[opinion] Hangman is AEW's best champion to date

[Canadian Dragon]

Might be a hot take to some, mild to others, but the more I'm pondering it, the more I have a hard time coming up with arguments against. In my humble opinion, Hangman Adam Page, even in his short reign, has had the best reign and has been booked the strongest. To add to that, since becoming world champion Adam Page has not had a single bad match, in fact, he's put on nothing but bangers.

Some data:

Hangman’s title reign has averaged: (from his win over omega to now)

9.21 on Cagematch

And an of 4.93 Meltzer star rating (rounded up is 5 star average)

I included both metrics since obviously both are subjective, but with the add of Cagematch I believe we get a fairly deep pool of opinions, and all of them trend towards fantastic matches since his crowning moment. His next feud is with Adam Cole, I believe it will be a foregone conclusion we are getting a high quality match there as well. Now Hangman reign could end there, and I still think his reign would have been phenomenal. The feud going forward already is hinting at layers of Bullet Club influence as well, which Hangman was part of , and as they say, BC is FOR LIFE. We should be getting more of that multi layered booking with the history involved that can possibly lead to so many cool things : Kenny's return and who's side will he be on? Will he influence the possible cole hangman showdown at Revolution?What about Jay White? The Bucks? RedDragon? All these things are about to crash together and it's going to be EPIC.

Now I don't want to take away from previous champions either, as they did a lot for the earlier periods of AEW. Jericho was a fine champion and made Mox into a monster babyface when he was dethroned. Kenny's heel turn and run was legendary as well in its own right. But it also was a long period without fans and quite frankly, a different landscape in AEW. With AEW in it's second phase entering it's 3rd year, I feel Hangman Adam Page and his defenses so far have really elevated the World Title scene to a must see level (and so much praise needs to be given to his opponents, who have pushed him into a consistent 5 star performer on any given night) .

Anyways, that's my rant!

 

[Chris]

I think Moxley deserves a big nonquantifiable boost for the fact thay almost his entire reign was during the pandemic and you can credit him a lot for leading AEW through it when they could have just been spinning their wheels hoping things would go back to normal. That period was when I ended up switching over from NXT.

I'd still put Hangman at 2 at worst tho, I do agree it's been better than Kenny's reign so far and bless Jericho's heart

 

[Canadian Dragon]

Mox would be my close number 2 and his reign was good and had great stories (including that amazing feud with Kingston). He had a great run and man it's a shame we didn't have fans.

 

[Marty McFourth]

What I love most about Hangman thus far is the clear heart & determination in his title defenses. Not only is he booked as a strong fighting champion, but you can clearly see how much the title means to him every single time. It's very easy to like him. This past match with Lance Archer was crazy, and the man still came out on top.

 

[Canadian Dragon]

But on match quality I think Hangman is just the king right now. A bit of a hyperbole but they are kind of booking him very Okada-like?

 

[Cwalker]

I think Ambrose is Number 1 for now but Hangman has had a good run so far. Helps that he feels like a star that was created in AEW as opposed to the other 3 that have stellar reputations from elsewhere.

I think a hotter take is that by the time his reign is over, he’ll probably have had better matches than a guy like Omega.

 

[Canadian Dragon]

I think Ambrose is Number 1 for now but Hangman has had a good run so far. Helps that he feels like a star that was created in AEW as opposed to the other 3 that have stellar reputations from elsewhere.

I think a hotter take is that by the time his reign is over, he’ll probably have had better matches than a guy like Omega.

thats becoming hard to disagree with for sure. kenny gonna have his work cut out for him when healthy

 

[Hidden Blaze]

I personally enjoyed Omega’s a lot, and probably will be alone on thinking his is the best one, but Hangman has been pretty good as well. But as of right now I’d put in 3rd, closely behind Mox, but pretty far ahead of Jericho..actually the top 3 are pretty damn close honestly for me. If I was to give points.. 1st to 3rd would probably be about 1.5 points difference for me. So by the end, Hanger could maybe be the best for me

 

[Cwalker]

When it comes to AEW title matches, Omega is the standard bearer. That’s partially because Jericho really wasn’t that good(hasn’t been since Japan; just my opinion) and Ambrose is…Ambrose.

So as of right now, I think when it comes to working, Omega is the best Champion. But Hangman has had 3 bangers in 3 defenses so I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes the standard bearer really soon.

 

[Canadian Dragon]

When it comes to AEW title matches, Omega is the standard bearer. That’s partially because Jericho really wasn’t that good(hasn’t been since Japan; just my opinion) and Ambrose is…Ambrose.

So as of right now, I think when it comes to working, Omega is the best Champion. But Hangman has had 3 bangers in 3 defenses so I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes the standard bearer really soon.

4 if u count the title win too. he's batting 100 atm for sure

 

[Cwalker]

Wasn’t even thinking about the actual Championship win. So yes, 4 for 4.

 

[Roy Mustang]

Is this pure match quality or booking wise? Average match quality wise, it is number one for sure. Booking wise, I'd have it as the weakest so far but even then it's not bad, just been a bit mid due to him not being on TV much. However when he wrestles he is killing it each time

 

[Canadian Dragon]

I'd argue he's been booked stronger than any previous champ by a long shot unless you mean personal enjoyment of a feud. Kayfabe wise he's beaten the strongest booked dudes outside of mox . But his reign has also been top heavy in competition , archer being the outlier. Omega Danielson Cole is a pretty ridiculous run , all top guys