Hangman Page vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Excalibur welcomes us to the show as the camera pans the home venue for AEW, Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL. The theme for Hangman Page hits and out comes the popular fan-favorite AEW original to a loud pop.

Hangman Page settles in the ring and his music dies down. The entrance tune for Claudio Castagnoli hits next and out comes his opponent from the Blackpool Combat Club. He makes his way into the ring and his music dies down.

The bell sounds and off we go with this week’s opening contest. Fans immediately break out in “Cowboy Sh*t! Cowboy Sh*t!” chants as Page takes it to Castagnoli straight out of the gate. The action spills out to the floor where Castagnoli starts to take over.

Castagnoli taunts the crowd as Page is down and out on the floor. Hangman gets in a shot and then brings Claudio back into the ring as fans rally behind him with loud “Let’s go Hangman!” chants.

He works over Claudio for another minute before the BCC member blatantly rakes the eyes to shift the offensive momentum back in his favor. After some more back-and-forth action over the next few minutes, Page sends Claudio to the floor.

The purveyor of “Cowboy Sh*t” then slingshots over the top and splashes onto him at ringside. He continues to beat him down on the floor and then stops to take a gulp of a ringside fans’ beer. Back in the ring, Claudio catches Page with a big counter shot.

As Castagnoli starts to take back over control of the offense, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as our opening contest continues.

When we return from the break, we see Page and Castagnoli duking it out on the floor at ringside until Page backs way up. He gets a full-head of steam running start and clotheslines Claudio back into the ring with authority.

He then looks for his Buckshot Lariat finisher, but Claudio counters by launching him in the air and catching him on the way down with a vicious European uppercut. He goes for the cover, but Page kicks out after the count of two.

The two end up on the floor again moments later, with Claudio catching Page in an impressive display of strength. He runs him into the barricade and post but then goes to the well one too many times, as Page counters in mid-sprint with a twist-around DDT to Claudio face-first on the floor.

Page follows that up with a big moonsault to Claudio on the floor. Fans loudly chant “AEW! AEW!” as Page brings Claudio back into the ring. Page hits a big tombstone pile driver on Claudio for a close near fall attempt. Claudio fights back and pummels Page with repeated forearms.

Claudio continues to bombard Page with forearm-after-forearm blow until he is slumped over in the corner of the ring. Page hits a big counter move seconds later. He goes for the cover, but Claudio kicks out just in time. Fans chant “AEW! AEW!” again as Page leaps into another uppercut from Claudio.

Both guys end up on the ropes in the corner. Claudio looks for a big avalanche power bomb off the top-rope, but Hangman counters in mid-move and hits a hurricanrana to bring Claudio off the ropes and back onto the mat. He hits his Buckshot Lariat finisher and then hits it a second time for the win in a great opener.

Winner: Hangman Page