Adam Page On Bullet Club's Slow Burn Storyline, Not Using A Noose With His "Hangman" Gimmick
Adam Page spoke with the Pittsburgh City Paper on his Hangman gimmick, the Bullet Club's story, and his goal going forward. Here are some of the highlights:
The Bullet Club story being played over a longer period of time:
"This, for me, is what wrestling is about. This is why I love it, why I enjoy doing it long term. Long-term stories, people attach to that. With Being The Elite, people watch that every week, and people message us to say that it's something they consistently look forward to, something that gets them through the week, and some of the people have really latched onto it. It's the work of our lives, and it's what we love doing."
His Hangman gimmick and getting away from using a noose:
"I found out that I was joining Bullet Club and going to work for New Japan just a few weeks before it happened, and it was something that kind of took me by surprise. I hadn't anticipated going that direction, but it was a great surprise. It caught me off guard, and one of the things that was suggested to me, since Adam Cole was joining Bullet Club, was that I have some sort of different name. Someone from New Japan suggested the name Hangman Page, and I'd take the gallows from Luke Gallows and fill that role a little bit.
Looking back it's something I wish I wouldn't have done, or I would have done differently. But I think in the time, I was rushed to get gear ordered, to figure out who I was going to be, what I was going to be. And at this point I've figured it out, but with just two weeks notice? I had the noose for awhile, and I tried to be as sensitive as I could about in every way I possibly could, but I still had people writing me who were kind about it, but who had family members that had committed suicide and it made them uncomfortable, or maybe the racial connotations of me carrying a noose were uncomfortable, and I get that. I tried to be really sensitive about it, but it was something I wanted to get away from. I still carry a big untied rope with me to the ring, and honestly I kind of carry it out more now out of habit than anything, and I've kept the name because it's kind of a cool sounding name, and at this point people connect it with me. It's just become my name."
Goals going forward:
"I feel like in the earlier years of my career I was good, but I just floated around a little bit. But now I've had some direction, I've had some exciting things going on with being part of the Bullet Club and Being The Elite. I've not had, until recently, a chance to stand out as a singles wrestler. A lot of the stuff I've been doing has been tags with the Bucks and Cody [Rhodes] and Marty [Scurll] and whoever else, but just now I'm starting to get these bigger singles matches, against Jay White, against Kota [Ibushi] this past weekend and against Kenny [Omega] in a couple weeks. I kind of want to focus on my singles career, especially not knowing what's going on with Bullet Club, honestly not knowing what's going on with BTE. I kind of have to start over a little bit in a sense and need to go back to focusing on my solo careers. I'd love opportunities for singles championships, I'd love to wrestle in the G1 in Japan as well. It's something I've always wanted to do, I just haven't really said it out loud."
Page also discussed Being the Elite and more on the Bullet Club. You can check out the full interview by clicking here.