Of the big three singles matches at AEW’s All Out pay-per-view (PPV), the one many fans would say needs heated up before next Saturday is the one which will crown the company’s first World champion.
From the change of plans with PAC from Double Or Nothing to a heat exhausted Florida crowd offering a muted reaction to the big Hangman Page/Chris Jericho angle at Fight For The Fallen, the World title angle doesn’t have quite as much buzz as Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega or Cody Rhodes & Shawn Spears.
That might be that because the belt’s involved, and because Jericho is such a known property, All Elite figure this one would sell itself. And maybe it will. But it seems they’ve realized in the past few weeks that a lot of their newer fans need a reason to get invested in Page. Starting with his promo at House of Glory (which, if nothing else, got “Cowboy Shit” over as a catchphrase) and continuing on to this week’s The Road To All Out (embedded above), the 27 year old Hangman is getting a Dusty Rhodes-esque push.
And it’s working, at least for this writer.
Here, Page is talking about growing up on a tobacco farm, knowing from an early age he couldn’t follow in his parents footsteps, and needing to win in Sears Centre on Aug. 31. His career will be made with a win in Chicagoland next weekend, and he can’t just go make a new Fozzy album if he fails. He’s bring the folks out for their first plane ride in 15 years, and he’s got Hall of Famer Jim Ross telling him to make them proud and, as he once exhorted Jeff Hardy, to “make yourself famous, kid”.
That anchors an episode that opens with yet another new face in the AEW Control Center, as Lexi Nair kicks it to The Young Bucks so they can sell their ladder match with Lucha Bros. We learn about another tag match on The Buy In pre-show, this one between Private Party and Angelico & Jack Evans.
That’s it. The bulk of this one is given over to Hangman Page to convince us he’s a guy All Elite can build around.
Did he convince you?
Let us know below, and here’s an updated look at the card for next Saturday:
- Chris Jericho vs. Hangman Page for the AEW World title
- Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega
- Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) vs. The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) for a first round bye in the AEW Tag Team championship tournament
- Lucha Bros vs. Young Bucks in a ladder match for the AAA Tag titles
- Cody Rhodes vs. Shawn Spears
- Darby Allin vs. Joey Janela vs. Jimmy Havoc
- Riho vs. Hikaru Shida
- Private Party vs. Angelico & Jack Evans (The Buy-In)
- Casino Battle Royale to determine a challenger for the new AEW Women’s World championship, featuring Allie, Britt Baker, Brandi Rhodes, Nyla Rose, Yuka Sakazaki, Ivelisse, Jazz, Sadie Gibbs, Big Swole, and Teal Piper (The Buy-In)