Voices of Wrestling 2022 Match of the Year: #4 (Page vs. Danielson)

“Hangman” Adam Page and Bryan Danielson kick off AEW’s exceptional in-ring year with an unforgettable bloody and brutal war.

Voices of Wrestling 2022 Match of the Year Archives

• Introduction & Honorable Mentions
• Matches #100-76
• Matches #75-51
• Matches #50-26
• Matches #25-11
• Early-Access Top 10 Reveal
• #10: FTR vs. The Briscoes – July
• #9: CM Punk vs. MJF
• #8: Jun Kasai vs. El Desperado
• #7: Syuri vs. Giulia
• #6: Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay – January
• #5: Anarchy in the Arena
• #4: Hangman Page vs. Bryan Danielson

#4
“Hangman” Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson
01/05
AEW

Overall Points: 650
Total Votes: 92
% of Ballots: 44.02%
12 First Place Votes

“I was at this match live and what a match to witness live. Danielson was willing to kill himself and Hangman brought a lot of fire. Probably second to the Andrade vs Gargano match of greatest matches I have ever seen live.” -Daniel Kuchler

“Incredible match. Bryan Danielson versus Adam Page matches are just so damn good, so damn great, and this one is probably my favorite of the bunch. I remember just falling in love with pro wrestling more and more as I watched this match unfold. Page as champion was great, and Danielson as the cocky, smart-ass, better-than-you challenger was amazing. Just great chemistry and great pro-wrestling in general.” -Jeri L. Evagood

“To me, this solidified Hangman as a well rounded TOP guy. Danielson is just a pro wrestling GOD in this match, and Hangman is with him every step of the way. This was stiff, brutal, technical, smooth, and special. My favorite singles match of the year. I won’t forget a bloody Hangman doing jumping jacks outside the ring, mocking Bryan saying he could do this all day. After this match, no one doubted him.” -Steve Case

“A phenomenal rematch and follow up to their 60 minute classic. Danielson looks to keep the slow pace and wear Page out while working his right arm as the match goes on but Page wants to fight! Page gets busted open early and Danielson is all over him. Page fights back and busts Danielson open as a receipt. We get an insane double juice fight from these two! Danielson is bleeding like crazy and looks way more tired earlier in the match than he was last time due to the blood loss. Tons of great back and forth action as these two lay into each other with vicious headbutts and strikes. Page is finally able to punish Danielson enough to hit the Buckshot Lariat and get the win! Fantastic match! A very different style match from their first one equally amazing!” -Alex Kalil

“Building off their previous match from December 2021, this was the pinnacle Hangman Page’s title reign.

Danielson is one of the greatest wrestlers of his generation, but the intensity and drive shown by Adam Page in this match is what truly took it to another level. The cowboy getting bloody revenge and conquering the bully, while solidifying himself as a true top guy in AEW, was an amazing moment. This match set the bar for what would end up being another incredible in-ring year for AEW.” -Liam Renner

“Danielson precedes his reputation, and brings out the absolute best in Page like few others in the world could.” -Daniel

“A significantly more violent, hateful follow-up to their first match at Winter is Coming, this capitalized off the story from the first match that Bryan mostly dominated the match, but at the end, Page had nearly beaten him. This time, Bryan came out and aggressively tried to beat Page from the very start, the two still wrestled for nearly a half hour, beating the absolute tar out of each other along the way. This was a perfect capstone to Bryan and Hangman’s feud and a great launching pad for Hangman Page’s world title reign, a reign that had some of the best in-ring action in the young history of the AEW World Championship.” -Jeff Ahmed

“Watching this after Page’s title reign came to an end makes you realize how much he was cut off. Danielson had possibly the best in-ring year of his career and this match was a big part of it. I loved the hour draw they’d had too but put this right up there with it. The Buckshot Lariat was built to so well and came off as an incredible finisher.” -Dave Musgrave

“Hangman Page’s World Title reign earlier this year cemented his status as the ace of the promotion. It helped that his first two defenses were against one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, Bryan Danielson. Their hour-long draw, which finished third on last year’s list, was the set-up for this rematch. It saw Danielson attempt to employ the same strategy as last time, but Hangman was able to turn the tide by drawing first blood from Danielson. That material change allowed for Hangman to survive Danielson’s attacks and finally hit the Buckshot Lariat to get the win. Top tier professional wrestling.” -Suit Williams

“A bloody, brutal, violent match that kicked off AEW’s incredible in-ring year with a bang.” -Jeremy Sexton

“This match was the perfect sequel to the hour draw Hangman and Danielson wrestled three weeks earlier. After being beaten by the clock previously these two decided to sprint at each other, creating a truncated and more intense version of their one-hour broadway. Danielson’s performance was particularly nuanced, after trying to out-wrestle Hangman in their first match he instead decided to just try and beat the stuffing out of him any way possible, desperate to take the title he felt he had won. Unfortunately for him, Hangman is as tough as they come and after putting over his endurance and durability in their first match Danielson put over Hangman’s aggression and power in the second. The perfect way to set a new champion and future ace of the company up for his first title run.” -Sam Brown

“This match was coming off their time limit draw before this. It started with some solid grappling before they took it up a gear with moonsaults to the floor and a powerbomb on the apron, and a dive straight in to the barricade. Danielson busts Page open on the steel steps and does jumping jacks to show off his cardio before Page does them later while covered in blood such a wonderful visual. Page’s wild eyes as he’s looking for the buckshot are something else as you see the sheer desire of this man to win this match and come away with the title, but Danielson escapes it up just dropping to the mat due to fatigue. A great match that really set the tone for a great in ring year for AEW.” -Steven

“At Winter is Coming the year before, Hangman and Bryan fought in a 60-minute time limit draw that finished #3 on VOW MOTY 2021 list. It was a masterclass in its own genre.
For the rematch, we knew there would be a winner and it would be a different match. It didn’t change the fact that the two put a Dynamite all-timer. Technique, violence, story, everything was there. A classic.” -Enzo FADELLI

“Amazing title match that reiterates the point of how lucky we are to watch dynamite. No another wrestling tv product can produce this great tv and great match every single week.” -Filip Pejic

“The one hour draw between Hangman Page and Bryan Danielson was great, among the best matches of 2021 but not quite a match of the year level for me personally.

It brings me great joy to say that their rematch mere weeks later took the base laid in the one hour contest and builds magic out of it. Danielson is the greatest wrestler of all time and Page matches him almost step for step in this bloody affair. It’s one of those matches that is extremely difficult to write about, because my humble words cannot capture the feelings that coursed through my head during this instant classic.” -Semi Salmikannas

“This match is a master class in building and building and building. Just a brutally physical match that plays perfectly on the beats from the 60 minute draw. Crowd is absolutely molten and it hits every time I see it.” -Arturo Galletti

“It feels like a million years ago since I saw Hangman in ROH and wondered what people saw in him. That guy is long gone, and in his place stood a guy who can roll up to have two stone cold classics with maybe the best wrestler of my lifetime in Bryan Danielson. Hangman’s progress has been remarkable. As well as the exponential improvement in his wrestling he has this genuine connection with AEW fans that was hard won and remains a challenge for wrestlers many years his senior. This connection allowed Danielson to explore being a cocky prick heel during their feud- a role we don’t get to see him in enough anymore. Danielson’s comfort as the Best Wrestler on Earth erases any perceived physical advantage of size or strength and can put anyone on the back foot. This Dynamite match also had the weight of having to follow December’s time limit draw. Being able to follow 60 minutes with a match that did not feel like a retread takes special talent, Danielson and Hanger were able to take that first chapter and build on it, leaving us supremely satisfied with their second outing and happy to revisit their rivalry any time in the future.” -Dave Ryan

“Atfer having a banger just three weeks prior these two gentleman started the year 2022 with one of the best matches of the year. I liked this match way more than the first match because it started faster, much more action and the blood made the match emotional and intense. Hanger and Danielson have insane chemistry together, great character work and good storytelling here.” -Christian Gascoigne

“The best television match of the year and the type of match that seems to be spoiling the viewing audience, brainwashing them into forgetting how amazing what they are seeing every week is. This was brutal, technical, and a tremendously elevating story.” -Jacob Nelson

“This match doesn’t feel like it happened in 2022. So much has happened in AEW this year that both the Hangman Adam Page title reign and Danielson heel run feel like ancient history at this point. This match came 2 weeks after their thrilling 60 minute draw that I had at #5 on my 2021 MOTY list, so it’s fair to say I love these two together, and dammit they went even better and wound up #1 on my list for 2022. I’m of the belief that Danielson is the greatest wrestler of all time, and this was another example of his magic because I knew there was no way they would end the Hangman reign this early, but I couldn’t turn away from this match from a second. This is up there with the Kofi match as one of Bryan’s great heel performances since his indie days. The jumping jack trolling is so wonderful and actually gets paid off deep in the match when Hangman does it back to him after they do a ‘safer’ version of the Nigel post spot. I re-watched this just before submitting my ballot and everything holds up so well. The nearfalls are superb, the faster pace from the hour long draw is welcome, the buckshot lariat teases are so so good playing off the finish to the draw 2 weeks earlier, especially the one where Bryan collapses to avoid it a la Omega/Okada, both men put in fantastic performances and the AEW world title feels like the biggest prize in the world. It took 5 days of 2022 for this to go to the top of my ongoing MOTY list, and it stayed there unchallenged all year.” -Ed Mills

“I will probably have this higher than most, but I was higher on Page’s AEW title reign than most. A hard-hitting, G1-style match that maybe I didn’t like as much as the 60-minute draw, but it started the year off on such a high after we’d all watched two nights of Wrestle Kingdom.” -Eric Krol

“The 60-minute draw between Hangman and Danielson in 2021 was critically acclaimed across the board and made my top ten. When they announced the rematch, I had no idea how they were going to top it. How foolish of me to doubt the greatness of Bryan Danielson that has been established for 20 years, and the greatness of Adam Page that has emerged in front of our eyes since AEW started. The sequel was not only an outstanding match on its own, but masterfully built off the original to show how Hangman was able to turn the tables on Danielson. He made Danielson bleed more than him. He made Danielson expel more energy than him. He mocked Danielson’s jumping jacks in the first match with his own. Hangman didn’t just survive Danielson, he overcame him. By the time they were exchanging bloody jumping headbutts to each other, I was standing and pacing in my room like a madman. I loved every second of this.” -Andrew Rich

“The match begins and Danielson runs out of the ring and does some jumping jacks. The two circle each other and start off with a test of strength and Bryan looks for wrist control. Danielson gets away and continues doing his calisthenics in the corner of the ring in order to taunt Hangman Page. Hangman forces Danielson out of the ring and then hits a suicide dive and then continues to punish Danielson on the outside. Hangman goes back into the ring and goes for a suicide dive but gets pushed shoulder first into the barricade. Bryan continues to punish Page on the outside while pressing the advantage. Later on in the match Page is favoring the arm as Danielson was working on it earlier as both are still going back and forth and looking for a way to win. Danielson gets Hangman to the outside and goes for a Tope Suicida but gets caught and Page throws him on his head with a suplex. The camera zooms in on Adam Page who is down by the ring steps and it looks as if he’s bleeding from the head. We go to a commercial and back from it they are back in the ring and Danielson is head-butting Page repeatedly and Page is a bloody mess. Danielson even has Page’s blood all over his arm at this point of the match. Later on in the match both Danielson and Hangman are in the ring one goes for a suplex but the other reverses and they both topple over the top rope to the outside in a very well executed spot. Hangman begins head-butting Danielson and busts him open so now both men are bleeding but for a second I couldn’t tell if Page’s blood was just on Danielson’s face but no in fact Danielson did indeed get busted open as well. Later on in the match Page hits Danielson with a backdrop driver and then goes in for the kill with the Buckshot Lariat and nails Danielson to win the match and retain the AEW World Heavyweight Championship WHAT A MATCH!” -Nathan Neumann

“Danielson does what he does best and that’s giving wrestlers their best matches ever. Page’s title run really needed this since the draw in late 2021 didn’t do him any favors. Danielson played a great heel here using his intelligent offense to subdue page. Page matched that heel work with some fiery babyface offense. The work was great and the selling and pacing was even better.” -Rene Martinez

“A match from all the way back in January, but one that has stuck with me for the entire year. It’s hard to pull off a completely enjoyable hour-long match worth that amount of time, but “Hangman” Adam Page and Bryan Danielson managed to do just that. It seemed effortless at times, like there was no strain on either man to execute a match so perfectly. It was a battle, remarkable in its unbelievable attrition, intensity and visible struggle.” -Jamie Johnson

“Proof positive there is no better wrestler to lead a match than Bryan Danielson.” -Jeff Schwartz

“Just reminded me why I still love wrestling after all those times I’ve stepped away from the passion through the years, something always brings me back. This had me glued to the television.” -Sandra Berry

“This one felt like a real struggle. As a sequel to 2021’s hour-long draw, Page vs. Danielson II could have made the mistake of trying to top its predecessor. However, instead of going bigger and more epic, this match condensed the previous action into a tighter, more brutal package. At 29 minutes it’s still a long bout, but feels a lot shorter given the compelling nature of the action. With the idea of time already in the audience’s minds, the wrestlers played with it as part of their strategies – Bryan stalling, Hangman trying to win fast. From there the match developed into a hellacious back-and-forth, arguably the high point of Page’s reign as AEW World Champion.” -Jack G. King

“If their 60-minute draw was Bryan’s masterpiece, this is Adam Page finally settling into the ace role that he’d been destined to fill since AEW’s very first PPV. Equal parts fire and anger, with just a dash of cockiness to make him all the more endearing, Hangman put on the ace performance of his life here, taking everything that Bryan threw at him and throwing it right back in his face.” -Kas

“What a tasty January 5 we had in 2022. On a day that had Okada vs Ospreay, I think that Danielson and Hangman Page stole the show that night in a great bloody title match. It surpassed their one hour draw the month before that was just tremendous. This match cemented Page as a credible champ, which led to more awesome defenses until he lost the title in May. They had a third great match in 2022, but this one is the best in the series.” -Abraham Delgado

“The American Dragon is such a prick, he is a savant of wrestling, he knows every scenario in big World Championship matches and is trying to outplay and even humilliate Hangman Page, but the Hangman won´t stop fighting, maybe he is out wrestled sometimes but he can hit hard and he for sure brutalizes the Dragon.
The best match from AEW in 2022.” -Diego Garcia

“Not as good as their one from 2021, but still an amazing display of athletic ability and stamina from both of the wrestlers.” -Adam Darwin

“These two closed out 2021 with an awesome one-hour time limit draw, with naturally set up a rematch for the first Dynamite on TBS. I was at this show in the Prudential Center, and I got to witness what was my leading Match Of The Year Contender for about the first two months or so of the year. This was just a shade under thirty minutes, but it was a much more brutal affair compared to their first encounter. Both men were busted open, and there was incredible back and forth action throughout. Danielson played his role as the heel extremely well, while Page was awesome as the fighting babyface champion. The live bias will play a role obviously, but for me, this was better than their one hour draw from Winter Is Coming, and was the best match of Hangman’s World Title reign.” -Sean Sedor

“There were many doubters of Adam Page and his title reign. There still are. But this match solidified him as a true fighting champion, and also relieved my fears that he would end up getting geeked over big new signing Danielson. He just ended up getting geeked over big new signing CM Punk.” -Xavster

“When a match of this caliber happens in the first week of the year and manages to take the number one spot, it is a testament to how exceptional it is. The same day in Japan, Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay put on a clinic in front of a mostly silent clap only crowd in the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom. Turns out what makes a clinic a classic is the unpredictable nature of crowd noise. In the U.S., we have had the undoubtable luxury of mostly unrestricted full crowds for some time coming out of phase one of the pandemic. As much as it sucks, things like crowd participation matter when it comes to overall enjoyment of a match, so much so the excellent Okada vs. Ospreay did not even make my Top Ten.

With so many stellar talents on its roster, the usage of Hangman Page as champion was met with almost equal amounts of criticism and praise. Critics wondered if Hangman could ‘move the needle’ while his proponents had salivated for this moment since his introduction on the podium in Jacksonville exactly three years ago (as of this writing). His road to the title was fraught with obstacles both intentional and unintentional. Ultimately, Page would prove himself to be a worthy champion after his series with Danielson. In contrast, Danielson showed us why he is widely considered an all-time great performer. Hangman Page gave the performance of a lifetime. This is an example of what a perfectly told story in professional wrestling looks like. Not a single moment is wasted in the time allotted for this master work. No amount of picture-in-picture ad breaks could detract from the excellence on display. To think that we are given a match of this magnitude and quality on free television on a random Wednesday night in January shows just how charmed we are to live in this age. As a whole, we should take time to recognize how fortunate we are to have access to the options we do. There is no need to be subjected to uninteresting, mostly insulting bullshit parading itself as the industry standard anymore. There are endless alternatives, and this is the pinnacle of those. Pro Wrestling at this level is the best thing on the Planet.” –Chris Colvin

“In a year I thought had lots great wrestling, nothing stood out to me as a clear match of the year. I could’ve thrown a dart at my top 5 to decide my number 1 but I ended up choosing Hangman v Danielson. Rematch from the 60-minute draw, first night on TBS and a red hot crowd. The story and pace were both excellent and the action was crisp and hard-hitting.” -Harley Duncan

“I loved their hour draw and loved this as much. Joe vs Punk III did the smart thing in going much shorter than anyone expected and they did it here too. Hangman looked like the best guy in the world winning here and Danielson as always is the best in the world.” -Mongo Underscore Ebooks

Voices of Wrestling 2022 Match of the Year
(Full List)