Hangman Page vs. Bryan Danielson, AEW Dynamite (12/15/2021)

This was for Page’s AEW World Title.

After spending his first match doing the work that both AEW and Kenny Omega failed to do for over two years in trying to present Omega as a best in the world level guy, it is now Bryan Danielson’s job once again to make up for what the promotion itself hasn’t quite been able to do on its own, with his goal this time being the creation of Adam Page as a main event entity.

If you’re reading this, I imagine you know that this goes to a one hour time limit draw.

That idea is nothing new for Bryan Danielson.

As many people know — especially many more annoying types acting as if Bryan’s been retired since 2014 or something — Bryan Danielson is no stranger to long matches. In part, Bryan Danielson made his name on longer matches. The Paul London match, multiple Samoa Joe ROH World Title matches, the seventy six minute clash against Austin Aries, a number of his ROH World Title matches, the list can go on. Some call him the greatest long match wrestler of all time, and while I don’t totally believe that, it’s something he has more practice with than just about anyone currently active in pro wrestling (count the others, you might not make it to one full hand).

I’m not quite going to say that this is better than every single one of those matches.

However, this is easily the best ever Bryan Danielson performance in a long match that there’s ever been.

Genuinely, a tour de force from the greatest professional wrestler of all time, not only putting on a more natural and convincing heel act than in those heralded mid 2000s matches (all the credit in the world to Bryan mechanically in those days, but the heel act in his ROH Title run often felt like a “look, I’m working heel!” bit, totally lacking in sincerity unless a next-level babyface like a Homicide or Nigel McGuinness in England was against him), but displaying a greater mastery of how to work matches like these against wrestlers like Page. Even when Bryan is called upon late in the match to have a hurt limb also as a heel, he manages to do what he couldn’t back in the day, and he sells it convincingly while never veering off into seeming sympathetic at all. It’s the performance of a man no longer needing to show he’s a Great Wrestler, instead radiating that out through such convincing and airtight work.

The things that have always been great about long Bryan matches are still great here. There’s a classic Bryan Danielson shell game approach to this, beginning by trying to take Page’s wind away with a lot of stomach and midsection work, before catching him slipping and going to the cut that presents itself and working on the arm. There’s also a stronger sense of character and story to this while presenting those familiar ideas, with them having a month’s worth of TV to set up Bryan not respecting Page an opponent and behaving the way he does as a result. Not that Bryan, being the greatest of all time, couldn’t get you to understand that immediately within the early stages of a match had they not had that, but it’s nice to have something like that with a little more flesh around it.

In general, the match is classic Bryan Danielson, only now performed with more confidence, more institutional support, and a more genuine feeling to it all.

The highlight of the entire match for Bryan isn’t working the ribs or working the cut. It’s not his bumping or the way he sets up Hanger for huge pops when he can do things like chop him or eventually hit the Buckshot Lariat.

It’s in the middle of a commercial break, when Page is being checked on by doctors for his cut, and Bryan Danielson has the time of his life with the crowd.

Jumping jacks and push ups at first to antagonize, before then playing with the reactions he draws and the smaller interactions with crowd members as a whole. Teasing the “YES” motion, only to stop short and give the finger in one of the greatest displays of a heel being withholding in wrestling history. My absolute favorite part was that eliciting a “FUCK YOU” chant, not rythmic in nature or anything and what feels like a genuine outpouring of anger, only for Bryan to pick up the speed on his jumping jacks to be in tune with the chant itself, only making it louder and more hostile.

Bryan Danielson is incredible here. A one of one performance in 2021, made all the more impressive by who he’s wrestling.

A friend of mine — someone whose fandom has largely fallen off since the mid 2010s, but who watched this and the big Bryan in AEW matches on hype alone — talked to me about this match a few hours after it happened, and said that it was like the old Bryan vs. Tyler Black matches, except if Tyler Black had a more human and welcoming and likeable sort of presence to them.

That probably isn’t totally fair to Adam Page, who is a good wrestler in the way Tyler wasn’t at that point (and if Page is a 1:1 of anyone, it feels more like what would happen if DDP never had the Diamond Cutter, but still improved like he did), but it’s not wrong.

His selling of the arm is far from bad or non-existent, but something about it doesn’t seem totally right. His cut’s insistence on closing up after a few minutes isn’t necessarily his fault, but it’s a weakness of the match that springs forth (or rather, that fails to) from his body and not Bryan’s. In general too, Hanger has the issue he always does, which is that he still doesn’t feel like a fully complete wrestler. A fun gimmick and good presence, but moreso a collection of pieces of offense. The sort of a guy who, as a wrestler, you describe through an expression of what moves he does more so than how he does them.

All the same, he has a certain quality to him that makes this fairly easy on Bryan, and makes something like this far more likely to succeed.

What works here from Page is less the offense and more the selling, carried forward less by anything he did mechanically, and moreso because everyone wanted to see him succeed. Like so many of the handpicked AEW acts, he doesn’t succeed because of technical brilliance or any one thing you can really point to mechanically (the least likeable babyface of them, Darby Allin, is naturally the exception here), but because there’s just something ABOUT HIM that works.

I want to see Adam Page win and succeed.

Every thing that happens in this match only solidifies that further. At no point here is Bryan Danielson admirable or cool, he never does anything I find myself wanting to applaud, and that’s in spite of him being the greatest of all time and one of my all-time favorites. People always used to talk up ROH Title run Bryan as “Flair-esque”, which never felt right, but in a recurring theme of that stuff vs. this match, it feels completely correct here. Completely convincing as the canon greatest wrestler of all time and best in the world, taking someone with a certain something, and gifting them something that packs as much of a punch as this does.

By the time Page finally reels off the Buckshot Lariat in the final minutes, after seeing it built up all match, something’s shifted. Nobody is ever wholly made as a top guy in one match, but at least in the arena and in this moment, Page comes a lot closer to feeling like one than he did an hour earlier.

Of course, it’s not a perfect match.

Hangman’s cut closes up and we’ll see in early 2022 how much more a real gusher can add to a classical title match like this. Some of the choices they make about placement aren’t ideal, and things like a big DVD nearfall feel like they happen too early, or something like a DDT on the concrete floor is reduced to being little more than another move when it should be a pretty big deal. Late in the match, when Bryan sells his hurt knee and Page his hurt arm, and they both sell after throwing kicks and clotheslines, it feels just a little over the top. Look at us, we’re selling, that sort of a thing. The way the match is constructed also, the majority of the pieces of this that feel necessary (Bryan’s shell game, blood, character work) come in at the start, with most of the less-than-necessary bits coming in the end, once everyone has largely figured out where this is going. There’s an energy lost somewhere around Bryan hurting his leg and Page’s table crash, which isn’t ever totally recaptured.

As with virtually every sixty minute draw, there comes a point when they have run out of things to do. I’ve yet to watch a single hour in wrestling where I thought to myself, “yes, all of that needed to happen”. Even the best ones. This is a match with forty to forty five minutes of great and near-essential work, and that’s pretty impressive. It’s also impressive that the stuff here that feels more like filler, like work on Bryan’s leg, works out as well as it does. Inessential, but never treated like it’s unimportant, and I think that’s an impressive distinction.

Flaws and all, it’s just such an incredible achievement.

An ultra-memorable piece of wrestling television, delivering one of the best matches of the year, but one that accomplishes something that feels real on top of that. Page is far stronger going out than he was coming in, the AEW World Title sees its first great match since Moxley/Kingston thirteen months prior, and Bryan Danielson puts the final stamp on one of the great comebacks ever.

Match of the Year is still just too strong given those flaws, but unquestionably in my mind, the home to the greatest performance in wrestling all year.

***1/2

Jay Briscoe vs. Adam Page, ROH Wrestling (10/21/2015)

This was a No Disqualification match.

It’s the end to another of these very fun smaller Ring of Honor storylines from the mid 2010s peak. After beating ACH in July and after Jay Briscoe was finally beaten in June, ambitious shithead Page tried to go after Briscoe. If you’ve seen wrestling, you’ve seen something like this before, but ROH makes better use of it than most by not having Page get funny about it or produce shirts saying PAGE – 2, BRISCOE – 0 or anything like that. Shit talk, a beatdown gained through unscrupulous means, and then a meeting where Jay can get his revenge.

Like the feud itself, the match is a wonderfully uncomplicated thing.

The weaknesses of this match are the ones that seem unavoidable. It’s on television, so they can only go so long and so far. It’s on one of those marathon ROH TV tapings, so while they can get the crowd into it, it’s hardly a white hot crowd like you could get at a normal or bigger show. It’s also a match like this in 2015 ROH, so despite every positive quality the match has, it’s denied the blood that always pushes matches with a story like this over the top.

However, great is great, even if there’s a lower ceiling on it than the thing deserves.

Page gets his ass kicked, but shows something and isn’t immediately destroyed. There’s a great progression from the Page/ACH match to this, as now Mark Briscoe stops the use of BJ Whitmer’s crutch at ringside, forcing Page to do it on his own. With ROH, you can never tell what’s one of their excruciatingly long term plans or what’s just circumstance, but the result is progression from the kid, saved for the spot where it would mean the most. Gaining an advantage cleanly on ACH would be fine, but it means more if he does it to Jay Briscoe, especially in a match like this. He still winds up getting destroyed by the end, but in another show of forward progress, he’s able to show some spirit RIGHT before the very end, only to be distracted by BJ Whitmer and Steve Corino bickering at commentary. Jay Briscoe is probably always capable of shutting him down at any point, but it’s here where it happens, meaning Page also gets the minor rub of being able to say it was only because of Whitmer, furthering their long overdue split.

The match’s plays on Page/ACH aren’t always forward though, which is also great. While Page beat ACH with the Rite of Passage off the apron and through a table, Jay Briscoe isn’t ACH. He’s able to get out of it through experience and invention, before hitting the god killer Jay Driller through a table and another back inside to win. Page’s gripe is ultimately a minor one. In the end, he wasn’t good enough yet to back it up, and got the beating he earned.

Mechanically, it’s yet another stellar Briscoe brawl.

Everything looks and sounds as nasty as possible. There’s some innovation, such as the Hangman’s Neckbreaker using a chair, or the way Briscoe escapes Hangman’s Rite of Passage off the apron near the end by grabbing a chair lying on the apron and using it, but it’s mostly all those comfortable routines. Chairs thrown into the face, a double stomp through a table, passionate punches thrown in a flurry outside, the Jay Driller through the table at the end. It’s nice and easy and feels incredibly good, and on top of the great match, it’s a wonderful quality for a match to have.

Another success from the ROH TV hit machine, one they’ll run back a few more times to greater success, as they do.

***

ACH vs. Adam Page, ROH Death Before Dishonor XIII (7/24/2015)

This was a No Disqualification match.

Once again, this match and feud delivers.

ACH puts forth another stellar performance. Great selling, both long and short term, and unfathomably smooth at all times. The crispest offense on the show yet (Roderick Strong is in the main event and Matt Sydal is not booked, to be fair) on top of that. Page is still a boy compared to ACH, but the stipulation of the match and the way 2015 ROH always seems to have the exact right read on what its various pet projects can handle is a significant help. ACH is talented enough and the match has just enough smoke and mirrors elements to it that all Page truly has to do is find the X on the stage at the right time, and he’s able to do that for the majority of this match.

As is often the case with ROH, the weapon use itself is fairly spartan. It’s the sort of thing that’s hurt big gimmick matches in the past because they’ve never felt quite as violent as they’re presented as, but for something like this and other midcard gems from this two year stretch, it’s exactly enough. Some cool chair stuff, spots on a slanted ladder in the corner, and then a big setpiece with a table to take it home. The only piece of this match that’s lacking is the finish, but only because it’s the end of the feud and not a fun mid-feud piece of bullshit like Moose and Cedric earlier in the show. It’s a great bullshit heel finish, but this wasn’t the spot for one of those, especially given that one had already happened earlier in the show.

With a table below on the floor, ACH goes up top. He has to fight Colby Corino away on the apron, and then BJ Whitmer slides Page a crutch that he uses to hit ACH in the head with on the top rope. Page follows that with the Rite of Passage, his reverse Tombstone Piledriver, off the apron and through the table, before rolling ACH inside and getting the pin to beat him a second time.

It’s a great match, but unfortunately it’s also an early blowoff to a very promising feud. In classic ROH fashion, there’s no real reason why. They’ll start-stop push Page for another year before he finally “gets” to be a Bullet Club lackey. ACH will have a great rivalry with Matt Sydal in the fall, but after that, he’ll never get the chance again. It’s easy to look at this and complain that ROH once again did ACH dirty by using him as a stepping stone for Adam Page, and that’s not wrong. The truth though is that they did them both real dirty by cutting this off the way that they did.

ROH is still a great company at this point, and a genuine contender for Promotion of the Year in 2015. In this match, however, one receives a great look at all the problems still present, and all of those that will bring the company right back down to Earth before too long.

***

ACH vs. Adam Page, ROH Conquest Tour: Hopkins (4/25/2015)

A banger????

This is a really fun feud, with young Page having a fair point that ACH always gets the big matches against outsiders despite never winning and that he should maybe get some of those chances, since he wins a lot on undercards and could use a chance. It’s a genuinely good argument, the sort of thing that everyone knows is wrong because ACH is a much better wrestler than him and guarantees a great match. Nobody can say that though because, you know, it’s a show and all of that. Page is also unnecessarily rude about it, making him one of the best sorts of heels, one with a fair point but who’s enough of a prick about it that it doesn’t matter.

It’s another great little undercard program from mid 2010s ROH, and the first match delivers.

It’s not something anyone should bring up at the end of the year, but it’s good and a little surprising given Page’s other output at this point. He’s not lighting the world on fire, but ACH doesn’t hold back at all in terms of high level offense, intensity, or pace, and Page hangs with him. Or at least, Page doesn’t get totally left in the dust. He throws him around, hits hard enough, and proves to be quite the little passenger himself. Nobody leaves this match thinking that ACH isn’t the best guy in it, but as one of the psychos who watched everything ROH did in 2014 and 2015, it’s the first time I ever thought that Page had something in him beyond being another holdover Cornette-era pet project.

Thankfully, the finish guarantees more, as Page avoids the 450 Splash before maneuvering the ref out of position so he can land a low mule kick for the win.

Perfect bullshit finish, as Page does it on his own while also totally stealing it. Nothing cool or fancy as an exclamation point either, just some real dirtbag shit that both draws some real ire from the crowd but also cements him as slippery and tricky entirely on his own, without any other Decade members.

Had this taken place on a ROH PPV or even a live stream, it might have been Page’s breakout match, or at least a match where people started to go “hey whoa, he’s actually good” instead of most people waiting another few years on that. Had it taken place in a company that was good at capitalizing on momentum, it might have led to an actual breakout match.

Of course, had any of those things been true to begin with, ACH wouldn’t be elevating Adam Page in the first place.

***

The Decade (BJ Whitmer/Adam Page) vs. Jonathan Gresham/Corey Hollis, ROH Winter Warriors Tour: Atlanta (2/21/2015)

A real fun little thing.

This is helped a lot by booking, as two local favorites have their match interrupted by the heels, and an impromptu tag team match breaks out. It’s nothing new, the wheel is the same as it ever was, but it’s fairly unexpected in a spot like this and done against a team of unsigned locals.

It’s the exact sort of match made or broken upon the performance(s) of the underneath guys, and thankfully, Gresham and Hollis are so much more than ready to make this match.

It helps that the match is short and that it mostly leaves Page in the ring with them, but it’s these two that make it. It’s two fired up and electric performances in front of the most receptive possible crowd for these exact performances from these exact wrestlers. Hollis kills it at the start and Gresham kills it at the end. With all due respect to total superstars in the role like Mark Briscoe or Roderick Strong, it’s Jonathan Gresham here who delivers the single best hot tag run since Daniel Bryan stopped wrestling The Shield. It’s clearly modeled on that, and Gresham does a tremendous job. It’s all fairly basic, simple young babyface hot tag stuff, but it just WORKS. It’s energetic and crisp and loud as hell, in the exact setting where they can make the most of it.

The match ends with an especially great sequence with Gresham against Page. Gresham proves himself, he could have had Whitmer beat a few times if he was legal, and he’s clearly working with more outright skill and know-how than anyone else in the match. Unfortunately, his barrier is also what stops this match from immediately putting him on the track to stardom, and it’s his size. Try as he might, succeed as he will, it’s simply a longer distance for him to the same point as everyone else. The finish is a perfect way to express that too, as following a series of close counts and nearfalls, they wind up with Page able to stand up with Jonathan Gresham in perfect position for his finish. Gresham didn’t do anything wrong, Page is just as smart and with an advantage Gresham will never have. Page hits his Rite of Passage reverse tombstone and gets The Decade to the pay window.

One of the most purely enjoyable things ROH put on in this entire two-year resurgent period.

Somehow, Gresham and Hollis aren’t immediately picked up and we don’t get a hundred Page vs. Gresham matches after this, but only one seven minute television match in 2016.

The most unbelievable thing here, beyond the good booking or hot crowd helping a fun little match along, is that Jonathan Gresham was on ROH’s radar for this long and it took until 2018 for them to even sort of start to see what they always had. ROH is hot now and unbelievably a genuinely good to great promotion, but failing to follow up on something this fun and great shows the same heart still deep underneath all of that new sheen and gloss.

***

The Decade (Roderick Strong/Jimmy Jacobs/BJ Whitmer) vs. Mark Briscoe/Cedric Alexander/Adam Page, ROH 12th Anniversary (2/21/2014)

An incredibly fun undercard match, featuring a lot of talent and then also BJ Whitmer, once again finding himself stumbling backwards into a good match because his guardian angel is there.

Your central stories here are Page being intimidated by the veterans en route to his eventual arc of being bullied into joining The Decade as their young buy, and Cedric Alexander being HOT at Roderick Strong, after Roddy made a big deal out of Cedric’s finish, like he’s the only one allowed to do backbreakers. Great veteran heel stuff. That gets much of the focus here, and it’s all good. They’re smart enough to hide Whitmer for the most part, and while he’s not killing himself out there in the second or third match on the show, Jacobs is tremendous in the supporting heel role. And once again, Roderick Strong delivers. Six months or so before people pretend some imaginary switch flips, like he hasn’t been great all along, he’s already a much better and more engaging heel than he was the last few times it’s been tried.

It helps that the opposition is as great as it is here.

Mark Briscoe is one of the best hot tags ever, and he shows it here and helps take the match from very good to genuinely great. Cedric lives up to the opportunity the feud presents him, and genuinely looks like he’s going to become one of the best wrestlers in the world in a year or two, if not within the next few months. Exciting offense, all super crisp, and performed not only with a lot of energy but in such a likeable way too. Page isn’t on the level of those two, but given the story here, he doesn’t have to be. He does a few things, but mostly gets eaten up. With a lack of tag experience, the good guys get picked off, leaving Page alone there with people he’s not only much less experienced than, but who he’s also clearly intimidated by. Beej and Jimmy beat him with the All Seeing Eye, their new tag finish, which is the sort of Dominator/Sliding Cutter deal that the MCMG used for a while.

An incredibly fun match that not only delivered in the ways that exciting undercard matches are supposed to, but one that furthered two different stories. Efficient pro wrestling. If it was the opener of the show, I’d call it a perfect example of opening match wrestling.

***