Tony Khan clarifies Hangman Page AEW World title stipulation
Hangman Page can never challenge for the AEW World Championship again — unless he breaks his word and goes back on the stipulation he agreed to.
The main event of Revolution on Sunday night saw MJF retain the AEW World Championship against Page in a Texas Death match. As a result, Page is unable to challenge for the title ever again. Tony Khan was asked about that stipulation at the post-PPV press conference and described it as a “gentleman’s handshake.” Like when Cody Rhodes faced Chris Jericho at AEW Full Gear 2019, there is nothing on paper in AEW canon that means the wrestler has to follow through on the stipulation. But Khan believes Page is a man of his word.
“It’s the same thing with Cody, it was a gentleman’s handshake with both of them,” Khan responded when asked how strict the stipulation is. “They both came to me and said, ‘I want to put this at stake.’ And both of them, I told them, ‘That sounds f***ing nuts, dude.’ Both of them really wanted to do it. And in both cases I said, ‘Are you sure?’ And they both said, ‘Yeah.’ So it is an agreement we made. Second time it’s happened. [Page] is somebody that’s known for being a man of his word, and we made an agreement. So it’s a verbal contract.”
After Rhodes lost to Jericho at Full Gear 2019, AEW legitimately stuck to the stipulation and never had Rhodes challenge for the World title again, with Rhodes instead focusing on the TNT Championship until leaving the promotion for WWE in 2022.
Khan said he believes the MJF vs. Page stipulation added a lot of intrigue to the Revolution main event. When asked about filling Page’s void in the title picture, Khan noted that AEW has a “fantastic line of competitors” who want a shot at the championship.
Page is a two-time AEW World Champion, having held the title in 2021-2022 and 2025.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.