Show: Wrestling Epicenter
Guest: Rickey Shane Page
Date: 03/06/2023
Your Host: James Walsh
After over 20 years on the independent circuit including successful runs with CZW and GCW, Rickey Shane Page has now signed a contract with a major wrestling promotion – Major League Wrestling! The veteran of hardcore wars joined the Wrestling Epicenter for an exclusive interview to discuss his new promotion and his goals within it plus a whole lot more.
Check out www.WrestlingEpicenter.com for more! Don’t forget to check out MLW.com for updates on Major League Wrestling and to watch MLW Underground on Reelz every Tuesday night at 10 p.m.!
RICKEY SHANE PAGE:
On what it means to him to have signed with MLW:
“Oh, it means everything! I mean, it means more than a lot. I’ve been at this a really long time and to get this contract is kind of a bit of validation for me and what I’ve dedicated my life to. It is pretty cool! I’m really excited!”
On if the match with Mance Warner earlier this year helped him get signed:
“Yeah, I think so. I was definitely in my element. I’ve worked with Mance before so we had a bit of chemistry. And, I also really went very hard after an insane travel schedule – The days leading up to that match were some of the most insane travel days I’ve ever had. So, I think that helped kind of solidify it for MLW management.”
On what made the travel schedule so hectic:
“Well, 3 days before that, I was in Tokyo! I got up that day, I wrestled, and I got up the next morning and flew from Haneda to Honolulu, Hawaii. When I landed, there was a bit of a weather situation in San Francisco so I delayed my flight to stay a day in Hawaii as I had never been there. So, I had 20 hours in Honolulu, flew to San Francisco, wrestled for West Coast Pro Wrestling, took a shower, took the red-eye to Philadelphia, ate, got settled in about noon and an hour later I went to the show and had that match with Mance Warner. (laughs)”
On what made him want to be a wrestler:
“Mine is so silly! (laughs) I was a fan growing up. But, I, like a lot of people, kind of got out of it in like 1993, 1994… Then, around the Attitude Era, and again a lot of people around the time of the Attitude Era came back and started watching wrestling again, my friend was going to order the 1998 King of the Ring pay per view. Of course, that was the event with the Mick Foley and Undertaker Hell in a Cell. Around mid flight, when Mick was flying through the air off the Cell, I decided, “I want to be a pro wrestler. That was when I decided this is what I wanted to do. A few years later, I started training to wrestle!”
On how he melds story telling and sports entertainment into a hardcore wrestling style:
“When I started watching wrestling again around the Attitude Era, I really got into ECW. I went back and I watched everything ECW did from 1995, 10996, and 1997 and I feel that was like the perfect mix of good story telling and hardcore wrestling matches. So, a lot of what I do came from there. But, I just feel that a lot of times, on the indies, people don’t do it… So, I try to plan my matches differently, including my hardcore matches. Because, if I do that, I stand out. Because, I’m not the most physically gifted athlete out there. So, I have to make up for it in other ways. But, I’ve always been a fan of that kind of wrestling. I’m kind of a sports entertainment hardcore guy… And, I try to do that style on the indies because I feel like a lot of people don’t do that.”
On MLW having a lot of that ECW style even today:
“For sure! I remember when ECW closed down in 2001 and MLW sprang up and kind of filled in that spot in 2003, 2004. I remember watching MLW Underground TV on the Sunshine Network. A friend of mine got a Satellite package and Sunshine Network was on there. There were a lot of the ECW guys on there but also a lot of what the indy scene became now was also there – Guys like Amazing Red, Christopher Daniels, Sonjay Dutt… Guys like that. So, I was a fan of MLW long before I ever got the chance to work there. But, it certainly still does have that ECW vibe to it with good story telling and hardcore matches. It really is right up my alley!”
On his stint with AEW:
“It was awesome! I have a lot of friends there so I was fortunate to be put in some spots with some really great guys – Paul Wight, Matt Hardy, Jon Moxley, Darby Allin, Eddie Kingston… I had a lot of great matches there. I have nothing at all bad to say about my experience there. Tony Khan treated me well, he was always very nice. If you go and do extra work with WWE, you’re probably not going to get to talk to Vince McMahon, you know? But, Tony talked to me and was always open and very nice.
On becoming a veteran people ask advice of:
“I don’t know when exactly that started. I feel like I’ve always given advice even before I really should have been giving anyone advice. (laughs) Probably in the past 5 or 6 years or so… Even when I was doing extra work for AEW, guys would ask me things and for advice. I think I’m better at coming up with things for others than myself. I really do enjoy that aspect of wrestling. That is certainly something I want to do when my time in the ring is done. But, like, MJF is a way better wrestler than I am. So, if I think of something for him, he can actually do it because I couldn’t pull it off. ”
On MLW’s helpful backstage enviornment:
“They have a really good crew. They have veterans offering help and a lot of hungry, eager talent willing to listen. That is what you need to be able to grow. I think they’re in a really good spot.”
On being a part of MLW Underground on REELZ on traditional TV:
“It is big. Like, if I tell my dad I’m wrestling and he can watch it on YouTube, he doesn’t really get that as much as, “I’m wrestling and I’ll be on TV right after REELZ right after COPS,” that he’ll get! There is a prestige to being on traditional television. Not a lot of people get to do that! Not too many companies achieve that! And, REELZ is a big channel. So, to be on traditional television, for me, is a true mark of success.”
On his goals in MLW:
“I put out a tweet and I have 3 goals. 1. Win a championship. 2. Get an action figure. And 3, and I’m going to change my third one. I said I felt that people slept on me. But, I think people are sleeping on MLW and I’m going to do my best to change that. I’m going to do my best to get as many eyeballs on MLW as I can. I want as many people tuning in as I can and as many asses in seats as I can!”
On if he wants an action figure because he’s a collector:
“No, actually, I’m not a collector which is weird because I’m into some kind of nerdy stuff. (laughs) I do have a few old school ECW figures. But, the reason I want an action figure of myself is so I can give it to my nephews for Christmas and have them open it up and be like, “Oh my God, that’s my Uncle Rickey! He’s a toy!””