One of the most anticipated matches from WrestleDream was the dream match between former AEW Champion “Hangman” Adam Page and Mogul Embassy leader, Swerve Strickland. The show took place in Seattle, which is the hometown of Strickland, explaining the huge pop he had upon his entrance.
Before the match, Swerve Strickland grabbed a microphone to ask the question “Whose house?” multiple times. The crowd responded each time with a “Swerve’s House”, although the crowd was clearly split between Page and Swerve for this match.
However, Page did his best to play the heel in the match, while retaining his character. He mocked Swerve, asking the crowd “Whose house?” it was, drawing huge jeers from the Seattle natives. Swerve took this as an opportunity to get back on top of the match, and began controlling the bout with kicks and submissions.
Hangman used his power to fight back, throwing Swerve around with a series of big moves, ending with a pop-up Liger bomb for a close two count, following a moonsault onto the outside. If his brown trousers (taking inspiration from Shawn Michaels’ worst attire ever) didn’t annoy the crowd enough, his continued beat down of Strickland certainly did.
He even bit the hand of Swerve when he couldn’t hit the Buckshot Lariat. They were clearly playing up to Swerve being the hometown hero, especially when he took out the arm of Page so he could no longer hit the Buckshot, to a huge pop from the crowd. He then hit a disgusting Swerve Stomp onto Page on the edge of the ring, his head bouncing off the mat with a sickening thud. He did completely miss a 450 splash, but the announcers played it off well.
After some fantastic sequences, Page finally hit the Buckshot. However, due to his injured arm, he couldn’t cover Swerve at first, which gave Prince Nana the chance to save the pin fall before being thrown out of the match. This also gave Swerve the chance to hit Page with Prince Nana’s crown, but somehow Hangman still kicked out.
Swerve hit Hangman with two House Calls, before a JML Driver to pickup his biggest win so far in AEW, beating Adam Page in a classic match from WrestleDream 2023 – certainly due a big star rating from Dave Meltzer.