Match Spotlight: Hangman Adam Page Vs. MJF, AEW Revolution 2025

AEW Revolution 2026 is less than a week away, and baring any major changes at the eleventh hour, the main event of the show will see Hangman Page challenge MJF for the AEW Men's World Championship in a Texas Death Match. Not only will one of the most violent stipulations be in play for this bout, but Hangman has the added stipulation of never challenging for the AEW Men's World Championship ever again if he doesn't leave Los Angeles, California with the title around his waist.

The story between Hangman and MJF has been at the forefront of AEW since the turn of the new year, but it is a story that is rooted in the foundation of the company itself. Both men were involved in the first match in AEW history, that being the Casino Battle Royal from AEW Double or Nothing 2019, and always seemed like they were going to be two men to carry the company on their backs for years to come. They did cross paths a few times in 2019 and 2020, including a singles match to determine who would win the first-ever Dynamite Diamond Ring, but from 2021 onwards they were two ships passing in the night.

That was until they both found themselves with a common goal of becoming the AEW Men's World Champion at the start of 2025, and since then they have encountered each other time and time again, which brings us to this match.

It's not often that the opening match of a pay-per-view ends up becoming the main event of the same pay-per-view one year later, but that's what has happened with Hangman and MJF as they were tasked with kicking off AEW's pay-per-view calendar in 2025. Both men knew that a win would put them one step closer to achieving their ultimate goal, and given the animosity between them, they weren't going to hold back either. So with Revolution 2026 just days away, and with us here at Wrestling Inc. breaking down some of the biggest stories and matches from this year's show as well as Revolution events from years gone by, let's shine a spotlight on last year's match between Hangman Page and MJF.

Looking back on this match one year on, you get the sense that both men were refreshed after what they experienced in 2024. MJF finally, and some would say mercifully, put his feud with Adam Cole to bed, and he had a renewed spring in his step knowing he was getting himself back in the world title picture. As for Hangman, he looked to have turned the corner from a character perspective as he slowly began noticing people cheering for him again after months of being booed out of the building for trying to murder Swerve Strickland on a weekly basis.

One thing I love about this pairing, and this is why certain pairing in wrestling work so much better than others, is the counters when it comes to finishing moves. Hangman has the Buckshot Lariat and the Deadeye, MJF has the Heatseeker and the Salt of the Earth Armbar. All of those moves can be countered into another one of those moves, and that was on full display in this match. MJF takes advantage of Hangman hurting his shoulder because not only does it help him set up the Armbar, but it weakens the Buckshot Lariat. Hangman has to stand on the apron to hit the Buckshot, but if MJF can cut him off, he is already in the perfect position for the Heatseeker. However, if Hangman can outmuscle MJF, then he is already halfway home when it comes to hitting the Deadeye. There are so many little pieces that all come together to make this pairing so fun because everything looks so smooth and natural.

Another great thing about this match is that Hangman was still technically in his "I'm so unhinged that I will burn your house down" phase, which for me is the best version of Hangman so far (sorry 2021 Hangman, you're cool as well). He hits everything with such viciousness and pain that even when he's doing something that is a babyface move, it's just got so much sauce on it. Take the Angels Wings he hits in the closing moments, it's probably the most painful looking version of that move in history because MJF genuinely looks like he's been driven on his head. However, that plays into having the recently retired Christopher Daniels as a mentor giving him advice on how it's okay to have a little helping hand everyone now and again.

MJF screaming "WHY YOU? WHY NOT ME?!" does take me out of things a little bit. I get what he was going for, being upset that even though Hangman has done terrible things the people still love him but they hate MJF no matter how hard he tries to be liked. With that said, I don't think this match was the right setting for that sort of melodrama. Maybe we'll get it this year, but as far as their Revolution 2025, Hangman and MJF knocked it out of the park, and it's up there as one of the best pay-per-view openers in recent memory.

We've seen Hangman Page and MJF have straight singles matches, overbooked main events, and promo segments where you can tell that these two guys are two sides of the same coin. However, a Texas Death Match offers up a very different story for both men to tell, and Revolution 2026 could be a very special chapter in their story, as well as the wider tale being told across the main event scene.

For the match itself, it will likely as overbooked as the match they had at Forbidden Door in August 2025, but with the lack of rules in their upcoming match, a lot more of the nonsense will probably make a lot more sense. To anyone who thinks that MJF might look a little out of place in a death match setting, the guy has taken his fair share of punishment in these types of matches before. Not only did he roll around in thumbtacks with Mark Briscoe at All Out 2025, but he's got the Dog Collar Match with CM Punk, the Iron Man Match with Bryan Danielson, the first-ever Blood and Guts, and an entire catalogue of matches in CZW to prove that when the red stuff starts flowing, MJF can and will hold his own.

Hangman's case is self-explanatory at this point. He has been in six Texas Death Matches in AEW so far, winning five of them including all of the bouts where the AEW Men's World Championship was on the line. Hangman has mastered the art of getting in touch with the darkest part of himself in these matches to the point where the stipulation has become his signature match, which is an achievement in itself considering the stipulation was originally designed to be Lance Archer's wheelhouse. With that said, there has never been more at stake for Hangman than in this match, and that will likely play a part in how he conducts himself. I don't think it would be smart to have Hangman lose in I'm being honest due to the stipulation of him never challenging for the title again, it didn't work out well for Cody Rhodes and Hangman is probably going to be in AEW for many more years. Him not being in the main event, no matter how many people are growing tired of him, would be a massive error.

A massive plus point regardless of the winner is the wide variety of challengers the champion will have down the line. On the heel side you have Swerve Strickland and Andrade El Idolo, on the babyface side you have Kenny Omega, Brody King, and Bandido. Will Ospreay still needs to come back, members of The Don Callis Family can always be slotted into the title picture if needs be, and maybe a revamped babyface version of the Death Riders if push comes to shove. The world title scene in AEW is thriving right now, and regardless of the result, the Revolution 2026 main event should be one to remember.