"I knew people wouldn't buy it" - Hangman Page opens up about his early career in AEW

Hangman Page doesn't believe him becoming AEW World Champion was a plan from day one.

This week, Hangman Page was the latest guest on Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette to discuss all things AEW. When talking about his big championship win over Kenny Omega at Full Gear, Page didn't believe there was a grand scheme in place when the company started for him to become champion.

"I wouldn't even talk about, at least with my journey to the AEW World Championship as like some grand scheme that was hatched on day one or something like that because it never was, at least to me, it was never that way," Hangman Page said. "When AEW started, I was just a guy that was losing all the Bullet Club multi-man matches. I don't want to say I was a nobody, but I certainly wasn't like the main event guy who was suddenly going to be main eventing the first ever title match in AEW. I knew people wouldn't buy it, and it didn't matter what I said, it didn't matter what I did in the time between. It was too fast. It was too soon."

---

Hangman Page's vulnerable character led to the support of the AEW fanbase

Despite all that, Hangman Page stayed the course. He remained true to himself on AEW Dynamite, showing a level of vulnerability throughout storylines with The Elite and The Dark Order, which led to fans fully embracing him on his course to become AEW World Champion.

"I knew people would be forgiving, but I knew deep down they wouldn't buy it," Hangman Page continued. "It felt like I got off on the wrong foot and I wanted to rectify that. I felt like the only way you can is to be vulnerable and to let that loss and disappointment come out over a long time. Every week we would get to TV and it wasn't like some grand scheme on how we get Adam Page winning the world title. I just would think, how do I feel about this? What would I feel about this, and let's do that this week."

Hangman Page will defend the AEW World Championship this week against Bryan Danielson on the Winter is Coming special.

What do you make of Hangman Page's comments? Do you think Tony Khan ever informed Page of his long-term plan to make him the fourth AEW World Champion? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.

Thanks to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription of this podcast.