AEW Full Gear preview, predictions: Can Hangman Page finally dethrone Kenny Omega?

Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Adam Page – AEW World Championship

What more is there to say to preview this match? Tetsuya Naito’s climb to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship combined with the implosion of the mega powers. AEW built their company on the back of this story and they will make sure to finish it properly… just not yet.

A ton of fans have already committed to this match being the end of the Hangman and Omega story. The problem with that thinking is that it requires tunnel vision. Taking in the full scope of AEW’s current booking, AEW’s current rivalries, the current contenders for the world title brings doubt that Page’s time is now. Bryan Danielson is the next challenger for the title, MJF or Darby Allin is likely next, Adam Cole and CM Punk are right behind them. Omega being champion is central to many of AEW’s current plans.

Plus, there just is not a way to book the match currently that has Hangman winning. As much as fans want Hangman to be the one to kick out of the One-Winged Angel, it is not happening. That is a spot that is reserved for Kota Ibushi. Sure, Omega may just not hit it, but he hit it the last time he wrestled Hangman, and as much as Hangman claims to have changed, Omega has too.

Mentioned above is the story of Tetsuya Naito and how he struggled to get to the top of NJPW. What is not mentioned is that that story was told over the course of almost seven years. Okada was just better than Naito, and no matter how many times Naito re-invented himself or how many new recruits he brought into Los Ignorables, or how much he wanted it this time, he could never topple the Rainmaker.

When he finally did beat Okada, it was not because he had finally built himself up enough to overcome the Rainmaker, it was because he had been broken down so much that he was willing to become nothing if he could not finally top the mountain he had been climbing his whole career.

Hangman losing to Omega at Full Gear does not end the story poorly or mean that AEW has given up on him. It just means that they have bigger plans for him and a longer, more fulfilling story for him to tell. For that story to progress, Kenny Omega has to win one more time.

Prediction: Kenny Omega def. Hangman Page