“Hangman” Adam Page delivered the kind of champion’s promo his storyline with CM Punk and his future in All Elite Wrestling desperately needed. 

For a moment at least last week on ”AEW Dynamite,” the insecure cowboy disappeared and what we got was a confident sounding champion who was going to do anything but kiss the feet of the great CM Punk like many of the babyfaces in the company have done. He said he was going to “destroy” and “embarrass” CM Punk all while walking the heel line without crossing it, giving him and the feud a much needed edge.

This isn’t going to be a love fest or a “masturbatory Bret Hart tribute match,” as Page put it, like Punk had a few weeks back with Dustin Rhodes on “AEW Dynamite.” Hangman-Punk at “Double or Nothing” on May 29 in Las Vegas is going to be a fight and Punk is going to have to beat the very best Hangman to earn his first world championship since 2013. Someone needed to be a little heelish for this to work. We know Punk has that side but it was refreshing to get it from Hangman. The same self doubt that was present for his matches with Kenny Omega and Adam Cole, who Hangman worked beneath his whole career, shouldn’t and doesn’t play with Punk, who isn’t even back in wrestling a year after seven years away.

But then, for a split second, that doubt returned as Hangman exited the ring. He took a deep breath and kind of shook his head before walking to back as if to say, “yes, I said that. I needed to say that, but do I believe it and will I regret it?” It’s a piece of subtle storytelling Hangman has become so very good at providing. And now we wait for CM Punk’s response and see if Hangman, who recently missed a show after testing positive for COVID-19, can measure up one-on-one with Punk on the mic.

None of this changes the fact that CM Punk should and likely will go over in this match, unless AEW wants to insert a third party for a triple-threat match down the line. As far as Hangman has come, he’s generally an unknown to the average person and mainstream publicity avenues. If AEW is going to grow at a faster rate than it is, someone like a CM Punk needs to carry the belt for a while. Hangman’s title chance is among the best told wrestling stories in the past 10 years and the audience’s love for the cowboy won’t change after a potential loss to Punk as Hangman keeps adding new layers to push his on-screen persona forward.

A loss giving everything he had would set Page up perfectly for a homecoming story back to The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and the original Elite in time for the internal war that is slowly brewing between those originals and Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish and Jay White. What better way to pick up the pieces from a championship loss, reestablish yourself as a babyface and bring your story arc full circle than to make up with and come to the aid of your friends when they need you the most.

It’s all there for AEW now. It’s all there for Hangman after a promo that set the table for everything that could come. 

Passing Judgement

Edge’s faction, The Judgement Day, feels like a cross between The Brood, The Ministry of Darkness and AEW’s House of Black and does a decent job filling the spooky, gothic void left by Undertaker’s retirement – especially with the purple – and the Fiend’s departure. While the backstory isn’t perfect the visuals are cool as hell.

Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley certainly fit the vibe, though they have already been United States and Raw women’s champion respectively, so it’s not elevating unknowns. (Though I’d love for Ripley to be the person to beat Bianca Belair for the Raw women’s championship at some point). It’s why Ciampa and not Finn Balor – who would turn on A.J. Styles — would make more sense to be the next addition. It’s because Ciampa has yet to accomplish anything on the main roster and would benefit from the pairing. Unless you plan on having Balor turn on Edge for control of the group down the line, it would just keep him even more in the mid-card.

A more intriguing scenario would be Balor versus Edge and Balor needing to dust off The Demon to finally slay this evil version of Edge at a SummerSlam or WrestleMania. The Demon feels like the perfect foil and a win over someone like Edge could push Balor closer to the world title picture against anyone but Roman Reigns down the line. No matter what happens, kudos to Edge from quickly going from one of WWE’s most beloved babyfaces to a hated heal so quickly.     

’Pool Sharks

Villainous, chilling, credible — and downright cool. That’s what William Regal’s masterful vignette for the Blackpool Combat Club was last week. He gave the group, made up of Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta, a mission statement, edge and a believability of violence that is often missing in pro wrestling. It plants a seed in the audience’s mind that if these men wanted to really hurt you they could, making their opponents feel like they’re “dying a thousand deaths” and “taking off their skin.”

“When you step into the world of the Blackpool Combat Club, this isn’t playing being a professional wrestler anymore,” Regal said. “This is the world of being a professional wrestler, a world where pain is a constant, where torture is just done for fun, where inflicting as much punishment on your opponents as possible is what we do.”

It all felt like a preview for a Netflix show or blockbuster film before the group backed it up by dismantling The Butcher, The Blade and Angelico on Dynamite. It will not reach the level of what the nWo was but the Blackpool Combat Club is a group that brings the intrigue of who may join them next, who will actually want to step up to them and adds a coolness to their violent on-screen nature. It can also potentially sell tons of merch that people will feel good about wearing. It doesn’t scream pro wrestling. And who doesn’t want to run with a group like the Blackpool Combat Club that sounds like the cool kickboxing or MMA gym in town?

The 10 Count

AEW’s men’s and women’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament will feature a “joker” entry to face Samoa Joe and Britt Baker in the first round. (Boy does Tony Khan like his jokers). Many fans on the men’s side are speculating it will be Cesaro and others Johnny Gargano. A returning Miro would also be a fun possibility. But it’s hard to see anyone going over Joe this soon, so maybe it’s someone he could have a fun one-and-done match with. Candice LaRae, Ember Moon (Athena) or Mia Yim would be cool as the women’s joker.

(Picks: Men’s tournament — Samoa Joe over Adam Cole. Women’s tournament — Ruby Soho over Britt Baker)

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We will find out just how over Wardlow is if he gets more cheers than MJF in his home town of Long Island at UBS Arena on Wednesday. My money is on Max to make the first Barry Trotz reference.

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Freddie Prinze, once a member of WWE’s creative team, said on his “Wrestling with Freddie” podcast that he plans to start his own wrestling promotion in the next 18 months where the wrestlers join the Screen Actors Guild. It would mean wrestlers will be working as part of a union with all its benefits for the first time and not as “independent contractors.” Doing so, could prove the wrestling business could survive under a different business model and further the call for performer to unionize or join SAG. All eyes on Freddie.

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Alexa Bliss returned to Raw as a bit of a hybrid of her two WWE personas. Her old music was back, the spooky face paint was gone, but the Lilly Doll remained. Those things must really be selling at WWE Shop.

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Has any title consistently produced standout multi-man matches more than the NXT North American championship? Carmelo Hayes, Cameron Grimes and Solo Sikoa added another chapter at NXT Spring Breakin’

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Rodrick Strong reportedly asked for her release from WWE and his currently storyline being extra heavy handed with Diamond Mine could be the perfect way to write him off TV.

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Who knew a bag of chips could be such an emotional story device. Hookhausen has a change to be very RK-Bro like.

Eddie Kingston calling into the announce table to talk to Chris Jericho was a really good outside-the-box way to keep the story going with Kingston selling an injury. I’m not sure why others have not thought of that.

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WWE brining back the old-school interview stage for Raw was giving me “Mean” Gene Okerlund flashbacks. A return feels longer overdue and feels more organic that pre-tape interview backstage.

WWE had actually gone an extended period of time without a DQ finish on TV and then booked three for Monday’s Raw. Edge attacking Finn Balor and Seth Rollins jumping Cody Rhodes to spoil a good United State championship match with Theory at least needed to happen to kind of advance story. Becky Lynch taking our Asuka during a championship contenders match against Bianca Belair felt like a hodgepodge of bad WWE storytelling devices.

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(Bonus: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn really have been creating magic with whatever story they touch lately. WWE and wrestling fans are lucky to have them.)

Wrestler of the Week

Ronda Rousey. WWE

The Baddest Woman on the Planet won her first SmackDown women’s championship all by making the great Charlotte Flair say ‘I Quit” and giving her a storyline broken arm at WrestleMania Backlash on Sunday. It was Rousey’s best match since returning to WWE and it showed off the intense ass-kicker side we need to see more of from her moving forward.

Honorable Mention: The Briscoe Brothers for winning their first Impact tag team championships.

Match to Watch

Jeff Hardy vs. Darby Allin (AEW Dynamite, Wednesday, 8 p.m., TBS)

This may be the most intriguing match of the Owen Hart Foundation tournament quarterfinals. Hardy and Allin, who fans have drawn many comparisons to, have never wrestled a singles match against each other and could potentially drum up a beautifully chaotic encounter. Then there is the question of who should go over, the rising star Allin or the savvy veteran who may make for a very interesting second-round opponent for Adam Cole.   

Honorable mention: Bobby Lashley vs. Omos, steel cage match (Monday Night Raw, 8 p.m., USA Network).

Around the Ring

Breathe easy WWE fans, Roman Reigns’ comments during a live event in New Jersey saying he is moving into a new phase of his life likely had to do with the new contract he signed that will have him doing less house shows, according to the Wrestling Observer.

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Last week WWE reported quarterly record revenue of $333.4 million for the first quarter of 2022, up 27 percent from last year. The company’s three major revenue sources: media ($263.5 million), consumer products ($32.32 million) and live event ($23.1 million) were all up from last year.

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WWE returns to Madison Square Garden for “Monday Night Raw” on July 25.

Mia Yim made an appearance at Impact’s Under Siege show and has signed a six-month contract with the company, according to Fightful Select.

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Sasha Banks surprised the wrestling club at Kipp AMP Elementary School in Brooklyn last Friday before SmackDown at Nassau Coliseum. She also threw out the first pitch at Fenway Park on Sunday.

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It was a good week for wrestlers crossing over on television with WWE’s Bianca Belair, Montez Ford and The Miz appearing on NBC’s Kentucky Deby broadcast and AEW’s Britt Baker and Adam Cole serving as Jon Taffer’s moles on an episode of “Bar Rescue.”