Adam Page Responds to Losing the AEW World Championship to CM Punk

“Hangman” Adam Page’s reign as AEW World Champion was brought to an end at 197 days on Sunday night at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view. With the referee temporarily knocked out late in the match, Page contemplated using the title belt to bash Punk across the face, but his conscience wouldn’t allow him to do so. He once again attempted a Buckshot Lariat, only for Punk to counter it into a GTS and pick up the victory to win AEW’s top prize. Page explained in the build-up to the match that he was defending all of AEW from Punk, only to then come up short. 

Page returned to social media on Tuesday, first by posting a photo from the event with lyrics from Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler,” — “and the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep.” He then posted a full statement on Twitter.

“I’ve had a while to reflect on my time as AEW champion now that it’s come to an end. thank you all, not for supporting me, but for supporting the vision. it’s not about the gold or the glory, it’s about the common love and dignity with which we treat each other.change the world.”

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Page’s time as champion included feuds with Bryan Danielson, Lance Archer and Adam Cole. While many of his matches were considered excellent, there were criticisms that he was overshadowed by other wrestlers and feuds (namely Punk vs. MJF) while champion. Despite that, Tony Khan claimed Page’s reign was his favorite. 

“I believe the top prize in all of pro wrestling, against the greatest champion we’ve had, Hangman Page,” he told Rasslin’ back in early May (h/t Wrestling Inc.). “The guy who knocked off Kenny Omega, he’s come in and he’s had, in my opinion, the best championship reign of anybody.”

As for Punk’s reign, the newly-crowned champion addressed his future during his post-show media scrum — “I think [Kazuchika] Okada, [Hiroshi] Tanahashi, [Will] Ospreay, guys like that I’m looking forward to stepping into the ring with. AEW talent — I always think number one with a bullet is going to be Bryan Danielson. I’ve never wrestled Jon Moxley — I’ve wrestled Dean Ambrose, so that’s an interesting match up. There’s still guys on my list that I’ve never wrestled with, Jungle Boy, Ricky Starks. I could probably finish out my career wrestling FTR every day for the rest of my life, and it could be different and fun every single time. Will Hobbs is another guy that I think has all the potential in the world.

“We’ve got a really stacked roster. It’s almost a crime that we can’t do everybody justice at once, but I think we’re getting there with baby steps. I think we’re learning. I think we make mistakes, but instead of dwelling on it and punishing other people or ourselves, I think we move on and try to learn from things. But Bryan Danielson will probably be the first guy that comes to mind. Very selfishly, I’d love to wrestle him,” Punk continued.