Dream Match: AJ Styles Vs. Hangman Adam Page

To set the stage for a dream match like AJ Styles vs. Hangman Page, you have to have some sort of story to get people interested, and fortunately, Styles and Page have similar pasts.

From 2014 to the start of 2016, Styles wasn’t just a member of Bullet Club in New Japan Pro Wrestling, he was the ace of the faction. He won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on two occasions while leading the faction to heights never thought possible for a wrestling group not affiliated with WWE at the time, but he was ousted from the group in January 2016 at the hands of Kenny Omega. Four months after Styles was kicked out of Bullet Club, Hangman Page joined the group as part of the ROH side of things before quickly transitioning into a fully fledged member when he started appearing in NJPW.

Page would eventually become a member of The Elite with the likes of Omega, Cody Rhodes, and The Young Bucks as a sub-group of Bullet Club that blossomed into its own faction, which in turn led to the creation of All Elite Wrestling. When people really stop to think about it, AEW probably wouldn’t exist without Bullet Club, which also means that technically speaking, AEW as a company might not exist if it wasn’t for someone like AJ Styles. Sure, Styles wasn’t the man to create group, that honor goes to Prince “Finn Balor” Devitt, but Styles was the face of the group when it was at its hottest. The Elite’s success came much later and was seen as its own thing, but when Bullet Club was firing on all cylinders, it was Styles leading the pack.

With this foundation already set in place, you can envision a situation where Page almost sees Styles using AEW as a way to get one last run in the spotlight when he really doesn’t need it, only for Styles to throw that notion back in Page’s face by explaining that, at its core, AEW wouldn’t exist with Styles. If AEW doesn’t exist, Page doesn’t become one of the biggest names in the business, meaning that without an AJ Styles there would be no “Cowboy S***,” there would be no main character, there would be no Hangman Page. 

You don’t have to have Styles come in and be an invader or anything, you can just have him come in and be angry at the fact that when Page talks about how important AEW is to wrestling, Styles gets none of the credit. Styles can say that AEW was a company built on the back of his personal success, even Page’s success in AEW and before it in Bullet Club wouldn’t be possible without him. It sets the stage for more than just a dream match in the ring, it sets up a story that actually has some substance.