AEW has featured a few big angles to hype fans for pay-per-view confrontations. Adam “Hangman” Page and Swerve Strickland’s war may be over for now, but there were plenty of reasons to do battle.
Strickland recently opened up about the meaning behind breaking into Hangman Page’s house during his feud going into Full Gear, where the two tore each other apart in a Texas Death Match.
Swerve Speaks on Hangman’s House
Swerve Strickland reflected on his ongoing feud with ‘Hangman’ Adam Page. Over the past few months, Strickland and Page have been embroiled in a heated rivalry that has captivated the wrestling world.
In an interview with Fightful, Strickland discussed various aspects of his feud with Page, including its origins and development. He explained, “I honestly didn’t know where we were going to start, what was the baseline. Will Washington came up with the idea of, ‘Hey, we don’t know where you’re going following Wembley, but I have an idea of what I want to do with Swerve. I think you two right now, we need to get Hangman back in them singles—’ ‘Cause he was doing trios.” Strickland described Page as the main character of AEW and expressed his intention to challenge and disrupt Page’s purity.
Regarding his approach to the feud, Strickland likened it to adding iodine to pure water, gradually altering the character dynamics and storyline themes. He emphasized the importance of these elements in defining characters and shaping the narrative tone. Strickland also touched on the symbolism behind his entrance music, which he described as luring fans into a false sense of security before revealing darker undertones.
In particular, Strickland highlighted a symbolic reference to “Hangman’s house” in his actions, indicating a deliberate intrusion into Page’s personal and psychological space. Reflecting on his recent actions, Strickland acknowledged a period of introspection and contemplation about the consequences of his character’s evil deeds.
“It’s like a candy coated painting of things. Hangman is the elements of ‘I’m dragging you down to hell, we’ll see who comes out at the end of it.’ It seems like we both came out, but somebody came out differently. So I came out of it, ‘Oh, man. I think this evil, this resentment I’m holding inside of me is holding me back from achieving my goals.’ ‘Cause if you noticed, when I started doing that, the International title? I had it, lost it. The Continental Classic? I had it, I lost it. The TNT title opportunity. I had it and I lost it. The AEW World Title? I had it and I lost it. I was like, ‘Is this evil worth it?’ So now I’m kind of understanding, which goes back to the promo I cut this past week on TV. Am I supposed to play this role of the guy that gets close enough, but can’t get it done? Or maybe this is karma from all the bad I was doing. Maybe it’s what got me to there, but something more is gonna have to get me over the hump.”
Swerve & the AEW World Title
With two singles victories already under his belt, Strickland faced Page for the third time on the February 7 edition of Dynamite, resulting in a draw. Additionally, the duo, along with Samoa Joe, competed in a three-way match for the AEW World Championship at Revolution, which Joe emerged as World Champion once again.
We will have to see what Swerve Strickland is able to do in AEW. It stands to reason that he may be a future World Champion. If anything, you know that Tony Khan is booking him in a position where he has a ton of trust and attention.
SEScoops will have more on Swerve Strickland’s journey in AEW, and whatever happens next. Keep checking back for more updates and headlines that you need!