Former AEW World Champion Hangman Adam Page found himself in controversy last month after a recent photo surfaced of him alongside disgraced wrestler Marty Scurll.
Scurll, a former ROH talent, was ousted from wrestling’s mainstream scene in 2020 after admitting to having sex with a 16-year-old following an IPW: UK event. Per the woman’s account of the story, Scurll brought the intoxicated teenager to a hotel room after an event and had oral sex, with the exchange only ending after a friend showed up and asked him to leave.
While once a prominent figure in the scene, Scurll has been out of the spotlight for years. However, a recent photo shared on social media by him showed that he has maintained contact with AEW star Hangman Page.
Page addressed the photo in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, explaining that he has kept in contact with Scurll in recent years. Admitting that he had never planned to have the photo get posted online, Page emphasized that the image was not an attempt to help rehabilitate Scurll in the public eye.
“I never intended for that photo to be posted at all, but I guess, now I do have to say, or I want to say, I don’t want that photo to seem like some kind of endorsement, or I have any interest whatsoever in like whitewashing what he did, or any interest or intention of rehabilitating his public image,” Page told SI. “None of that is something I’ve ever been interested in doing.”
Page worked closely with Scurll before the sexual assault allegation and subsequent admission emerged in 2020, and said he was “shocked” when he heard the story. Because of his close proximity to Scurll, Page has kept in contact with him, but continues to emphasize that he believes there is “no excuse” for the ex-ROH talent’s actions.
“I was kind of faced with a choice of what to do with that information,” Page said, when asked about when he first heard the news. “I reached out to him then because he had faced a lot of consequences from the public. He had lost his job in Ring of Honor, he was facing consequences from people online, so I checked to see how he was doing. And I remained in touch with him for what’s been six years. And, I guess I kind of want to make a couple of things clear about it: I completely recognize that what he did, his actions are abhorrent, disgraceful, there is no excuse. I completely recognize that. I have always thought that, will always think that about his actions. And 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 what public reception would be.”
Page noted during the interview that he understands if his private relationship with Scurll causes him to lose some fans.
“If you hear all of that, and you listen to all of that, and you feel like maybe you wouldn’t have done the same thing if you were in my shoes, or maybe you still feel uncomfortable being a fan of mine, or even if you lost the smallest amount of respect for me because of any of that, I just want to say I completely understand that. I can respect it and accept it.”
