Adam Page Retains AEW World Championship in Texas Death Match, Gets a New Challenger in Adam Cole

By Connor Casey

"Hangman" Adam Page walked out of AEW Dynamite in Atlantic City this week still the AEW World Champion after a bloody Texas Death Match against Lance Archer. The pair started brawling backstage before either of their introductions and while Page initially had the advantage it was brought to a halt when Archer whacked him in mid-air with a trash can lid. Dan Lambert then hobbed on the apron and unscrewed the top turnbuckle from all four corners, making it impossible for Page to hit the Buckshot Lariat. 

Archer seemed to have the match won when he nailed a Blackout from inside the ring onto a set of ring steps placed on its side down on the floor. But as Page was pulled back into the ring he had a strand of barbed wire and used it to temporarily stop "The Muderhawk Monster." He then dropped it to the mat and as the referee bent down to pick it up, he vaulted over him to nail the Buckshot Lariat and send them both through a pair of tables propped up outside the ring. Page made it back into the ring to beat the 10-count in order to win.

Moments later Adam Cole walked down to the ring, grabbed the AEW World Championship and placed it on Hangman's shoulder, indicating he would be the next man up to challenge for the gold. Cole cut a promo on last week's AEW Rampage promising he'd be world champion and now finds himself at the top of the AEW singles rankings with a (technically) undefeated singles record.

Cole has talked in both promos and interviews about how he winds up being the top guy in every company he goes to. He's previously held championships and broken records in PWG, Ring of Honor and NXT.

"The big difference here is looking at AEW as a whole, objectively. The biggest thing AEW does so well is that whether you're in the first match, middle of the card, or main event; AEW does an excellent job of making every person feel special," Cole said on Rasslin back in December. "Whether you hold a title or not, a lot of people in the company feel like stars because they are and AEW does a great job of building talent in many different ways. For anyone who is concerned, if you just look at kind of where we're going -- I'm a member of The Elite, the number one heel faction in AEW. Between the matches that I've had with guys like Jungle Boy and the pay-per-view match we had. I've gone face-to-face with Hangman Adam Page. There are things happening to Adam Cole that I promise people are going to be very satisfied with, very happy with. At the end of the day, whether it's Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, NXT, or AEW...I always end up becoming the guy. This is not going to be any different, I promise you. No one has anything to worry about because I'm Adam Cole Bay Bay."

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