#HangMox | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

banannabethchase · 2 months

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HangMox sexting after Mox sees Hanger wearing a shirt he DEFINITELY swiped from Mox's luggage. maybe Mox telling him what to do with it?

Desire (I'm Hungry) - also on AO3

Adam is the king of bad decisions, and decides to steal Mox's clothes.

Okay, for the record, I remembered this prompt as, "HangMox Adam steals Mox's clothes and Mox finds out about it," so it's not that I Schrodingered this prompt, I just fucked it to hell and back but so closely that it would be silly to write the another one directly addressing this prompt. Title from Desire by Meg Myers.

Adam’s not jealous. He tells himself that, over and over, as he watches Mox finish his match.

“Are you good, man?” Nick asks, frowning over at him. “You’re all twitchy.”

“I’m fine,” Adam says, teeth gritted.

Matt blinks at him. “I think I just heard you clench your jaw.”

“Shut up,” Adam grumbles.

Nick and Matt share one of those weird looks, the ones where Adam knows they’re talking without words.

“I think,” Nick says, “you should, maybe, talk to him.”

“Fuck that,” Adam snarls. “He wants to talk to me, he can get higher than number 4 in the rankings and meet me in the ring.”

Matt rolls his eyes. “You’re a lot more fun when Mox is fucking you on the regular.”

“You’re a lot more fun when you shut the fuck up.”

“You don’t have to be mean to me because your boyfriend kissed somebody else,” Matt says, haughty.

“He is not my boyfriend.” Adam folds his arms over his chest. “And I moved on.”

Nick scoffs, halfway through pulling his hair back in a new ponytail. “Sure. Moved from one weird, violent sex buddy to another. Swerve’s so great for you, man.”

“He – it was once!”

“It was enough to mess with your head so bad you’re jealous Mox kissed somebody else.”

Adam groans and drops onto the couch. “I’m not messed up.”

“You keep telling yourself that, buddy.” Matt claps him on the shoulder. “Anyway. I have to make a phone call.”

“Yeah, tell Eddie I say hi,” Adam says.

Matt rolls his eyes. “I won’t get a word in. He’s pissed at me for being, in his words, a bitchy, power hungry megalomaniac.” He adjusts his button down. “He’s just jealous I’m about to get a belt.”

“He has three,” Adam says, throwing a shoe at Matt’s back. “Learn to count.”

“Learn to have sex with regular men!”

Adam doesn’t mean to do it on purpose. The opportunity presents itself like a gift, in front of him unexpectedly. The universe is telling him to do it.

And, also, the open and unguarded BCC locker room.

He slips in, unseen, crossing his fingers that Claudio isn’t lurking in a dark corner ready to ambush him. It’s empty and he flips the light on. Perfect.

He finds Mox’s bag easily, still the same as last year when they first started doing whatever it was, and digs around. His first thought is one of Mox’s white tee shirts, worn and soft, but either the man himself is wearing it or he didn’t bring one today. It’s tempting to steal one of his Death Jitsu long sleeves, but that feels a little too much. Eventually, he makes his decision. A grey v-neck calls to him. Not the usual color he likes best, but he thinks it’ll work.

He pulls it out and leaves the bag intentionally mussed. It wouldn’t do for Mox to think the shirt was a coincidence.

Adam sneaks back into the EVP room, where Nick is scrolling on his phone.

“What the eff did you do?” he asks, dressed again in the bloody white suit. It’s ridiculous. And kind of genius. “Why do you look all guilty?”

“I don’t look guilty!” Adam argues. He throws himself onto the couch.

Nick turns to him. “Did you have sex with Swerve again?”

Adam scoffs. “No.”

“Are you lying!”

“I am not lying,” Adam insists.

Nick turns to him, leveling those weird eyes on Adam. “Maybe not about this. Where were you?”

Adam tries his best to keep eye contact, not to back down. “Out.”

“Out where?”

“Why do you care?”

“Because you have somebody’s shirt in your hand and I want to make sure it’s not going to be evidence in your murder trial.”

Adam blinks and looks down. “Fuck.”

“Seriously,” Nick says. “Never play poker. Unless it’s against me. Then I can guarantee a win.” He nods to the shirt. “Whose is that?”

Caught, Adam slumps into the chair. “Don’t judge me.”

“Oh, gross,” Nick whines. “Did you sleep with Cole again?!”

“Hell no!” Adam says. “That hasn’t happened since, like, 2021.”

“Slut.”

“Fuck you,” Adam says. “I don’t comment on your intention to fuck your way through the roster.”

“Literally yes you do,” Nick says. “All the time.” He narrows his eyes. “Oh. You only get this bitchy…” He trails off. “Effing hell, just go screw Mox and get it out of your system.”

Adam groans. “I hate you for figuring that out.”

“You don’t.” He stares at Adam.

“What?”

“Are you going to go get laid or what?” Nick nudges at him with a red laced sneaker. It still has a few droplets of blood on it. “Come on. He hasn’t been in a weird gay feud with anybody since us. You should go talk to him.”

Adam shouldn’t, is the thing.

“Okay,” Adam says, nodding. “I – after my promo.”

The after promo is…accurate, if not entirely. He got a little unhinged by accident, but it’s not his fault. Swerve brings out the worst in him.

“Jesus Christ.”

Adam turns around, still feeling a bit wild. “Oh. Hi.” The fact that it’s Mox should hit harder. The fact that he’s wearing Mox’s shirt should do so as well, but he’s still feeling a little screwed up. He wants Swerve to meet him where he is. He wants to beat Swerve. And he can’t.

“God – get over here.” Mox grabs Adam by the bicep and drags him, actually drags him, into a locker room. “What is wrong with you?”

“Swerve,” Adam says automatically.

“Yeah, no shit, but this?” He runs a finger along the collar of Adam’s – Mox’s – shirt. Adam shivers, aching for more of a touch. “This is a lot, baby.”

“You – no.” Adam pauses, trying to figure out what he could say to make this feel normal.

“If you wanted my attention,” Mox says, fingering the hem of the shirt Adam stole, “all you had to do was ask.”

“You’ve been out there kissing other guys,” Adam says before he can stop himself. “You didn’t seem like you cared.”

“You jealous?” Mox asks. His fingers tighten. Adam doesn’t have a choice but to lean in, a little more. “Mad I kissed Dax?”

Adam nods, despite himself. “We were fighting and fucking and then all of a sudden…” Adam trails off. Mox knows what happened. Or, better said, what stopped happening.

“You miss me,” Mox chuckles. Adam feels familiar fingertips running along his stomach, burning the prints into his skin. “I knew you’d come back, baby.”

Adam fights the urge to whimper. It didn’t feel like this with Swerve. It didn’t feel like this with anybody but Mox. “I’m stealing your shirt,” he whispers.

“You sure about that?” Mox grabs a handful and yanks him in. “’Cause I don’t think you’ll be wearing it much longer.” They crush together in a kiss and Adam melts. Mox takes over, takes the lead. It feels good to not have to fight. It feels good to know he can lean into it and fall. Mox already knows who he is. There’s nothing left to prove.

Adam sinks to his knees without being told, knowing how what to do, knowing how this goes.

“Don’t think I remember you being this easy about it,” Mox murmurs, placing his hand on top of Adam’s head. His fingers slide into curls and Adam feels like he’s home. “You usually bitch more.”

“Don’t wanna bitch,” Adam says, yanking at Mox’s belt. “Just – I want…” He trails off as he pulls Mox’s dick out, already hard. “Yeah. That.” He looks up at Mox, waiting for permission.

“Swerve really fucked you up, didn’t he, baby?”

“You did first,” Adam almost pleads. He doesn’t know how to explain what he means.

Mox’s face changes, almost sad. “You never called back, baby,” he says, stroking Adam’s scalp. “Thought you were done. Didn’t wanna push.”

Adam wanted to be pushed, though. “I wanted you to,” he mumbles.

“Then being pushy it is.”

Mox tightens his grip in Adam’s hair and guides his mouth to his dick. Adam opens, feeling solid and anchored as Mox shoves him. He whimpers around it, trying to move, but Mox has a firm grip. He’ll be used, and he had to ask for it, but he doesn’t have to now.

He doesn’t have to fight.

Adam’s eyes roll a little as Mox moves him up and down on his cock, murmuring and muttering how good Adam is and how good it feels. Velvet-smooth, same salty taste, same urge to gag on it that Adam resists at the risk of losing it. He looks up as best he can to see a burning gaze on his face. Mox smiles.

“If I’d know this is what you wanted,” he says, softly, too softly for the way he’s fucking Adam’s face, “I would’a given it months ago.”

It’s okay, Adam tries to says with his watery eyes. I’m getting it now.

Mox’s hips start snapping harder, his cock roughly taking priority over air in Adam’s throat, and Adam anchors himself on Mox’s thighs, a grip on denim. He hopes the jeans are new, that the dye will stain under his fingernails and stay with him. “Fucking – forgot how your mouth – fuck.” He doesn’t warn Adam, and Adam doesn’t want him to. He knew. He could tell. With a groan that, if Adam dreams enough, could have been Adam’s name, Mox comes down his throat, overpowering every other sensation as his face is shoved all the way into the patch of curls at the base of Mox’s dick.

He realizes, vaguely, he should be breathing. It’s not the priority, though.

Mox pulls his head off by the hair. “Fuck,” Mox pants. “You – stand up.”

“I don’t think I can,” Adam croaks. His voice and throat, and possibly his entire self, is wrecked.

Mox rolls his eyes. “Get up here.” He squats, getting his arms under Adam’s and hauls him to unsteady feet. “There you go. Back against the wall.”

Adam drops against the wall, still fuck drunk and spaced out. “Do I get to?” he mumbles.

“I’d say so,” Mox says. He pauses, hands on Adam’s belt. “Are you good?”

“I’m good,” Adam says, and he forces his eyes to focus on Mox. “I want it. Please?”

Mox sighs. “This is fucking stupid,” he grumbles, but he spits in one hand and undoes Adam’s belt and jeans with the other.

It’s sparks he sees, as he rubs at the tear tracks down his face. He fucks up into Mox’s hand as Mox leans in and kisses him, biting at his lips. Adam grips at Mox’s shoulders. He’d missed the smell of Mox, the feel of him. He’d hoped the shirt would be enough to quench his desperation, but he’d been wrong. Even this doesn’t feel like it’ll sate him for more than a few days.

He needs this more.

“Mox,” he whines, tilting his head to the side. “Mox, I need – I want –”

“Don’t worry, baby, I got you,” Mox murmurs. He sucks a bruise into Adam’s neck like a brand, and that’s it. Adam comes violently, shaking, loud, and forgets to worry that this might be the last time he gets this.

Mox is shushing him, thumb rubbing soothing patterns against Adam’s throat. “I got you. Breathe, baby.”

Adam nods, even more out of it than he’d been before. “Mox,” he whimpers. “I don’t want this to stop.”

“Then answer my fuckin’ calls,” Mox insists. Adam opens his eyes to see Mox staring at him. “You hear me? I’m not fucking around.”

Adam nods. “Okay. I – I will.”

“Christ,” Mox says. He holds up his hand. “I’m a mess.”

He doesn’t have to ask. Adam leans in and licks his hand clean. He can do good for Mox. He can hold onto this. He won’t do anything that’ll make him lose this feeling,

“Jesus,” Mox mutters.

“Okay?”

“Yeah.” He’s nodding as Adam pulls back, leaning on the wall for support. “Just – never seen you like this.” He presses their foreheads together. “I thought you were done.”

“Wasn’t,” Adam mumbles. “Always want…this.”

Mox sighs. “Come on, then. We’ll get you put back together.” He tucks Adam back into his pants, buttoning him up and fixing his jeans. “You shower yet?” Adam shakes his head. “Alright, we’ll go do that, back at my hotel room.”

Adam can’t fight the sparkle that rises in him. “Really?”

“Yes,” Mox says firmly. “With the way you’ve been going out of your mind the past few months, you need some sorta…Fuck, I don’t know. But I’m keeping an eye on you.”

Adam nods and Mox walks him back to the EVP locker room to gather his things.

Matt and Nick, putting this final touches on their gear, look up. “Oh,” Nick says. Then he sees Mox behind Adam. “Oh.”

“Don’t you say a fuckin’ thing or I’ll tell the whole roster about what you and Bryan did in the ring last week,” Mox says firmly.

Adam turns. It’s enough to snap him out of a daze. “Will you tell me?”

“Screw him, tell me!” Matt says. He hits Nick in the head with a flipflop. “You didn’t tell me you effed Bryan!”

The two of them bicker as Adam gets his things, feeling calmed and collected for the first time in months. Mox keeps a watchful eye from the door.

“Okay,” Adam says. “That’s it.”

“Where are you going?” Matt asks, wary. He turns his gaze on Mox. “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine,” Mox says. He settles a hand on Adam’s waist. “We’re fine.”

Matt presses his lips together, then nods slowly. “Take care of him,” he says, firm. “You swear?”

Mox smiles. “I swear.”

Mini Playlist: Desire - Meg Myers brr - Kim Petras think later - Tate McRae I Wanna Be Yours - Arctic Monkeys

#HangMox #wtf i like wrestling now???#in which sara writes #anxious millennial dreamboat #madly in love with leather daddy jon moxley #HEHEHEH hello this one is a bit bonkers #sarahcakes613

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hangmox · 1 year

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HangMox: An Audience of One

Warning: This is a very erratic essay about a feud that means a lot to me, personally. Posting to a sideblog because I’m trying to keep it clean and separate.

Word Count: 8.6k. A doozy. Please understand that I speak on Hangman and Moxley from their first moments in AEW, and I even provide a bit of background from before. Their feud did not start, for me, at the end of September 2022. This is a story that starts from the very first PPV.

Writer’s Note: This has not been revised. If you are a newer fan of AEW, this will help you to understand both mens’ journeys up until this point, and it also helps to express and tie in some ideas and concepts I have for them about blood, beer, and speaking their truths. I hope it makes sense!

After five years of watching weekly WWE television and Pay-Per-Views, my husband and I could not take it any longer. We were looking for an alternative. On May 25th, 2019, we found it, in the form of All Elite Wrestling: Double or Nothing.

It wasn’t the flashiest show we’d ever seen - there were a couple lulls in the show where it felt like the timing was off, the crowd wasn’t as energetic - but we knew why. This was a brand new product, the start of something new for a set of independent wrestlers that we’d heard about very rarely, but enough to maybe know some of their names. In the summer of 2018, I had took it upon myself in the wee hours of the morning, after my grueling 10-hr night shifts at the local chicken plant, to experience life outside of WWE for the first time in the form of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Climax. This is where I learned that wrestling could be quick, energetic, and still somehow feel like every fist, every high spot, could hurt viscerally. And it is here where I saw Hangman Adam Page on my screen for the very first time.

I was deep into my Red Dead Redemption era in 2018, and this guy hit all the boxes. He was handsome, he was funny, he could actually fucking wrestle, he was a cowboy, and most importantly, he was telling me a story. The known muscle of the Bullet Club and member of the Elite, this was the guy who was looking to prove he was more than just the guy who took the pins so his comrades wouldn’t. He was looking to win the damn thing. But that wasn’t all it was about - no, he had found a way to weave another thread into this tournament: he was going to pull the REAL Kazuchika Okada out of whatever hole he’d been hiding in. He was going to pull the Rainmaker out.

You see, Okada had just lost his IWGP world heavyweight title to Hangman’s friend and Bullet Club leader, Kenny Omega, and his life had taken somewhat of a comically downward spiral. He dyed his hair clown red, he walked out to his entrance music with shapeable balloons. At the time, we took to calling him the “Balloonmaker.” He walked out with a smile on his face, to hide the sorrow of his failure. But this wasn’t the guy Hangman was expecting to wrestle in his block of the round-robin tournament. No, he was going to make sure that if he beat Okada, one of the most legendary wrestlers in the history of the company, he was going to beat the BEST version of him. And if he lost? Well, at least he gave it his all against the best. The problem with New Japan, however, was the unbelievable amount of hours we would have to dedicate to the product. I think I ended up watching five full days of the G1 Climax, out of a possible 20 or so.

Around the time that Hangman took on the grueling month-long tournament against some of New Japan’s finest, another wrestler was making his re-debut on WWE television. After an elbow injury and a terrifying staph infection that nearly killed him, Dean Ambrose was back on Monday Night Raw, alongside his friend and enemy, Seth freakin’ Rollins. But this wasn’t the same Dean Ambrose we had witnessed for the past couple years, the hyperactive little shit that wouldn’t stay down, no, this was prison-break Ambrose. He came back swole and with a mean mugging look that would make a bulldog cry. This was it, everyone thought, we’re gonna get the heel turn of a lifetime.

Only, it wasn’t exactly what we expected. First off, it was late, and at the heels of an announcement that turned WWE on its head - Roman Reigns was taking time off for his 2nd battle with leukemia, and Ambrose chose now to turn on Seth Rollins. Maybe if the motive had made a little more sense, it would’ve been enough. After all, Rollins and Ambrose had a long, storied history together - if Ambrose could just explain why now, maybe I could be on his side. I wanted to be on his side. The WWE put out one of those documentaries for Dean that followed him for months, throughout his time out on injury, and then his subsequent return. We got backstage moments with him where he divulged his feelings, seemingly telling us what was going on in his head. And yet - nothing. It never truly felt like he had told us WHY. Now, years later, I’ve read Mox’s book, and I know how he felt about the whole thing, so I know he was just as frustrated as I was, if not more (definitely more, actually).

So Ambrose left the company, and my husband and I dropped the WWE. I don’t know if it was coincidence or fate, but there’s going to be a lot of that comin’ around in this story. Ambrose wasn’t even my favorite - Sami Zayn is my WWE favorite. But something about the way it all went down with Ambrose, and also largely in part the way that WWE treated Sami Zayn, is what finally made us break our ties.

Almost immediately after Dean Ambrose left WWE and cashed in his chips, a video dropped on his largely unused twitter account: a video of Jon Moxley breaking out of jail, with a shot of the numbers 5 & 25 found in the video - which just so happened to be the month and day of the first Double or Nothing AEW Pay-Per-View.

I would love to say that I was anticipating that day, but to be honest, I completely forgot about it until the day of, when my husband dragged me downstairs to the living room to figure out how to buy our very first pay-per-view on cable television, about five minutes before the buy-in aired.

But once I saw that precious cowboy come out as the Joker in the first ever Casino Battle Royal, I was hooked. I turned to my husband, pointing at Hangman on my screen. “That’s the guy we saw in the G1 last year! He’s in the Bullet Club!”

He smiled at the screen, knowing it was too late. I had found my favorite.

Hangman won the battle royal, earning him the first shot at the inugural AEW world championship at the next Pay-Per-View. Who he was slated to go up against, though, depended on the outcome of the Double or Nothing main event: the Alpha, Chris Jericho, versus Kenny Omega.

“Do you think Mox will show up?” I asked my partner, my entire body tense with anticipation.

He shook his head. “I wouldn’t get your hopes up. If he doesn’t show up, it’ll ruin it for you.”

“He’s showing up,” I insisted, “I’m like 99% certain he will.” I’ve never been one to make guarantees, but this was as close to one as I could manage. I could feel it in my soul, and I was dying to see Mox live up to his potential.

I was bouncing off the couch when I saw Mox stalking through the crowd and into the ring. My adrenaline was pumping and I thought it was the best way to end their first PPV. My husband and I turned to look at each other - yep, this was enough. This was definitely enough to intrigue us.

I would spend the summer of 2019 watching everything I could about AEW - I finally got into Being the Elite, I watched the summer events, and I searched Hangman’s name on youtube as much as I could to get more of a semblance of his character. He was now important to me, and I was determined to understand him as best as I could. Through this, I met and connected with brand new friends, as well as dragged my WWE friends into it as much as I could.

One friend in particular was an EXTREMELY avid Mox fan. Even in his Ambrose days, they spoke about the old CZW Moxley often, and so I had an idea of what this new and improved version would probably be like. I also found myself a friend that had been following Hangman Page for the past few years and knew substantially more about him than I ever could. With them and a couple other new friends I found that also adored Hangman, we became a tiny little stable of our own.

And so, the brainstorming began.

Before All Out 2019 even happened, I had posed the question to my friends: “What do we think about Hangman and Mox? Wouldn’t that be a badass combination?”

The noted Mox fan and the seasoned Hangman vet were the first ones to perk up. The Mox fan agreed immediately, and the Hangman vet said they had already started working on an idea to bring them together a couple days after Double or Nothing, when Mox had done his interview with Chris Jericho on his Talk is Jericho podcast.

“Hold on a minute - a podcast?” I asked, curious.

Enthusiastically, they told me that Jericho had asked Mox who he’d like to get in the ring with now that he was in a new promotion. Hangman’s name had been the first out of his mouth, said nonchalantly, very much like it wasn’t a big deal and Mox was just naming names to name them. But it was too late - this was now my obsession.

Three episodes into AEW Dynamite, we got our very first chance to see them in action together. The two loners, Pac and Moxley, were taking on the team of Hangman and Kenny. This team was brand new at the time, both having suffered major losses at All Out - Kenny had submitted to Pac, and Hangman had lost his shot at the inaugural title to Chris Jericho in the main event. The tag match made sense - for the most part. Mox had gone for the biggest fish in AEW at the end of Double or Nothing, giving Kenny Omega a Paradigm Shift that got the entire wrestling world talking. Pac and Hangman had beef that started in the early days of the promotion, the story told almost entirely through Being the Elite at the time. Kenny had just lost to Pac. And yet…there was no motivation here for Hangman and Mox to be across the ring from each other. The lack of a story between them was louder than all the other storytelling here combined. Perhaps, I told myself, this was a story in itself.

No worries, though. We were about to see just how much chemistry these two had. This would be the first step in gauging what a potential feud or even partnership could be like. We were absolutely shivering with anticipation.

Hangman spent most of his own time in the match trying to get the drop on Pac. The first moment he was in the ring with Mox, he practically paid him no mind until he had Pac dead on the floor. Before the match was done, they’d interacted maybe twice as legal men in the ring, and once when everyone was on the outside. At one point, Mox had Hangman in a gorgeous Texas cloverleaf submission, which was quickly stopped by Kenny. Another point in the match, Hangman tried to give Mox a buckshot lariat that Mox ducked. Almost immediately, Mox ate a clothesline from Hangman akin to an Okada Rainmaker finisher, and it was fucking beautiful.

It was clear to me, from the grand total of about two and a half minutes that they spent in the ring together, that they were an elegant match.

Four months passed by.

Hangman went on a downward spiral, leaving the Elite but choosing still to tag with Kenny. He started to drink, courtesy of those silly little guys, Private Party. This ain’t water, indeed. By the time Revolution 2020 came around, Hangman was on a trajectory to meet his former best friends, the Young Bucks, in a tag team championship match, and Jon Moxley was slated as contender to Chris Jericho’s AEW world championship in the main event.

And well, let’s just say, the better story won the night, even if Jon Moxley closed the show.

Hangman walked out of his match a winner, his tag title still in one hand and a beer in the other, with Kenny Omega at his side.

Jon Moxley, newly won championship belt on his shoulder, excitement still pumping blood in his ears, would go on to say it felt like it was “beer o’clock.”

An awkward pause.

What? I thought.

The camera panned to the crowd.

Mox was smiling, tongue sticking out like a panting dog, looking somewhat towards the go-position.

No, could he be…? There was no way. I couldn’t believe it. Was Hangman Page about to show up right now?

Whoever was in production scrambled to put a stop to this. Mox’s music hit.

“Hey, what the fuck?” said the newly crowned world heavyweight champion.

Hold on. Were they…Oscaring him off the stage? Is that what was happening in this moment? Say ‘sike’ right now.

My hands were on my mouth.

Let’s just say that for the rest of the five hours that I stayed awake after this show, unable to sleep due to the sheer adrenaline running through my veins, me and the gang were viciously wondering what the fuck that was about. Maybe Hangman was supposed to come out? But how does that make sense when he and Kenny just retained their titles? Why would he go for the championship again so soon? But it makes sense for him to want it. That’s the title that he promised he would win on day one of the company.

But we didn’t get an answer.

Whether that was because of the pandemic that shut down the entire world for the foreseeable future a week and half later, or because that was just genuinely something that meant absolutely nothing, we’ll never know. Truly, we will NEVER know. Unless one of us ever has the guts to ask Mox about it. Until then, “beer o’clock” + awkward pause + staring at the go-position + Mox theme + “hey what the fuck” will likely haunt me for the rest of my life. Thanks, Jonathan.

Lots of things changed during this time. Hangman’s rocky relationship with the Bucks came back to a head again before All Out 2020, during a tag gauntlet match that would reveal the first contenders for Hangman and Kenny’s championships at the Pay-Per-View. It was down to the Young Bucks and FTR. See, FTR had come in at the beginning of the summer, and they ended up making friends with Hangman. Hangman was there when they signed their contracts, with a brand new bottle of whiskey in hand. They bonded over drinks. But they weren’t so friendly with the Bucks and Kenny, which obviously caused a lot of problems. By the time that gauntlet came around, FTR had Hangman convinced that if the Bucks won the gauntlet, Hangman would regret it. They worked him with his own insecurities. They just wanted a friendly bout with him, they said. He’d already had one with the Bucks, so wouldn’t it be fun to have a match with FTR this time?

So Hangman cheated, costing the Bucks the match. A few moments later, Hangman brooding over what he’d done in the Daily’s Place bar, the Bucks kicked him officially out of the Elite, throwing a drink in his face.

He and Kenny would go on to lose the tag titles at All Out to FTR. He would lose his tag partner in the process. He would fight him at the next PPV in singles competition for contendership of Moxley’s heavyweight championship. He would drop to the ground, land flat on his face, losing this first opportunity to fight Moxley to his own partner.

A microphone blast to the head. Blood gushing from the middle of Jon’s forehead (a sight well known to the AEW fans). V-Trigger. V-Trigger. V-Trigger. V-Trigger. Pull him in. One Winged Angel.

One. Two. Three.

That was how Jon Moxley lost his AEW world heavyweight championship to Kenny Omega. An absolute steal. A few weeks prior, at Full Gear, the Young Bucks beat FTR for the tag team championships.

Months and months go by. Hangman finds solace in the Dark Order, and the Dark Order finds solace in him in return. They bring each other back up, from sorrows greater than we could even imagine. The loss of their leader, their friend, their Exalted One. Our Brodie Lee. Though Hangman would deny them on separate occasions, eventually he would understand that friends don’t let friends do battle alone. And whether he joined them as a group or not, it wouldn’t matter. They would keep Brodie Lee’s offer and promise that he made to Hangman the year before, when he left the Elite. They would never leave him alone.

Mox would continue his quest to retrieve the title, challenging Kenny at Revolution 2021 in an exploding barbed wire deathmatch that would end…not precisely as intended. However, much like Hangman, he would find that he was not alone. He would find someone to watch his back, in the form of an old friend and foe, Eddie Kingston. They would challenge the Bucks - now firmly planted once again at Kenny’s side - for the tag team championships at Double or Nothing 2021. This, much like his shot at the world title, would be for naught.

In the summer of 2021, the Dark Order would prove worthy allies in the ring to Hangman, when they challenged Kenny and the Young Bucks to a multi-man tag, with the stipulation that if they were able to eliminate each member of the Elite, Hangman would get his shot at Kenny’s title, and they would receive a shot at the Young Bucks.

Now, I’ll be honest - I don’t remember what Mox was doing at the time, so I had to look this up. Uhh, he spent a lot of time on AEW Dark. But the match that stood out the most to me during this time was a Texas Deathmatch with Lance Archer…which he lost. And with it, his IWGP US championship.

So Hangman and the Dark Order are unsuccessful. They beg him to keep trying, but at around this time, Hangman decides that he needs some space. He comes up to the ring at Daily’s Place, the first Homecoming show since AEW’s two month long tour away (when the entire world decided that the pandemic was finally over). Tony Schiavone is with him, and it seems like maybe Hangman is going to tell the crowd that he’s gonna take some time to himself or let some things off his chest, when the Elite show up. At one point he tells Hangman that perhaps maybe he would consider allowing Hangman to come back to the Elite - upon which a young woman in the crowd in a cowboy hat and a teal bandana yells, “Never!” (me). Yes, I got to watch live as the Elite beat Hangman down and the Dark Order could only stand back and watch.

…This would be the last time we see Hangman for two months.

While he’s gone, though, Jon Moxley brings up his name, in a backstage promo where he calls out the newcomers. At this time, AEW was seeing a surge of new talent entering its ranks - people like Daniel Garcia, Malakai Black, CM Punk. Mox questions whether this talent thinks that it’s easy to be at the top here - Kenny has an entire entourage surrounding him at all times just to keep the title around his waist, and Hangman can’t “get over his high school drama, BTE emo bullcrap long enough to get the job done.” He says that Hangman “ain’t no cowboy,” and he could “drink his ass under the table.”

Oh, I think. You mean like beer o’clock?

Mox was pulling wins around this time every week, and it was clear he was due for a push. This was the man who put the world title and the company on his back during an unprecedented time not just for the promotion, but for the world as a whole. And it was clear that he was due his flowers.

But very odd, to me, that he would bring up Hangman. Especially when they had nothing to do with each other.

Fast forward to October 6th, 2021. A fucked up time in my life. Probably the worst I’ve ever felt.

It was only fitting, then, that my favorite cowboy would show up and give me a small glimmer of hope. The roar of the crowd that night touched my soul more than I can ever say.

The last time he was the Joker of a casino match, he won. This time would be no different.

Except that Mox was in this match. And Mox was the one in the ring waiting for him. The moment they collided with each other, I was screaming. I was crying. My heart was thumping out of my chest. After two years, they were finally back in a ring together. Almost two years to the day.

One of the funniest moments in this casino ladder match is seeing Hangman drop Pac from the top of a ladder with a deadeye, pull himself up onto the ropes to celebrate with the crowd, only to turn around and get spiked on his head with a Paradigm Shift from Jon Moxley, receiving the double birds.

But it didn’t matter. The path was clear - Hangman was going to win this ladder match, setting up his final encounter with his old friend, Kenny Omega, for the AEW world heavyweight championship. And there wasn’t a damn thing Mox, Pac, Andrade, or Lance Archer could do to stop him.

Hangman, at the top of a ladder, guzzling a beer, closed out the show. The casino chip lay ominously on the mat, forgotten.

The next couple of weeks would see Hangman in the most confident state he’d ever been in, relaxed and sure of himself, breathing deeply and opening his heart to the fans. He was - in a word - beautiful.

Mox, however, was absolutely despicable. Ten days later, he would have his first bout with Wheeler Yuta, dropping him in less than two minutes and storming back out of the ring. He would continue his rampage all the way into the eliminator tournament, which would come to a head at Full Gear. All the booking made it clear: this man was aiming for the world title…and Hangman Page was going to be the one wearing it.

That would all change, however, when Jon Moxley decided to put his health first. His fight with alcoholism had finally resonated enough within him that he said enough was enough, and he pulled himself out of the tournament. In an odd way, his real life story and Hangman’s story on the screen were more similar than we could have expected.

And once again, like ships in the night…they would pass each other by, never knowing how close they had come.

I won’t go on a long tangent about how much Hangman winning the title meant to me, so I’ll just say this: Hangman Page winning the world title meant a lot to me.

Another similarity - both Hangman and Mox bled in the match where they won their world championship.

From here, we arrive in 2022.

“Nobody, no matter who you are, should be afraid to stand up in front of the whole world and bare it all, everything that makes you who you are, scars and all, and say ‘hey, this is me!’” - words Jon Moxley spoke when he made his return from rehabilitation.

I love these words. Because they’re very much in line with something that Hangman himself said in the post-Full Gear scrum two months before: “Fuck it, I’ll just say what I feel. I’ll just be me. And if it works, it works, and if it doesn’t, I came by it honest.”

As the champion Hangman Adam Page bled and bled and bled his way through his title matches, Jon Moxley found himself in the Blackpool Combat Club - a group consisting of himself, Bryan Danielson, and William Regal, as well as (eventually) Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli. This was a group that prided itself in one thing - bloody violence.

The alcohol would be replaced, in both the champ and the former champ’s minds, by blood.

A sidenote: Hangman would have a Texas Deathmatch with the very same Lance Archer. Unlike Moxley, though, he would go on to win the match and retain his championship. And boy, was it a bloody scene. Two months later, Hangman would challenge Adam Cole to a Texas Deathmatch as well - and win.

We arrive at Double or Nothing.

A good friend of mine would meet Hangman Page at a meet and greet the day before the show. The limited edition print Hangman signed for her was a graphic of him, surrounded by a border that resembled a playing card. His sign - the Ace of Diamonds. Curious, I looked up the meaning of the card. Now, this could all be bullshit, but at the time, it meant something to me. It specified a message that was soon to come, or in a broader sense, a new perspective. I felt like this fit Hangman perfectly, and it solidified something in my own head about him - he was, in fact, an Ace in the company. At a time when I heard often that Jon Moxley was the top guy, when there were whispers that Jon might fight Tanahashi soon at Forbidden Door, I was dead set on maintaining Hangman as the One. And this, this was a sign. For me.

All those hopes and dreams would come crashing down though, obviously, when Hangman lost the title to CM Punk. After 198 days of being overshadowed by the explosive feud that was Maxwell versus Punk, Hangman’s reign would come to an end.

But as luck would have it, Punk would be injured about four days later, leaving the title picture up in the air.

“This is mine,” Hangman had declared, that night at Double or Nothing. “You will NEVER have it. This. Is. Mine!”

Those words, it seemed, rang nearly true enough.

The month of June would become a month so confusing, so convoluted, that even now I cannot remember what exactly the fuck happened. There was a battle royal to pick an opponent for the number one contender to the interim title, Jon Moxley, but the problem was that Hangman already had a match set for the night. I thought, surely he can pull a double. He’s the former world champ. Surely, they’ll let him do it. The only problem was, that double was actually pulling a triple, because the match between the winner of the battle royal would face Mox on Rampage, which was taped the same night.

I, and the rivalry I so desperately held to my chest, would have to wait once more. Another near-crossing. But I could feel it: the lines were drawing closer.

Mox would face Tanahashi and win the interim world title. Hangman would follow a confusing path to the IWGP heavyweight championship and lose against three other men. Hangman had another opportunity at a title shot in another battle royal, but he got dunked out of the ring before he could win it. By the middle of July, I was getting antsy. I wanted to know what the future held for my favorite guy in AEW, and by god, I was going to get some answers.

Comicpalooza - Houston, TX. July 16th and 17th, 2022. Hangman Page and Adam Cole were set to appear. They were going to have panels, autographs, and professional photos with fans.

And I, resident Hangman girlie, was going to be there.

Here’s where the shit gets interesting.

Cole ended up having to cancel, I’m assuming due to not being medically cleared after the concussion he suffered at Forbidden Door. Which meant that both days became wide open to meeting Hangman not once, not twice - but four times. Twice for photos and twice for autographs. And of course, the panel.

As a girl who’s never once met a celebrity that she actually cared about, this was a big fucking deal, and I was - hoo boy, was I nervous. The first chance I got was the first autograph signing, right before the photo and about twenty minutes before the panel. I could hardly look him in the eye. I was about as skittish as a horse, and super quiet. He tried to get light conversation out of me (complimenting my pearlsnap - which matched his own, mine was cream and his was brown - shirt, my belt, and my boots), and I ended up mentioning that I would see him again in a few minutes for the photo and then the panel. It was going to be a busy couple hours for him. After that was over, I saw him at the photo. I was the first in line.

“Hello again,” I said. He replied with a smile, and he seemed much more awake and excited than he had a few minutes prior. I noted that he must like taking photos with everyone. His cheery aura calmed me down significantly, and I was much more comfortable speaking with him. I asked for a hug, and he obliged me. He asked me what kind of pose I’d like to do, and I told him I wanted to do finger guns. In my head, I was imagining us back to back, like a movie poster, but he suggested we whirl into it, like we’re about to shoot at the camera. He asked if this was okay. I was so starry-eyed that I said yes immediately.

Once the camera flashed, he pulled me over to the photographer’s screen of the image. He said he wanted to make sure it looked good, and asked if I liked it. It was an amazing photo. I know it was amazing, because I actually thought I looked good in it.

Now, I debated on mentioning this part but I figure I may as well - at this point in time, I asked him if I handed him a letter, would he read it. He said, “yes, of course!” I handed it to him, and he quickly asked me if he should read it now, to which I yelled, “no! Nuh uh! Not right now!”

“You sure?” he asked playfully. I shook my head. It was too long a letter for him to read at the moment, and he had a line to get through and then a panel to get to. I was not about to hold him up. Plus, I had tapped out all my remaining courage for this particular moment. I was not about to watch his face as he read the feelings I bore on those pages. Knowing I was strong enough to put the letter in his hands was enough for me. He said okay. I thanked him as I left, saying I would see him at the panel.

The audience at the panel was small, way too small for the ballroom they had set up in. But it didn’t matter, because I was in the front row anyway. I brought a little sign that said “Hangman Gang,” which was the name of my group of wrestling friends. The mediator of the panel pointed it out to him when he sat down at the table in the front of the room.

I had never attended a panel before, but I knew the basics of what it was like from a couple of panels I had watched on youtube. At some point, there would be a Q&A where fans could go up to a microphone setup and ask him a question.

I had thought about what I would ask him for weeks. But by the time the day came around, none of the questions I’d thought about were sticking in my mind as The One. I had questions about the meaning behind some of his gear, questions about the Elite, questions about Adam Cole. But none of them felt…right. When I finally got out of my seat to take my spot in line for the microphone, I was in “fuck it” mode. I knew what I was going to ask, even if I wasn’t sure how I was going to ask it. Plus, I needed to tell him happy early birthday.

“Hi,” I said shyly. He responded with a quiet “hello.”

And so it began. I wished him a happy birthday, barely stopping to acknowledge his thanks before continuing on with what I was there for. I prefaced my question by saying that I knew him and Mox had only fought twice in the past two years, but never in singles. And I believe, if my memory is correct, that I said: “Is that on purpose? Or like, are you dodging Mox? Or is Mox dodgin’ you?”

A chuckle from the mediator. The absolute audacity of my asking my favorite wrestler in the world whether he was afraid of another wrestler must have really gotten to him.

Hangman replied, as I recall, very eloquently. He remembered that first match at the beginning of Dynamite’s run, and he remembered the casino ladder match. But as for why they hadn’t met again, he could only chalk it up to…”fate.” Fate was what kept them apart. Fate took Mox out of the tournament, fate took the belt off Hangman, fate kept him from these opportunities all summer long. It was out of his control, but he would love to fight Mox. He certainly wasn’t dodging him on purpose. He would love to do a match with him.

At this, the mediator prompted. “...Texas Deathmatch?”

Hangman’s eyes looked out into the ether, weighing those words. “Yeah. Yeah, Mox likes deathmatches, right?”

My entire body started vibrating at those words. I thanked him and sat back in my seat.

I would not stop thinking about those words until the end of September, when Hangman won the battle royal at Rampage Grand Slam. The newly crowned NOT-interim world heavyweight champion, Jon Moxley, was set to do battle against Hangman Adam Page.

This was an important match for Hangman, as it would be his first major shot at the world title since losing it a few months back. From the moment Hangman walked out to meet Mox face to face in the front of the ring, I was hooked on every expression, every set of their jaws, every word from their mouths.

“Three years of AEW Dynamite…three years of watching you, three years of studying you because I knew this was comin’...three years of us circlin’ each other…”

The camera cuts to a wide shot of the two in the ring, dancing around each other.

The image in my head is of Raymond Holt from Brooklyn Nine Nine shouting, “VINDICATION!!”

“You know, between the two of us, we’ve probably beaten everyone there is to beat…except each other…on October 18th, there will be one Last Man Standing here in AEW.”

The first pearl of foreshadowing dropped. Texas Deathmatches, at their core, were considered ‘last man standing.’ Mox goes on to say here that he was going to choke Hangman out, because Hangman was in the way. In the way of Mox being, once and for all, the Top Guy in AEW. Just like I had been told. He goes on to say that he respects Hangman as a competitor and as a person. At one point, after Hangman goes too far, he calls him a ‘sweet kid.’ But at the end of the day, he was going to put him down, no matter what.

The next week in the ring, Mox mentions that being world champion means having a target on your back. Many “crumble under the pressure…some faster than others.” This is, very clearly, a knock on Hangman and his reign. Though Hangman bled, and bled…and bled to keep his title, the story of his reign was a tough one. Having finally beaten the man whose shadow Hangman felt trapped under, there was nothing now to fight but the weight of being the champ. Keeping the gold that symbolized his worth had been, as Mox points out, too much to handle.

And now, he had to get his worth back.

When Hangman walks out to meet Mox here, he begins by telling Mox that whatever he has to say to Hangman, he can “say it to his face.” This would be the first, of many times, where he says this to Moxley in the months to come. He goes on to say, “but actually, you said it all last week.” He mentions how Mox said he respected him in the ring and as a person, and “[he] would be lying if [he didn’t say] coming from [Mox], that meant the world to [him].” He says that Mox was a damn good father, husband, champion, and that he looked up to Mox and wanted to be like him. But the moment that Mox called him a kid last week, all of those things vanished, in Hangman’s eyes.

“Is that what you think of me?” He demands. Mox takes the mic and says it’s exactly right. Because the Hangman standing before him now is not the same guy who knocked him off the top of a ladder a year ago to cash in his shot at the title. The Hangman of now, broken and aimless, won’t be able to pull the trigger if given the chance.

Mox’s observation here was sound - Hangman had many opportunities as champion to end someone in the most brutal way possible. During the Texas Deathmatch with Adam Cole, there’s a wonderful shot of Cole tied to the ropes while Hangman debates hitting him with a steel chair. A similar shot was shown the night he lost the title to CM Punk - where he holds the title in his hands while no one is looking, and debates whether he should use it to knock Punk out. He had a similar choice the day he won the title, but he chose not to and won.

In every instance, he has a shot at ending it. He refuses every time, out of some sense of nobility. It’s clear here that Mox disapproves.

Hangman agrees. He’s not the same person. Hesitation cost him the title. Hesitation cost him the trios titles, as well, in September. His old friends were gone and his new ones were dropping like flies. “I’m angry, I’m depressed! The medicine is not working but I am STILL HERE because I am a man!”

Here’s where he ties in to Mox’s words. How could he be a sweet kid if he was a man? An adult? Someone who has been through hell and back? He’s lowered family into the ground, he’s helped bring life into this world, he’s been choked until he turns blue but he keeps getting back up!

At this point, Hangman gets so worked up that he beats his fist into his eyebrow so badly that it breaks the skin. And here’s the part that I love the most - “I have my shot, and I have my word. Tuesday, I take my shot, and tonight I give you my word.” He palms at the blood staining his brow, wipes it on Mox’s white shirt. “...That is my word.”

The week before Hangman won the title off Kenny, there was a contract signing. At this contract signing, Kenny Omega and Don Callis conspired to rough Hangman up to give him a disadvantage going into the match that Sunday. Hangman broke wide open, over the same. Fucking. Eyebrow. And what did Kenny do? He signed his signature to the contract in Hangman’s blood. And then he lost.

I guess you could say Hangman’s blood holds a lot of promise.

“And unlike him,” Hangman said, pointing to a lurking Maxwell in the rafters of the arena, “I wanted to make sure to say this to you face-to-face…man-to-man.”

Of course, Hangman would go on to lose the first bout, as he suffered a very real, very scary concussion, but my god, was that match a work of art before the finish. It’d been a while since Hangman fans saw him pull an orihara moonsault from high up on a barricade, but he pulled it out for Mox.

At this point, I sat and wondered. Would I get to see him again? How soon? They were set to have three shows in Texas come December, and I wondered if we would finally get the Texas Deathmatch that seemed all but a promise. Because I didn’t think he would be cleared, I didn’t go to any of them. I just watched, anxious and a little bit heated, as Hangman showed up to answer Moxley’s call at the beginning of the first winter month.

Moxley’s first reaction to this was to make a tone-deaf joke about how Hangman probably didn’t remember what happened the last time they had met, instead of waiting to hear what Hangman might’ve had to say. He was met with a sock to the jaw.

This would go on for weeks, with Hangman saying that this wasn’t how he wanted it to go at all, but Mox just HAD to goad him. Say something stupid. Meanwhile, Mox held firm in his belief that he didn’t know what the fuck Hangman was talking about, and he could fight him any day of the week, no problem. Hangman would go into a brawl with him nearly every week, not being cleared to wrestle in the ring on account of his concussion. In a segment with Renee, he would reveal to her that the night of their first bout, when he got injured, he forgot his own son’s name. So Mox making light of his memory loss was, of course, not at all funny.

By January 2023, a date was set between the two in California. All three Texas shows went by and not one mention of a Texas Deathmatch, which had me very confused. But no matter, because there were two more Texas shows now slated for February, and I was going to one of them. I hoped, even if it wasn’t the match I was hoping for, that at the very least the feud would continue.

Before this rematch, though, they had one last face-to-face. Mox would tell Hangman that all this whining about get knocked out made him absolutely sick. And Hangman, of course, would have to point Mox in the right direction. “You think that I’m mad at you because you knocked me out? Is that really what you think?”

See, Hangman was well aware that being knocked out was part of the job. That was never the problem. Condescendingly, Hangman continues. “You don’t seem like a guy for nuance, so I’ll put it to you simple…”

The night of Hangman’s return, Mox didn’t let him get one word in before he made a joke. He believed in that moment that Mox saw him as a threat. But Hangman had not walked out to Mox that night for a fight, though it was what he was here for now.

That part was so interesting to me, because I wanted so badly to know why Hangman showed up that night to face Mox in the ring originally. This goes back to Hangman’s need to say things to Mox’s face and wanting the same in return.

Hangman won the second bout in a great match. Mox suffered what looked to be an injury, with the way he asked, “What happened?” repeatedly. Almost as if he had suffered a concussion of his own. Hangman would leave the ring, concerned and most of all, ashamed. Mox had been right in October. He was much softer than was expected to be of a champion.

So now they were tied, 1 to 1. At this point, Renee conducted a couple of interviews with Hangman, one of which was very interesting.

Renee started by asking how he was doing, and then she told him something that Mox told her. Apparently, Mox believed that Hangman made him better. That he both “despises” and “cherishes” him.

The HangMox girlie in me was bouncing off the walls. Knowing that even after two fights, Mox still had a nice word to say about Hangman was everything to me. It was beyond anything I could have ever expected, and he turned visibly awkward here. This would be one of three times in the interview where his body language changed.

He answers by saying that if Mox wanted to say something to his face, he could say it to him, and Hangman would gladly knock him out again if need be. Again, bringing up speaking to his face.

Three days before this segment, someone asked me what I thought was next for Hangman, and although I didn’t have a clear answer, I knew that it would have to do with something from the past. “The only way he can move forward is by looking back.”

Renee asked Hangman the same question, and he responded with, “the more I look forward, I can’t help but see back.”

I yelped. This was insane. There was no way we were this in tune. Basically, he wanted one final match. To prove that his win wasn’t a fluke, to prove that at the end of the day, he was the better of the two. To put this feud to bed. He also says that something Renee said earlier (calling him and Mox “elite” level performers) reminded him of some friendships that needed mending. This is another time he visibly changes his body language.

Once the interview is done, Hangman asks how Mox is, truly. Renee says that he’ll dust himself off again soon. Here is the final time where he seems to become visibly awkward - he begins to ask Renee, “could you tell him -” before stopping himself. “Never mind, it’s stupid.”

He holds himself here to the standard he holds Mox by. He wants Mox to say things to his face, so he knows that he shouldn’t relay anything back to him through Renee either.

Their third match, while just as fun as the first two, ends in an anti-climactic finish. After getting his ass handed to him by Hangman for about eight or so minutes, Mox pulls him in for a deep cover and gets the roll-up win. Hangman is, understandably, pissed. He ends up getting in Mox’s face, with Wheeler and Claudio having to keep them apart. They exchange flips of the bird. Mox lays down and makes a snow angel, much like Punk did to him in September. Hangman responds with a burpee.

They are absolutely little fucking kids about it. And it’s great.

It’s clear that the dick measuring contest isn’t over.

Still pissed off, Hangman comes back the next week in an interview with Renee and he is positively livid. He is so livid that he almost, almost tells Renee to relay a message to Moxley, but he’s interrupted by Kip Sabian before he can finish his thought.

The next week, Hangman wrestles Kip Sabian. I’m in the front row, cheering my ass off. He wins, as expected. He leans onto the ropes, frustration over another match crystal clear in his eyes. I raise my poster up so he can see. “Cowboy, you stole my yee-heart,” it reads. (It was the day after Valentine’s Day.)

He sends me a little kiss, keeps his eyebrows angry and his lips pouting. He does it like he’s mad about it, and it’s oh-so-fucking funny.

Behind him, Mox and his friends pull up into the ring. My heart is pounding out of my chest. I am seeing Hangman and Mox in the ring together with my own two eyes, and it’s amazing.

Mox tells Hangman that it’s over between them, he won fair and square. But Hangman refuses. He takes the mic, saying that there’s no way either of them could be happy with the finish of that match. That it’s not how their story should end. Their story ends at Revolution, when they go back in that cold, dark alley and only one man is left standing.

There it is, I thought. Those words again. Last man standing.

Mox seems glad of Hangman’s pushy nature at this point. He admits he’s kinda glad that Hangman has no friends to talk him into a smarter decision.

It’s at this point that the Dark Order makes itself known. Evil Uno, mic in hand, asks if he heard Mox correctly. “Did you say that this man has no friends?”

This moment was insane. Absolutely astonishing, to see Uno walk into the ring, square up to Mox and tell his own friend, Hangman, to get out of his face. Uno even goes so far as to pie-face Moxley to get his attention, something very few people have ever done and gotten away with, if ever.

Refusing to see Uno as a threat, Mox looks past him to the upset cowboy. “Cowboy…Texas Death.”

That girl in the front row went absolutely insane (me).

After missing four separate shows in Texas, I still managed to witness the announcement of the Texas Deathmatch between Hangman and Moxley. It was like the entire segment, the entire feud, up to this moment, was waiting on me to become a part of it once more. To be their lone partner, standing witness to the wonderful feud that was unfolding in front of my very eyes. Because not only were Hangman and Mox going head to head with the stipulation I’d been expecting since it came out of that mediation’s mouth, springing from my own completely odd and batshit question, but now the Dark Order was involved with the now merciless Blackpool Combat Club. Which means that this is likely far from truly over.

I left that show an elated woman. I was finally getting what I wanted.

And now, two and a half weeks later, the match is here. After watching the Countdown to Revolution, I can say without a doubt that they’ve satiated me well enough with this build. This idea that Mox is an animal without mercy that craves violence, completely and totally juxtaposing the man that needs to put down this rabid dog even if he doesn’t want to, but is going to have to by any means necessary. He said that Mox would never be the same, but I think the opposite is true. I think Hangman’s going to reach a point that he hasn’t been brought to yet in AEW. I think this time, despite all other evidence to the contrary, he’s finally going to snap. That heavy heart that Mox couldn’t take from him, that heart that Mox couldn’t carry, might turn to stone, if only for a moment.

A few weeks before Bryan and Mox had their bloody match at Revolution 2022, Mox uttered these words: “I don’t stand side by side with nobody…till I bleed with him first.”

It’s very clear that this Sunday, these men are going to bleed together. But I wonder…will they end up standing side by side? Will they share non-alcoholic beers together? Will Hangman ever tell Mox how he really feels, or will he keep it to himself, as he’s so often done before?

I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

#hangman adam page #adam page #jon moxley #aew #aew revolution (2023)#hangman page #all elite wrestling #hangman x moxley #hangmox

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