Hangman Page Thinks Being AEW World Champion Made Him A Better Wrestler
Hangman Page was AEW World Champion for 197 days
They say a championship run can make or break a wrestler, with how a wrestler reacts to losing a championship as important to the run they had with the title, as well as the initial chase.
Hangman Page’s chase of Kenny Omega and the AEW World Championship is one of the best storylines AEW have ever ran with, but whilst his defences as champion were stellar, some fans weren’t enamoured with Hangman’s booking as the top guy.
However, since losing the title to CM Punk at Double or Nothing 2022, hangman has had time to reflect on his run, and told Wrestling Inc. Daily how he feels being champion has made him a better wrestler:
“I never realised the pressure of being world champion and that might seem to someone watching, like, ‘Oh, you defended it once every three or four weeks, how hard could that be’?” Page said. “I don’t know that I handled [the pressure] of anyone who’s ever handled it, but it’s my first time. I think it made me, you know, a better person, a better wrestler.”
The pressures of being champion bled over into storyline, with Page shunning previous allies as he tried to keep his composure, and his gold:
“I let [the pressure] get to me more than I thought I would,” Page stated. “I thought I would win the championship and I would be happy, that I would be the perfect version of myself, and I wasn’t, either. It’s not like I didn’t talk to [the Dark Order] every single week, because I did. But you know, maybe sometimes I was too busy or stressed to do those BTE bits every week. I let that pressure, I guess a friendship, a lot of friendships and I guess that’s, you know, the cynic in me wants to say that’s something that maybe comes with being champion, but I think as a personal thing, maybe that’s a bit of a failure or something to work on.”
H/T: Wrestling Inc.