At Full Gear 2021, Adam Page successfully won the AEW World Championship for the first time. He beat Kenny Omega in a five-star match in the main event of the show, completing an arch that began with his most crushing defeat at All Out 2019. It was there that he lost to Chris Jericho, in the bout that Le Champion became the first ever AEW Champion.
Since that iconic moment, Adam Page immediately began defending his AEW Championship in a wide variety of matches. With opponents like Dante Martin, Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole, his title defenses are among some of the best in AEW history and have earned him the title of the best AEW Champion ever (to many).
Whether it be Texas Death Matches, classic singles matches or sixty-minute draws, the variety and quality of Adam Page’s title defenses showcase Hangman’s incredible skills in the ring, as well as his ability to carry a feud when given the chance as the AEW Champion.
Here is every AEW World Championship defense by Adam Page, as we rank ever title defense by Hangman Page during his 197-day reign as champion, with six iconic title defenses to look at.
Learn more about Adam Page’s best matches.
Adam Page vs Bryan Danielson (AEW Winter in Coming 2021)
Adam Page’s first title defense as the AEW Champion was a dream match that fans could not be more excited for, and his bout with Bryan Danielson did not disappoint.
Danielson had a penchant for kicking heads in, and he put that skill to great use in the build up to his bout with Page. He systematically decimated the Dark Order en route to Winter is Coming, facing each member in their hometown and, in his own words, kicking their heads in.
Danielson turned himself into the ultimate heel on the run-up to the bout, luckily up against the ultimate babyface Adam Page. Page had recently defeated Kenny Omega for the AEW Championship at Full Gear, completed a near three-year arch to become the top face in AEW. Unfortunately, Danielson was determined to end that reign and slot himself on the top of AEW.
Their match was highly anticipated, but blew expectations out of the water. They opened the show on AEW Dynamite, and to the surprise of everybody could not decide a winner. The pair fought tooth and nail for 60 minutes, ending in a time limit draw after Adam Page almost knocked Bryan Danielson’s head off with a Buckshot Lariat. However, he could not capitalize, and the bell would ring before he managed to cover the challenger and win the match.
This was also the longest match in AEW history.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating – 5 Stars
- Cagematch Rating – 9.55
- Atletifo Rating – 5 Stars
Adam Page vs Bryan Danielson II (AEW Dynamite 5/1/2022)
The rematch between Bryan Danielson and Adam Page came just weeks after the first, on the debut episode of AEW Dynamite on TBS. Knowing that he couldn’t match Danielson in the cardio department, Page came flying out the gates, trying to take out Danielson as fast as he possibly could.
It wouldn’t be that easy, of course. The pair went half an hour in this match (giving them a total of 90-minutes ring time in just two matches), and increased the brutality and violence of the first one. Both men bled early on in the match, with a flurry of punches and kicks opening them up straight away.
The match had some incredible sequences, and despite an anticlimactic ending was a fantastic match that only narrowly avoided the majesty of their previous encounter.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating – 4.75 Stars
- Cagematch Rating – 9.43
- Atletifo Rating – 5 Stars
Adam Page vs Lance Archer (AEW Dynamite 2/9/2022)
Adam Page’s second opponent in his series of AEW title defenses was Lance Archer, and he faced him in an iconic Texas Death Match on AEW Dynamite.
After the conclusion of his feud with Bryan Danielson, Adam Page turned to his next challenger for the AEW Championship. He fought Lance Archer, who won the first Texas Death Match against Jon Moxley in the year prior. In this one, he attempted to win the world title on the February 9th, 2022 episode of AEW Dynamite.
The match had one of the most innovative finish ever. Lance Archer disconnected the top rope from the ring, stopping Hangman from using his patented Buckshot Lariat to win the bout. However, Adam Page used all his cunning and thought of a plan. He used the referee, springboarding off his back to hit the move to defeat Archer to retain his AEW Championship in a Texas Death Match.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating – 8.46
- Cagematch Rating – 4.5 Stars
- Atletifo Rating – 4 Stars
Adam Page vs Adam Cole (AEW Revolution 2022)
A rather disappointing addition to Adam Page’s title reign was his bout with Adam Cole at AEW Revolution. While Tony Khan was clearly a huge fan of the former NXT Champion, Cole had yet to prove to the AEW fans that he could be a main event star, with a sole feud with Orange Cassidy not doing enough to prove his credentials at this time.
The title match was your standard title defense, between two men who did not inspire confidence that they could carry the feud on wrestling ability alone. It added real doubt about Hangman’s ability to lift up other talent onto his level, and invited accusations that he was only a drew when paired with a superior talent.
The match was good, but that is it. It left little impression on the AEW fans, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody with any opinion on this title defense.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating – 4.5 Stars
- Cagematch Rating – 8.30
- Atletifo Rating – 3.5 Stars
Adam Page vs Dante Martin (AEW Dynamite 3/9/2022)
After beating Adam Cole at AEW Revolution 2022, Adam Page offered a golden chance to one young star in AEW. He opened AEW Dynamite by offering Dante Martin an opportunity to challenge for his AEW Championship, owing to his incredible win/loss record of AEW Dark that nobody watched.
The match was fine, but is entirely forgettable. It was a paint-by-the-numbers meaningless title defense, used more to showcase how high Martin could jump than provide a compelling story to propel Page’s reign as champion. Martin did perform well, but it is clear that he lacks the experience to put on a sustained great match, despite his incredible high-flying ability.
This the worst of Adam Page’s title defenses, and one of Hangman’s title matches that will be relegated to a trivia question in the years to come, rather than being remebered as a great match.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating – 3.5 Stars
- Cagematch Rating – 6.68
- Atletifo Rating – 2.5 Stars
Adam Page vs Adam Cole II (AEW Rampage 4/15/2022)
The third Texas Death Match in AEW took place on the April 15th, 2022 episode of AEW Rampage. Adam Page retained the AEW Championship by beating Cole in a fun match, in the first AEW title defense to take place on AEW Rampage (although AEW Champion Kenny Omega lost the Impact World Championship on the debut episode of the show).
In a brutal match filled with innovative and dangerous spots, Adam Page hit Adam Cole with some barbed wire before hitting a Deadeye through two tables to pick up the victory. This is a largely forgotten match, due to the under-the-radar nature of their feud in 2022. It wasn’t the best match, and largely kept up the quality from their last bout.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating – 4.5 Stars
- Cagematch Rating – 7.86
- Atletifo Rating – 3 Stars
Adam Page vs CM Punk (AEW Double or Nothing 2022)
Adam Page’s title reign came to an end at AEW Double or Nothing 2022, when he fell in a controversial match (in hindsight) to CM Punk. After beating MJF at Revolution, Punk earned a shot at Page for the title, in the biggest match of Hangman’s title reign so far.
This was not without its difficulties. CM Punk took particular offense by one comment made my Page during one of their in-ring promos, which was the catalyst that eventually led to CM Punk getting fired from AEW in 2023 (you can read about the Adam Page vs CM Punk feud here).
Despite the bad blood between the two men, the match went off without a hitch. Well, aside from a botched Buckshot Lariat by Punk, that is. Otherwise, the duo had a great match that showcased the best of both men, and was actually one of the best of Adam Page’s title defenses. CM Punk pinned Adam Page to win the AEW Championship, ending his title reign at 197-days and 6 successful title defenses.
Read more about CM Punk’s AEW career and how it all went wrong.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating – 4.5 Stars
- Cagematch Rating – 7.99
- Atletifo Rating – 4 Stars
