Adam Page has no intention of whitewashing Marty Scurll’s “abhorrent” past actions.
Before AEW was created in 2019, Marty Scurll was a popular member of The Elite alongside the likes of Adam Page, The Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega. Given his friendship with the group, it was widely expected he would sign with AEW once his contract with Ring of Honor ended, but everything changed in 2020.
That year, allegations surfaced of sexual misconduct with a 16-year-old girl five years earlier. Scurll didn’t deny the accusations; instead, claiming he believed that “the encounter was legal.” ROH investigated the incident and ended Scurll’s contract soon after. In the time since, Scurll’s career has floundered, but he has continued to wrestle on the independent scene.
Given Scurll’s history, fans were shocked when he posted a recent photo of himself posing outside a Cracker Barrel with two-time AEW World Champion Adam Page. In a new interview with The Takedown on SI, Hangman gave his thoughts on Scurll, saying that when the allegations came out, he was shocked. However, he has kept in touch with him.
“I think when that happened, I was obviously surprised. Shocked. It didn’t seem like the person that I knew.
“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. And 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.”
Despite remaining in contact, Page made it clear that he would make no excuses for Scurll and his actions.
“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.
“I’ve 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, you know, what the public perception would be.”
Continuing, Page spoke about the photograph directly, saying he has no interest in rehabilitating Scurll’s public image and believes the consequences he has faced are warranted.
“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.”
“And 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.”
Adam Page Understands If Fans Have Lost Respect For Him
Turning to his fans, Adam Page said he can understand and accept if people have lost respect for him over the issue.
“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.”
H/T to The Takedown on SI for the above transcription.
