Why Hangman Adam Page is Winning at AEW All In (And Why He's Losing)

Jon Moxley's divisive AEW title reign has an obvious off ramp at All In. But will he actually lose the title?

When Jon Moxley beat Bryan Danielson to win the AEW World Championship at WrestleDream 2024, not many predicted that Hangman Adam Page would be the one to beat Moxley.

Hangman, one of AEW’s most important characters, had lost himself throughout the end of 2023 and 2024. This lead to his brutal match against Swerve Strickland at All Out 2024 in which Hangman beat Swerve with a chair shot to the head. Despite Swerve being thoroughly done, Hangman started to walk back down to the ring. Was he going to see if Swerve was okay? Do more damage to an already beaten opponent? We might never know, but that didn’t stop someone in the crowd from letting loose a bloodcurdling scream in fear.

The beginning of 2025 continued that trend for Page. He defeated Christopher Daniels in a Texas Death Match, retiring Daniels for good. This served as something of an inflection point. Over the last 4-5 months, inspired by the crowd’s support and out of a desire to right his wrongs, he’s turned back towards the light.

Now, Hangman is facing Moxley at All In 2025, AEW’s biggest North American show ever, in a Texas Death Match. He has a chance to finally win the title back and shed the pain and anger that has defined him through much of the past few years.

A cursory glance at social media shows that Hangman winning would be a wildly popular move. Moxley’s reign has been divisive, with fans frustrated by slow paced matches, confusing promos and feuds that seem to stretch on too long. But will Moxley finally lose the title? Here are some reasons why - and why not.

The Darby of it All (In)

“We’ve heard talk of Allin getting a run as champion no matter who wins [between Strickland and Danielson],” Dave Meltzer stated in the August 26th, 2024 edition of his Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

It’s this lone report from nearly a year ago that has driven the skepticism for Hangman’s chances. Darby was heavily involved in the Death Riders from the beginning. He had a title shot that he lost to Moxley at Grand Slam 2024. He was ringside when Moxley beat Danielson. Before Darby left to climb Mount Everest, he was written off the show after getting attacked by the Death Riders.

Darby’s heavy involvement in the beginning stages of this story, combined with the report from Meltzer, could be an indication that the long term plan is (or was?) for Darby to dethrone Moxley. Perhaps, this could even happen at WrestleDream 2025 in Darby’s hometown of Seattle, Washington a year after Moxley regained the title.

Darby, however, has not been seen on AEW programming in over six months. There haven’t been any significant reports about Darby’s title chances since the Meltzer reporting last year. The plan could still be a Darby title win, but perhaps his long stint away from the company to climb Mount Everest led to a change of plans?

The All In of it All

All In, heading into it’s third AEW edition, is the most important show in the company. The 2023 show ended with “Brochachos” AEW World Champ MJF and Adam Cole celebrating together as the broadcast went off the air.

The 2024 show ended with Bryan Danielson in the ring alongside his family after he finally won the AEW World Championship in another triumphant moment.

It follows that 2025 could end with another resolution: Hangman Adam Page removing the AEW World Championship from the briefcase in which it has been locked for months and celebrating with those who helped him get there.

Or, in an attempt to subvert expectations, it could end with Moxley beating Hangman - showing that anything can happen at All In and a babyface victory is not a guarantee.

The Cowboy and The Death Rider

Moxley and Hangman have a long history in AEW. They feuded throughout the end of 2022 and 2023 - first in a singles feud, and then again in a Blackpool Combat Club vs. Elite feud. These two clearly love working together, and in my opinion some of Moxley’s best work in recent years (especially during this run) have been his interactions with the Hangman. If Moxley has any sort of creative input in who he drops the title to (as Danielson allegedly did) it stands to reason that he would choose someone like Hangman, someone who he has long respected.

Looking back at their last two meetings in singles matches, Hangman beat Moxley at Revolution 2023, and Moxley won a four way match for the title in the main event of Worlds End 2024. Their record in one-on-one singles matches is 2-2. If you include the four way, Moxley is up 3-2.

This could be an indication that Hangman is getting the win, based on standard booking logic. It also might mean that Hangman is taking the loss, as he won the previous encounter featuring just he and Moxley.

Texas Death: It’s Like Poetry, It Rhymes

The Texas Death Match is Hangman’s signature match. He’s had five in his career, winning four. The only loss came against Swerve Strickland at Full Gear 2023, a match that changed both men’s characters forever.

It’s safe to assume that because of his history in such matches, he has an edge against Moxley. He beat Moxley in a Texas Death Match at Revolution 2023.

However, you can also look at it the other way: Hangman won the last one, and Moxley has been all about proving that his opponents don’t want the title enough. Moxley is quite comfortable in deathmatch environments, and beating AEW’s main character in his signature match could provide even more motivation for whoever ends up beating him in the future.

There’s also the Christopher Daniels match. As mentioned above, Page defeated Daniels in a Texas Death Match and ended his career. Page, when finding this out, went through a crisis of conscience and begun to realize that the person he had become was not filling the hole in his heart.

It would provide a meaningful subversion of that match. Against Daniels, Page called upon his violent side and ended a man’s career. In Texas Death against Moxley, he can call upon that same violent side to do some good and finally get the AEW Men’s World Championship out of the clutches of the Death Riders.

The Swerve Strickland Situation

From my perspective, Hangman Adam Page and Swerve Strickland’s rivalry is amongst the best of this decade so far. Both Hangman and Swerve resorted to truly abhorrent actions in order to gain a perceived edge over their opponent. Swerve broke into Hangman’s house, and Hangman burnt down Swerve’s childhood home.

Ultimately, however, both wrestler learned that doing whatever it took to get ahead was not the answer; there was a way to be a good person and achieve your goals. Swerve achieved his at Dynasty 2024, winning the AEW World Championship for the first time.

In the last few months, we have seen Hangman come to the same realization. In a surprisingly emotional moment for professional wrestling, Swerve admitted to Hangman that he went too far. While Hangman has been slower to come to this conclusion, it seems he has finally gotten there in recent weeks.

We’re going to see Swerve involved in this match at All In. He and Will Ospreay also have a match against The Young Bucks with major stakes: if the former team loses, they won’t be able to challenge for the world title for a full year.

The question here is twofold. Will Swerve help Page? If the answer is yes, Hangman will almost definitely win the title. These long time rivals getting on the same page, even for a second, would be a huge moment for the company. Swerve could also let the past take the wheel, and refuse to help or even actively cause Hangman to lose.

The second part of this question looks at All In as a whole from a booking perspective. Ospreay and Swerve losing the match against The Young Bucks would provide AEW a good reason to keep Swerve away from Hangman if the latter wins the title and open up some new challengers for the belt.

This could, however, create a situation in which a despondent, frustrated Swerve refuses to help Hangman when he needs it. Or he could help Hangman despite the loss against the Bucks, which might be even more impactful.

Should Hangman Win?

This match represents one of the more unpredictable main events in AEW’s history. I’m not sure who will win, but from my perspective Hangman winning the AEW World Championship is absolutely the right call.

Of course a huge part of that is the narrative reasons I have outlined above. But the most important part of it is not related to the narrative at all. AEW has been on something of a hot streak perception-wise in recent months. New fans have jumped on board or returned to watching the promotion and the vibes seem better than they have in some time.

The company’s biggest stars coming together to help Page win it all would provide reinforcement of that burgeoning company support. It would show these new or returning fans that investment in the company is worth it. It would be a feel-good moment to pay off the good vibes. Hangman’s arc has been such a key part of AEW in this new era and the fans deserve a title win as much as he does.