times, Wardlow was repackaged in an attempt to “capitalize on his potential” before a torn pec sidelined his most recent comeback to the ring.
At 46, Samoa Joe is undoubtedly at the latter stages of his career, but that’s not to say that he can’t be a successful champion. In fact, Joe has built a career on credibility. Make no mistake about it, after being a head of his time in many ways throughout the majority of his career, Samoa Joe is finally getting the credit he deserves for the role he had in shaping the direction of the industry in the early-2000s. That being said, the whole thing just seems rather random that Tony decided to give Samoa Joe the world title at this point, specifically after he was more or less a transitional champion two years ago. However, the return of Swerve Strickland from knee surgery could provide an answer, maybe Joe was given the belt to be able to be used in the transitional champion role again?
Despite his consistent exposure of All Elite programming, I’m still not completely sure what Swerve’s character is supposed to be, but given that it’s a Tony Khan production, maybe that doesn’t matter. The much bigger point is if Tony wants Swerve to be the guy, especially with Will Ospreay still recovering from neck surgery, there’s definitely a case to be made for that. However, the key will be how Swerve’s possible journey back to the belt is booked and promoted. Swerve was already the champion and it didn’t boost the company so what will Khan book this time to maximize the circumstances that could promote him as champion? That’s not to take anything away from Swerve’s talent, but rather to point out that his second reign as champion, if that’s the direction of the organization, can’t be a carbon copy of his first run.
As we near the conclusion of 2025, it creates a natural point to take stock of the promotion, and truth be told, the majority of this year was the audience waiting for the Death Riders angle to be over, but we just saw the payoff to that, Hangman’s title reign, get snuffed out within three months so as of right now, it’s fair to say that this has more or less been another stagnant year for the company.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
