When AEW decided to publish a feel-good video package highlighting Swerve Strickland using the bonus from his new contract to purchase his childhood home, fans just had to know that âHangmanâ Adam Page would have something up his sleeve, as he owes the ex-AEW World Champion one heck of a receipt for breaking into his house last year.
Fortunately, even if AEW fans had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen, that didn't stop Tony Khan from keeping his cards close to his vest, saving a contract signing between the two men for their main event cage match of the go-home Dynamite before All Out.
⌠only here's the thing; âHangmanâ never actually came out to the ring, deciding to instead submit a video package of his own at the very same house Strickland just purchased.
Page walked through the house, cut an incredible promo accusing Strickland's family of not loving him, and ultimately took a seat outside to formally accept the match, though not before he set the freakin' thing on fire.
Oh my goodness, what in the Wyatt Family Randy Orton is going on here?
After having Page charge the ring at All In to effectively turn the tides in Strickland's World Championship match against Bryan Danielson in the main event at Wembley Stadium, it makes sense that the two men would like to settle things once and for all at All Out regardless of how the week shook out. But by having Page burn down Strickland's house a few days before the Chicago-based Pay-Per-View, it added some true fuel to the fire of their â hopefully â rubber match, as if this don't-call-it-a-Hell-in-a-Cell Steel Cage match is just a set-up, what the heck could go down in match 5, The Purge? Give this match the weight it deserves and move the duo on to new storylines heading into the future.
âHangmanâ Adam Page destroyed Swerve Strickland ahead of All Out
As Page entered Strickland's house, he didn't leave anything to the imagination, explaining exactly why he was he was there and exactly what he planned to do.
âWhose house? Did you really think I would give you the satisfaction, the formality of putting my signature on something we both already know is going to happen?â Page declared. âYou know you are a hard man to find; I looked all over Florida, I looked over Washington State, you have a fiance that left you, kids who aren't in the picture anymore. I mean, you wouldn't be a fool to think that you have nothing in this life but the ring you stand in tonight. But you messed up, you slipped up; you showed the world, and you showed me something important to you, your childhood home.
After walking through the house, pontificating about the conversation the former AEW World Champion likely had with his parents as he splashed gasoline on the walls and floor, Page broke down his intentions for All Out, which include aspirations that are a whole lot grander than winning an unsanctioned match in Chicago.
âYou told me last week, much like when you sat in a car outside my front door, and you watched me carry my pregnant wife to the hospital; you told me that now I must make a decision. A choice between hate and success; a choice between vengeance and peace. But for me, it's not much of a choice at all, now is it? For me, they are one and the same. I told you for months and months and months that there was nothing I wanted more out of this life than to burn your world to the ground,â Hangman declared.
âYou know, if I couldn't be the one who took the World Championship from you, I would be happy to help it slip through your fingers. And this Saturday, locked inside a steel cage, I am going to take what is left of you. I'm going to take your pride, I'm going to take your dignity, because you will be on your knees begging for my mercy, pleading for my forgiveness but I will not give it to you.
âBut the night is long and it's about time to say goodbye, but not goodbyes for me, goodbyes for you. So if you haven't already, say goodbye to the AEW World Championship and any idea you may have of ever holding it again. This Saturday, you will say goodbye to your health, your career, your joy, and your happiness. And tonight? Well tonight, you get a little practice. Because tonight, live in front of the world, you get to say goodbye to Swerve's house.â
And with that, Page lit the fuse and made the boom, sitting in his chair as the house caught fire behind him and burned down as his image was cast in silhouette by the growing flames. As Dynamite went off the air, Strickland screamed in pain and horror as his prized possession went up in flames, signifying that the match at All Out isn't just going to decide the future of their feud but instead set the course for their respective careers going forward, as when it comes to an unsanctioned match of this magnitude, it's safe to assume neither man will be the same when it's over as before it began.
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