In an interview with Sporting News, Ring of Honor Wrestling superstar Adam “Hangman” Page commented on his first year in Ring of Honor, being part of the BULLET CLUB faction, using a noose in today’s society and more.

Highlights of the interview are below:

On his first year in Ring of Honor: “That first year I was in Ring of Honor, maybe it wasn’t even a year, I was wearing the trucker hat thing and wearing John Deere stuff because I felt like part of what made me different from a lot of guys was that I was kind of a good ol’ boy and a southern type of guy. I don’t know if that’s something that resonates a lot with wrestling fans today. I found that out. That made me kind of bitter about wrestling because I felt like who I thought I was wasn’t something those people were interested in. And that made me bitter. I kind of carried that bitterness for a long time. I think that’s starting to come out now in my work.”

On joining the BULLET CLUB faction: “We’ve been seeing it for three years, four years now. I don’t think I’ve been to a wrestling show in the past three or four years where there aren’t a handful of people wearing a Bullet Club shirt. Anywhere. And Bullet Club isn’t just a Ring of Honor or New Japan thing. It’s something that has pervaded every corner of wrestling. I knew that going in which made it all the more cool.”

On using a noose in today’s society: “I expected this could go horribly wrong. I knew it was a chance I was going to take. It’s been OK. Every now and then, I get a tweet or something from somebody. I understand that for people who have dealt with suicide, friends or family or people who make a connection to the racial history of our country. I understand those things. Part of what I’ve tried to do since I became ‘Hangman’ is try to give back to the world because I know I can make people feel a little more uncomfortable than maybe most wrestlers do. I had my first pair of Bullet Club gear a couple of months ago and I sold that on eBay and donating the money to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. I try to be very conscious of how I use who I am. In the few times that I’ve wrestled African-Americans, I make sure that’s not something I ever let enter people’s mind. For the rest of my career, I want to keep away from that as much as I can.”

The interview is available in full at this link.