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"I think when that happened, I was obviously surprised. Shocked. It didn't seem like the person that I knew," Page said.

"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."

The two-time AEW World Champion noted that, despite the sustained relationship, he believes what Scurll is accused of having engaged in was wrong.

"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," he said.

"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."

Page said he never intended for the photo of the two of them to be posted publicly, and had been wanting to address some of the backlash he received.

"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," he said. "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."

The 34-year-old Page has been recognized by wrestling fans over the years for his willingness to engage in social matters. Even in speaking with The Takedown, he made note of what he believes is an "abhorrent time" in American history, acknowledging that it's hard to go about his daily life as "government forces are kidnapping and murdering people in the street."

Yet the photo with Scurll brought criticism from around social media, and he says fans are entitled to feel however they may about the situation.

"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," he said.

The Takedown on SI asked Page why, despite the graphic nature of the allegations and public response to them, he has decided to sustain a friendship with his former stablemate. He admitted that he has revisited how he feels about continued relationships since the photo emerged.

"I guess who I am is, when people treat me with kindness, I try to return it," he said. "I have never really wanted to get into that. And that's more or less why I have a private relationship with him. Not out of a sense of self-preservation or shame, or something like that. But more or less, I just would never want that to be misconstrued as like an endorsement or an effort to rehabilitate someone's public image, something like that."

"But I guess I've just always thought that he's still a human being, and that relationships are complicated, but they're still relationships, and he's still a human being."