Excuse the verbiage, it's a FS article that went public so Sapp typed it up around the time the episode happened, but since it's public now:
AEW ended Dynamite with a hot angle.
Sorry.
AEW went off the air with a widely acclaimed arson featuring Adam Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland. Page burned down the childhood home of Swerve Strickland, which was a major purchase for him after the recent news of his contract extension. We're told that this was all coordinated and planned, and even though the deal was announced, was actually finalized shortly after. Swerve had over a half year left on his deal, but the company saw a storyline opportunity to announce it as well.
The actual house that was used saw a very small crew travel to burn it down, and had professional supervision. The angle had been planned for months, we're told, with many on the AEW roster not knowing it was happening. Numerous talent both in and out of AEW congratulated Swerve, not knowing buying the house was an angle. One wrestler told us that Swerve actually kayfabed them and thanked them. There were numerous meticulous references with the angle in mind, specifically to help create more conflict into the story where Hangman Page could largely be viewed as a babyface leading into it.
We're told that there are storyline reasons planned as to why Hangman Page isn't in jail or on charges. Fightful Select reported this week that Hangman and Swerve were slated to main event AEW All Out. The two ended up having a violent match that followed.
Needless to say, those we've spoken to in AEW were very happy about how the angle was executed, and the reception associated with it. Numerous talent we saw in Chicago at Black Label Pro also went out of their way to watch the angle unfold after.
For very strange people online thinking that the house in Swerve's video and the one in Hangman's segment weren't the same, it absolutely was the same.
And they say kayfabe is dead!