Hangman Page Reveals He Was Depressed After Failed WWE Tryout

In an interview with Wrestling Inc, Hangman Page revealed that he found himself depressed after a tryout he had for WWE early in his career didn’t pan out for him. Here are highlights:

On the attitude of wrestlers trying to get to WWE: “I guess when I started wrestling, I guess it’s been, whew, 12 years since I started wrestling. There was really only one way to make a living. It was if you got signed to WWE, that was the end-all-be-all. Everything that you did was an attempt to get a job there. It was not to be a better wrestler. It was not to gain a following. The only end goal was to be in WWE, so you could pay your bills with wrestling. That’s changed a lot, obviously, these past few years. Man, I’m just glad to be a part of something that’s kind of helping change that, I guess. So thinking back over like formative years, the things that I worry about then are just not even remotely a consideration at this point.”

On not getting the job after his tryout: “I mean, I guess like when you’re 18-19, you start doing that kind of stuff. You feel so close to the only thing you think matters at the time. You think getting that job is the only thing matters, and you feel so close, so your so enthused, but then nothing ever happens after you go. And then you get pretty damn depressed about it, and you sort of consider, if this is the only avenue to make it in wrestling, and you show up and nothing happens, you start to wonder like, ‘can I even keep doing this? What’s the point?'”