Former AEW champion expected to return soon after over 3 months absence - Reports
A former AEW champion is expected to return to action after being gone for over three months. The talent in question is none other than Hangman Adam Page.
The Anxious Millennial Cowboy has been out of action since tapping out to Samoa Joe in a three-way AEW World Championship match also involving Swerve Strickland at Revolution 2024. He was suspended by The Young Bucks on Dynamite after the pay-per-view for assaulting All Elite Wrestling officials during the title match.
It was reported last month that Page was not injured, and his return would take place whenever the company decided to bring him back on its programming. A new report has shed more light on the former AEW World Champion's lengthy hiatus and imminent comeback.
According to a new report from Fightful Select, Hangman Adam Page has been absent from television for personal reasons and owing to contractual obligations. However, the Virginia native is supposedly gearing up to return to action. Although no exact dates were revealed, his comeback is expected to take place sometime within the next month, potentially by early July.
The report did not mention any specific creative plans for Page, who is supposedly set to continue playing a heel. The former World Trios Champion turned to the dark side during his unforgettable rivalry with Swerve Strickland, who has since become the AEW World Champion.
Although the report failed to confirm if Hangman's absence has been worked into his current contract or whether it has been added to it, it did affirm that Page's hiatus had been expected by both him and AEW.
What The Elite have been up to during Hangman Page's AEW absence
The Elite re-structured its ranks earlier this year by firing former stablemate Kenny Omega and introducing two new members, Kazuchika Okada and Jack Perry. The heel stable has been attempting to take over AEW, carrying out assaults on President Tony Khan and later fellow EVP Omega on Dynamite. They recently emerged victorious in a chaotic and brutal Anarchy in the Arena match against FTR, Darby Allin and Bryan Danielson, who were representing the All Elite roster at Double or Nothing 2024.
On the June 12, 2024, episode of Dynamite, The Young Bucks issued a challenge to the locker room to face The Elite in the 2024 edition of Blood and Guts. The EVPs even tried to recruit World Champion Swerve Strickland to represent The Elite as their fifth member in the match. The world champion, however, refused, nearly sparking off a physical conflict before The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn ran out to even the odds in Swerve's favor.
Considering their on-screen mutual animosity and given the unfinished business left between them, it remains to be seen whether Hangman Page goes after Strickland on behalf of The Elite upon making his All Elite Wrestling return.