Hangman Page Speaks On Marty Scurll Picture

On January 22, Hangman Page came under criticism from fans after Marty Scurll uploaded a photo of the two in front of a Cracker Barrel.

During Speaking Out in 2020, it was alleged that Scurll sexually assaulted a minor. Scurll released multiple statements regarding the allegations, claiming the encounter was consensual. Scurll has remained an active wrestler, wrestling for smaller independent promotions across the world.

Speaking to Jon Alba of Sports Illustrated, Hangman addressed the allegations against Scurll and the photo they took.

“I think when that happened, I was obviously surprised. Shocked. It didn’t seem like the person that I knew,” Page said. “But I mean, I knew now that it was, and I guess, I was kind of like, faced with a choice, like what to do with that information. I reached out to him then because he had faced a lot of consequences from the public. He had lost his job from Ring of Honor. He was facing consequences from people online. So, [I] check to see how he’s doing, and I remained in touch with him for, you know what, since then, [has] been six years.”

Hangman continued, saying Scurll’s alleged actions were wrong.

“I guess I kind of will make a couple things clear about it. I completely recognize that what he did, his actions, are abhorrent. Disgraceful. They are. There’s no excuse. I completely recognize that,” he said. “I’ve always thought that, will always think that about his actions. I guess as a consequence of his actions, the public has felt strongly about what he did, and for six years, I think because of those reactions, he’s been unable to be a part of mainstream professional wrestling because of, you know, what the public perception would be.”

Speaking about the photo, Hangman commented, “I don’t want that photo to seem like some kind of endorsement, or, I have any interest whatsoever in whitewashing what he did, or any interest or intention of rehabilitating his public image. None of that is something that I’ve ever been interested in doing. Not now, not ever. I think that the consequences of his actions that he’s had mostly from the public, aside from, like, harassment, I think they’ve been warranted. So I kind of want to make that clear.”

Asked about the fan reaction to the photo, Hangman said, “If you hear all that, and you listen to all that, and you feel like maybe you wouldn’t have done the same thing had you been in my shoes, or maybe you still feel uncomfortable being a fan of mine, or even if you’ve lost, like, the smallest amount of respect for me because of any of that, I would just want to say I completely understand that. I can respect it and accept it.”

Finally, Hangman was asked about maintaining his relationship with Scurll following Speaking Out.

“I guess who I am is, when people treat me with kindness, I try to return it,” he said. “I have never really wanted to get into that, and that’s more or less why I have a private relationship with him. Not out of a sense of self-preservation or shame, or something like that. But more or less, I just would never want that to be misconstrued as like an endorsement or an effort to rehabilitate someone’s public image, something like that. But I guess I’ve just always thought that he’s still a human being, and that relationships are complicated, but they’re still relationships, and he’s still a human being.”

Hangman is set to face Mark Davis on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.