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What's the story?
While recently speaking to The Pittsburgh City Paper, Ring of Honor superstar Adam "Hangman" Page discussed his "Hangman" character and the long-form story regarding the Bullet Club.
In case you didn't know…
In 2016, during Ring of Honor's War of the Worlds tour, Adam Page decided to join the Bullet Club when he turned his back on Colt Cabana, The Briscoes, and The Motor City Machine Guns during a ten-man tag team match.
After associating himself with the Bullet Club at War of the Worlds, Page would immediately go on to make a big statement when he hanged Chris Sabin with the hangman's noose which gave Page his "hangman" nickname.
The heart of the matter
In his interview with The Pittsburgh City Paper, Adam Page discussed the origin of his "Hangman" gimmick and revealed how he originally came up with the idea. Below are a few highlights from the interview:
On his Hangman Page gimmick:
According to Page, he noted that prior to joining the Bullet Club and making his initial debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling the 26-year-old apparently had to come up with a different sort of name due to Adam Cole (who is now a former member of the Bullet Club) joining the faction at the very same time.
Page said that someone from the New Japan management had apparently suggested him the Hangman Page name and the former ROH Six-man Tag Team Champion went on to take the gallows—the hangman’s noose—from another former member of the club, Luke Gallows, who almost portrayed a similar gimmick during his tenure with the Bullet Club.
Page had this to say:
"Looking back it's something I wish I wouldn't have done, or I would have done differently. But I think, I was rushed to get gear ordered, to figure out who and what I was going to be. At this point I've figured it out, but with just two weeks notice?"
"I had the noose for a while and tried to be as sensitive as I could about in every way possible, but I still had people writing me who were kind about it, but had family members who committed suicide which made them uncomfortable, or maybe the racial connotations of me carrying a noose were uncomfortable, I get that. I tried to be really sensitive about it, but it was something I wanted to get away from."
The long-form Bullet Club story:
Page stated that with the Young Bucks’ hit YouTube series Being The Elite, numerous fans have been tuning in every week and have also been messaging the BTE cast in order to let them know that the Being The Elite series is something which they constantly look forward to and something that gets these fans through the weekend.
"This, for me, is what wrestling is about. This is why I love it, 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 it's something they consistently look forward to, something that gets them through the week and somee people have really latched onto it. It's the work of our lives, and it's what we love doing."
What's next?
Hangman Page is currently a part of the on-going Bullet Club Civil War between Cody Rhodes and Kenny Omega, and as of right now, Page seems like to be the only member of the BC who is totally in support of Cody.
Author's take
Adam "Hangman" Page is definitely one of my favorite acts in the industry today and I believe that this man truly deserves all the recognition in the world, all thanks to his amazing performances for both ROH and NJPW.
