Tony Khan Comments On Hangman Adam Page Withdrawing From World Title Contention
On March 15, 2026, the "Ides of March," Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF) assassinated the chances for "Hangman" Adam Page to ever challenge for the AEW Men's World Championship again in their Last Chance Texas Death Match at Revolution last Sunday. For the second time in AEW history, a top star and founding father of the company will not be allowed to chase nor challenge for the top men's belt for the rest of his career there. Just astounded as the fans were to see Page lose, AEW President and CEO Tony Khan gave his thoughts on the matter, and whether Page can back out of his word for the sake of his popularity, as many would like to see him prevail again for the third time in his decorated and top handed career.
"It's the same thing with Cody [Rhodes]. It was a gentleman's handshake with both of them," Khan noted in the post-Revolution media scrum. "They both came to me and said, 'I want to put this at stake.' And both of them, I told them, 'That sounds f**king nuts, dude.' Both of them really wanted to do it. And in both cases I said, 'Are you sure?' And then they both said, 'Yeah.' So, it is an agreement we made. Second time it's happened. He (Page) is somebody that's known for being a man of his word, and we made an agreement. So it's a verbal contract."
Even though Khan is leaving the door wide open on this non-binding agreement (since it was never written down or signed officially), Page is known to be a man of his word. Should Page walk through that open door is up to him after his return. As previously mentioned, Rhodes put that same stipulation on his AEW career in 2019 in the main event of the company's first-ever Full Gear pay-per-view against former and inaugural champion, Chris Jericho. To which, "The American Nightmare" buried his chances earlier on to ever hold the company's most prestigious title. Instead, he went on to become a former inaugural and first-ever three-time TNT Champion before his AEW departure and return back to WWE in 2022.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "AEW" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.