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AEW has been home to plenty of household names throughout the company's relatively short lifespan. Some stars were built from the ground up, while others were already established talents with a strong fanbase.
CM Punk falls into the second category, but some fans believe that his presence in Tony Khan's promotion is the reason for another star's rather disappointing run with the World Championship.
The powers that be in AEW managed to craft a spectacular story centering around Hangman Adam Page. Fans were fully invested in the Millennial Cowboy's story arc, and the moment he was crowned as the promotion's top prize holder will live long in the memories of those who were around to witness it.
What followed, however, failed to live up to expectations. His title reign has been criticized by many for lacking the same excitement and interesting plot points fans had become used to during Page's ascendency to the top.
Around the same time, CM Punk had walked through the doors of AEW and was clearly being positioned as the promotion's main attraction. After several high-profile and well-received feuds, the time came for the Second City Saint to dethrone Hangman, but not before the two got involved in some real-life issues that have since been well-documented.
One fan took to social media to air their frustrations about Hangman's run as World Champion and placed a fair amount of the blame on CM Punk.
"Hottest baby face in the world had all of his momentum stripped from him by dubious booking, wasn’t allowed to be the main character anymore immediately after winning the belt, had his title reign cut short for “Summer of Punk 3” which lasted a whopping 2 weeks before Punk’s body falls apart."
This post garnered a lot of traction and has been met with a wide array of replies, some agreeing with this fan's sentiments, while others have proposed other reasons for Page's less-than-stellar reign:
CM Punk has since been released from his AEW contract, while Adam Page continues to search for the white-hot momentum he once enjoyed.
AEW's attempt to reheat Hangman Page
All hope is not yet lost for fans of Hangman Page, as he is currently involved in a major feud opposite Swerve Strickland which has a lot of people believing that this could be the beginning of better days for The Elite member in the promotion.
Page and Strickland competed against each other at the recent WrestleDream pay-per-view, with the latter picking up the victory this time around. This weekend at Full Gear, they will square off once again, in a Texas Death Match.
There are major questions about how things will play out in their rematch, but if their encounter this weekend is anything like their previous bout, fans will walk away as the real winners.
