During an appearance on AEW Unrestricted, Hangman Page spoke about his conversations with NJPW prior to signing with AEW. Here’s what he had to say:
I was in Japan at the time for G1, and I remember we were in Tokyo, because I was staying at Tokyo Dome Hotel. I was texting Matt and Nick because I think we were like halfway through the G1, and I’d probably got approached by different people from New Japan. You know kind of asking me like, ‘Hey, are you going to stay with Ring of Honor? Because we’re kind of interested.’ I think they were kind of interested in me becoming a full-time New Japan guy. So, it’s just kind of mentioning to them that like, ‘Hey, New Japan is talking to me a lot. I think they might be interested in signing me kind of exclusive here,’ and Matt just texted back. He said, ‘Don’t sign anything. Let me call you.’ He either called me or texted me. I can’t remember and told me Tony had approached these guys and is interested in bringing the rest on TNT and start AEW.
Credit: AEW Unrestricted. H/T WrestlingInc.