The violence and ability of both Page and Strickland wasn’t the only reason the AEW World Champion believed the match succeeded, however. Strickland also cited the storyline leading up to the match, which saw him break into Page’s house and stand over his child’s crib, prompting a rage in the “Hangman” that he hadn’t shown previously in AEW. For Strickland, the personal stakes helped separate his and Page’s feud from Page’s previous high profile feuds in AEW.

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“What do you do to someone that’s like, prior to that match, everything Hangman Page has done in AEW, even in wrestling going back to New Japan, he’s done a lot,” Strickland said. “I’m like ‘Okay, where do I belong in that history book of Hangman Page now?’ How do I make my mark in that region of me trying to climb up and get to where he’s at?’

“[He’s] a former World Champion. He’s already had bangers with Kenny, bangers with Bryan Danielson, bangers with the Young Bucks in the tag match. Bangers with like…he had a death match earlier that year with Moxley. So that’s like ‘Where do I fall in line with any of that?’ So…I was like ‘I’m going to kick the door open. I’m going to do something that…’ none of these guys have been able to get to him the way I did.”

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If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Superstar Crossover” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription