Hangman Page Comments On Multiple Injuries AEW Roster Is Dealing With
Right now, the AEW roster is dealing with a large list of injuries with CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Scorpio Sky, Kyle O'Reilly, Skye Blue, and Red Velvet all on the shelf for a variety of issues.
During an exclusive Wrestling Inc. interview with Nick Hausman, former AEW World Champion Hangman Page admitted that as he gets older, "wrestling is more scary," which is emphasized by the injuries that are taking place. The company is currently set to create an Interim AEW World Champion at the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door event due to Punk being out with a broken foot.
"I've now been around and known people who've had to quit, or retire, or who had just grueling injuries, or things they'll carry with them forever," he said. "It's fun to watch, but in some ways, it's becoming less fun to watch too. I guess I am just kind of realizing the gravity of that kind of stuff."
Page made it clear that he hopes "the best for anyone's health," which is a sentiment shared by people in the business, as the injury bug hasn't just hit AEW alone. WWE is currently without Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley, and Randy Orton due to injuries, while New Japan just announced Tomohiro Ishii is also sidelined with a knee issue right now.
The more physical in-ring style that AEW wrestlers provide is something that has been pointed at as a possible reason for the extra injuries by Booker T, and Page did confess that "it's maybe a more physical style than wrestling has been for the past couple of decades," when it comes to mainstream work in America.
"But you've got to take into consideration, it's not the '70s or '80s, we are not all gassed up and tearing our bodies apart in that way. We are not all dealing with substance abuse stuff, so we are generally, across the board, healthier," he said.
Unlike WWE, AEW doesn't tour regularly, which is something that can be seen as an advantage when it comes to wrestlers being able to rest between each AEW "Dynamite" episode, providing that they aren't competing on the independent scene in between, which Tony Khan does allow.
"My body has way more time to heal right now than it ever has before," Page said. "So you take all that into consideration and like, when you wrestle once every two, or three, or four, or eight weeks, or whatever the hell it is, you kind of want to go all out. I'll never knock anybody for that."
Page is competing this Sunday at the highly anticipated AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in a four-way match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against the current holder Jay White, Adam Cole, and Kazuchika Okada.
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