{"id":197325,"date":"2025-05-05T02:25:53","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T07:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=197325"},"modified":"2025-05-07T13:18:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T18:18:04","slug":"aew-rising-and-falling-stars-hangman-adam-page-oreilly-strong-kazuchika-okada-ftr-megan-bayne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/05\/05\/aew-rising-and-falling-stars-hangman-adam-page-oreilly-strong-kazuchika-okada-ftr-megan-bayne\/","title":{"rendered":"AEW RISING AND FALLING STARS: &#8220;Hangman&#8221; Adam Page, O&#8217;Reilly &#038; Strong, Kazuchika Okada, FTR, Megan Bayne"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-874183217\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p><em>This column&#8217;s picks are based on the latest episodes of Collision and Dynamite last week.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>What a fun start to Dynamite we had this week with a giant eight-man tag. If you are\/were a PWG fan, then you probably loved it. It had it moments that made me smile, even though it\u2019s not a typical match style I love. There was more build for the cage match featuring Jon Moxley vs. Samoa Joe for the World Title in two weeks. The Hurt Syndicate and MJF drama continued. In the main event of that show we got to see &#8220;Hangman&#8221; Adam Page and Kyle Fletcher. More on that later.<\/p>\n<p>Collision opened with, the always entertaining, &#8220;Timeless&#8221; Toni Storm, the only wrestler to have a match on both Dynamite and Collision. Is she the most over star in AEW right now? Make a point to find her post match promo it\u2019s, well, Timeless. There was more Mox-Joe build, which was intense from both guys. Most of the rest of the show was progressing low to mid-card storylines, and there\u2019s nothing wrong with that, until we got to the main event of FTR and The Paragon. Like before, more on that later.<\/p>\n<p>Shout out to Brody King and Josh Alexander. If that\u2019s just the next chapter in an ongoing feud, then sign me up for all of it.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Rising Star of the Week: <strong>&#8220;Hangman&#8221; Adam Page<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>How could it not be, right? Magnum A.P., excuse me, Hangman A.P. and Kyle Fletcher wrestled in the main event of Dynamite to see who was headed to the Owen Cup finals to face Will Osprey at Double or Nothing. Hangman won more of a battle than match after two buckshots, one out of the corner that looked beautiful. The entire match was excellent, you should seek it out if you have not seen it. To me, Hangman is one of the few fully-fushed-out characters on the entire show.<\/p>\n<p>Almost every week he does something on Dynamite to progress his story. Even if you just see him in passing during a backstage segment, he\u2019s doing something. It makes me very curious to see where they go now that he\u2019s facing another fan favorite in Osprey. How will the crowds react to Will Osprey now that he\u2019s going to be up against a guy who is, arguably, just as popular right now? Will we see the edgier side of Hangman? Or maybe we see one from Osprey. I\u2019m not sure but I bet the ride to Double or Nothing will be fun.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1st Runner Up: FTR<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Love \u2018em or hate \u2018em you can\u2019t deny how great of a team they are as a team. Maybe you can, how would I know? Anyways, this most recent heel turn works because I think the majority of AEW\u2019s fanbase doesn\u2019t love aspects of either Dax or Cash. Can you blame them? It\u2019s been a weird last few years for both of them. This feels like it could be what they needed to get back on track. I like keeping them separate from The Hurt Syndicate right now as they build this version of FTR. I think that match could help the tag division get back to where it should be in this company. Near or in the main event on a regular basis. Hey, maybe we see them get involved with The Hurt Syndicate during this whole MJF storyline, there is history with FTR and MJF. Even if not I would like to see a full fledged program between a heel FTR and face Hurt Syndicate.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1112779023\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show covering the latest episode of Dynamite: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/aew-dynamite-post-show-4-30-keller-kuester-discuss-mjf-hurt-syndicate-storyline-progress-speedball-s-charm-omega-okada-face-off-more--65820175\">CLICK HERE<\/a> (or search \u201cwade Keller\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=65820175&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4>2nd Runner U<strong>p: \u201cThe Megasus\u201d Megan Bayne<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Winning another collision match, this time against a more credible-ish opponent in Harley Cameron. Rather than two local wrestlers, as she has done since her PPV loss to Toni Storm. That said, and to a lesser extent than Hangman, Bayne is on tv almost every week. Progressing how dominant she is in the ring, more than on the mic. I really mean that, has anyone heard her say more than \u201cyou will all bow down\u201d at all?<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m hopeful they continue to build her up and into a champion because she definitely has the size and \u201cit\u201d which makes her stand out in the women\u2019s division. On to the next as it looks like she\u2019s heading on to a tv match with Anna Jay and I don\u2019t think it will go any better for her than it did for Harley.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Falling Star of the Week: The Paragon\u2019s Kyle O\u2019Reilly &amp; Roderick Strong<\/h3>\n<p>FTR basically destroyed this duo before they could even get off the ground. I recall them talking about wanting tag gold a few weeks back and since then they have lost to FTR twice in two weeks. I know they have the nostalgia with fans because of the love people have for the Undisputed Era and the Classic \u201cblack and gold\u201d NXT, but that was almost eight years ago at this point. It\u2019s time to move on. They never help the guy this group is most suppose to help-Adam Cole. Maybe this was all they were destined for, in the end, and Cole decides to move on. Probably not but one can dream.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Runner Up: Kazuchika Okada<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yup, welcome to my column, I just put one of the IWC\u2019s most popular wrestlers on my first Falling Stars column. That\u2019s just how I feel this week and I can be swayed but it\u2019s how I feel right now. Here is my issue. I thought when Kenny Omega came back and they started to build towards a potential All In Texas match we would get a different Okada. This week made me not think that. I get he\u2019s playing the \u201cchicken shit\u201d heel right now but there is just way too much comedy.<\/p>\n<p>I would have preferred he not be in that eight-man tag match on Dynamite because of how much comedy was in the match. Keep him away from that. I can\u2019t be the only one who wishes he was more serious. Can I? Here a question who\u2019s been a bigger fail since coming to AEW &#8211; Okada or Adam Cole? I\u2019m not sure. It\u2019s just been a frustrating run for him in AEW so far. Hopefully as the weather gets warmer he will change and dial up more of The Rainmaker and less of this version.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wade Keller Post-show - AEW Dynamite w\/Wade Keller &amp; Dan Kuester\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/w3AK3lKTd8E?start=178&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-359851948\"><div id=\"pwtor-1315804227\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>This column&#8217;s picks are based on the latest episodes of Collision and Dynamite last week. What a fun start to Dynamite we had this week with a giant eight-man tag. If you are\/were a PWG <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/05\/05\/aew-rising-and-falling-stars-hangman-adam-page-oreilly-strong-kazuchika-okada-ftr-megan-bayne\/\" title=\"AEW RISING AND FALLING STARS: &#8220;Hangman&#8221; Adam Page, O&#8217;Reilly &#038; Strong, Kazuchika Okada, FTR, Megan Bayne\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":191215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,52,4309,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-197325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlightarticles","category-opnionandanalysis","category-rising-star-fading-star","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-16-at-3.08.38\u202fPM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197325"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":197326,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197325\/revisions\/197326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}