ROH’s Hangman Page was recently interviewed by Scott Fishman for Channel Guide Magazine. Page talked about his journey from high school teacher to becoming a professional wrestler, being a member of The Bullet Club, and more. Here are the highlights:
Joining The Bullet Club while still being employed a teacher:
“With one phone call, I was told I would be in Bullet Club and I was going to Japan for three weeks, then continually after that. It was pretty cool and life-changing. At the time I was a high school teacher. I taught graphic design, multimedia and journalism. I would take sick days and wrestle on the weekends. At that point I knew if I was doing three week tours of Japan I couldn’t keep teaching because I couldn’t be “sick” that long. I could also afford not to teach anymore because I would be more in-demand so to speak. I quit teaching and became a full-time wrestler. That more than anything in my whole career changed my life.”
If his students knew he was a wrestler:
“They know because it’s a relatively small town. You just can’t not know stuff like that. I did talk about it during the first day of class to get it over with, so they wouldn’t through the year have to figure this whole thing out. I kind of downplayed it a lot. A lot of times when like I was in The Decade group and had Colby Corino, who was barely 18, I would be beating up in a storyline on television. Then I have this noose I would walk around with as part of the Hangman gimmick. So a lot of stuff I did on TV I didn’t bring up in school because I thought it could be an issue.”
Where The Hangman name came from:
“I knew Adam Cole was joining Bullet Club followed by myself. We both would have the same first name and four letter last names, as well as starting to show up frequently in Japan in Bullet Club. So to avoid confusion, I knew I wanted to change up my name. I also knew my character in Bullet Club would have to be a little bit different because in my time in Ring of Honor I hadn’t been a very playful or fun character by any means. Since I was more of a serious character I kind of adopted the noose from Luke Gallows and put my own spin on it.”
If he has goals in the business:
“I’ll be kind of honest. I really don’t. When I was a kid, I can’t specifically remember thinking I wanted to main event WrestleMania or do a specific thing. I just knew I wanted to be a wrestler. So for me, my goals are extremely short-term. I’m like, ‘I want this next thing I’m doing to be good.’ I would say overall my real goals is to be better today than I was yesterday. I want to be better this week than I was last week and so on. And in the same way I want to enjoy it more than I have in the past. As long as I’m doing those things, I’m happy.”
For the full interview, check out Channel Guide Magazine.
Be the first to comment