WINC Match Spotlight: Hangman Adam Page Vs. Kenny Omega, AEW Full Gear 2021

Welcome to WINC Match Spotlight, where we look at a single match in-depth to determine its strengths, its weaknesses, and its place in wrestling history. We still don't know who will walk out of the Texas Death Match at AEW All In 2025 with the AEW World Championship today, but the majority of the WINC staff believes it will be "Hangman" Adam Page, and we thought the occasion — if it occurs — merits a reflection on the last time Page won the AEW world title: when he defeated Kenny Omega in the main event of AEW Full Gear 2021.

Since the day AEW was first announced, Page has been one of the promotion's central characters, and he seemed immediately destined for an eventual world title run. However, after failing to become the first AEW World Champion in 2019, Page dealt with a series of ups and downs as he slowly came to terms with the ramifications of his loss and tried to work his way back up to the top. By November 2021, Page's former tag partner, Omega, had defeated Jon Moxley (ironically Hangman's opponent at All In 2025) to become champion, leading to an intensely personal feud between Page and the now-villainous Omega, which came to a head at Full Gear.

In many ways, this main event serves as the conclusion to AEW's first era as a promotion. Though CM Punk had arrived a few months prior, it was the dynamic between Omega and Page that dominated the company's first few years, and that storyline culminated here with Page's win. The landscape of the company would experience a seismic shift in the year that followed, but this match served as a perfect cap to the first act of AEW.

Going into the match, Page vs. Omega already had a "big fight feel," building off years of friendship-turned-animosity. While there could've been a more detailed video package to catch newer viewers up-to-date, the rest of the presentation served at getting across what a big deal this all was: would Page live up to his potential, or would Omega's year-long reign of terror continue with no formidable challenger in sight?

With Full Gear approaching the three-and-a-half-hour mark, Page received a cinematic entrance package that featured him riding through the streets on horseback as key moments from the last few years were projected above him. The wrestler (sans horse this time) then appeared in the arena and made his way down to the ring to await Omega, who arrived with his title, a handlebar moustache, and Don Callis at his side, and the match was ready to begin.

When the bell rang, Page and Omega started off at a normal pace, with the commentary team reminding the audience how well these two know each other. That becomes increasingly evident as the bout goes on, with both men continuously countering the other's offense. Things progressively escalate throughout the 25-minute match, and those who value in-ring work above anything else won't find anything to complain about here.

The highlight is a jaw-dropping Springboard Liger Bomb mid-way through the match that features Omega moving like a cannonball from corner to second rope as he drives Page into the mat. The whole first 15 minutes of this fight are excellent, and would be enough to list it as one of the promotion's best matches, but the home stretch and conclusion are truly what sets Page vs. Omega apart.

As the match continues to ramp up towards its conclusion, both competitors become visibly exhausted, yet still continue to counter move after move. It all builds to a moment that sees Nick and Matt Jackson of the Young Bucks make their way out to the ring, with the expectation that they'll help Omega retain. Instead, the brothers refrained from getting involved in the conflict between their friend and former friend. Matt gave a nod of his head to Page as Hangman landed his second Buckshot Lariat on Omega, pinning him to finally capture the AEW World Championship. It's a moment that still gave me chills watching it back nearly four years later.

Professional wrestling is a medium unlike any other. In its modern form, it takes inspiration from professional sports, live theater, serialized comic books, drag shows, and so much more. The phrase "long-term storytelling" is thrown around often when discussing pro wrestling online, and it's true that wrestling is particularly suited to spinning career-spanning narratives, but it isn't often executed the way it should be. I'm here to tell you that the Page-Omega storyline serves as one of the best modern examples of how to do "long-term storytelling" in wrestling.

Page and Omega are both performers who pay close attention to every decision they make in-character, both in and out of the ring. These choices, compounded over time, are what make up characters in wrestling; it's how we know that Page is a talented wrestler with all the potential in the world who constantly grapples with self-doubt, and that Omega is an athletic marvel who doesn't give up, even if it pushes his body to the limit. Because the wrestlers have such a strong grip on who their characters are, we the audience understand them as well, either consciously or viscerally.

The reason why this match works for me is that it exemplifies my ideal version of pro wrestling. It's two performers building off the shared history of their characters to create something new, using a main event world title match to serve as a definitive end to a chapter in their careers and putting on a damned good performance while doing it.