Was he grateful? Of course. He said it “many times” as he downloaded and assimilated all the information they gave him. Was he willing to accept it as reality? Not yet.
Advertisement
“Nothing in professional wrestling is real until it actually happens,” Page told Uncrowned. “I’ve heard a lot of things in NXT for almost the last two years, so to hear anything, nothing is real until it actually happens. I say that with 100% sincerity. I didn’t believe anything anyone had told me until it happened.”
This past Monday night, Page made his debut on “Raw,” WWE’s flagship show for the past 33 years. While any debut on any episode of WWE programming is noteworthy, Page’s appeared on perhaps the biggest episode of any given year: The “Raw After ‘Mania.”
In WWE, unlike traditional sports, there really is no Opening Day. With shows airing 52 weeks a year and no offseason, the lines get blurred very quickly, meaning that actual benchmark episodes of “Raw” and “SmackDown” are few and far between. Anniversary shows, lightly promoted season premieres, and of course “Raw After ‘Mania” are larger than average episodes, and the crowds are often “hotter” than usual.
Page was able to experience all of that firsthand and embark on his journey at the same time.
“I honestly thought ‘finally,’” Page says. “I’ve really worked my whole life for this. My wife, my kids have gone through a lot of sacrifices and changes and obstacles in life to get to this moment, and it was everything I thought it would be, everything I wanted it to be and then some. It was the most calming feeling because it was exactly where I knew I was supposed to be. There was nothing shocking or abnormal about it. It felt perfect.”Advertisement
Since entering wrestling two decades ago, Page, 36, has worked in countless promotions: Ring of Honor, Impact, Evolve, PWG and even WWE’s top competition, AEW. For someone with Page’s experience and profile, when he signed with WWE in 2024, a case could have been made to send him directly to “Raw” or “SmackDown.” Instead, Page debuted in NXT, WWE’s quasi-developmental brand.
“I was an entertainer my entire career until I came to WWE,” Page says. “Then I became a professional wrestler. Honestly, I had been improvising until I got to the Performance Center and the WWE trainers and professionals molded me to do what we really do and learn what we really do. I can say that I was doing it blindly, entertaining people just by instinct and what I always thought was right, but then I got a college level education on what this really is. Now I feel like I have a doctorate in professional wrestling thanks to the people I learned and continue to learn.”
During his time in NXT, Page held his two major singles championships, and his North American Championship reign set a record 273 days. While Page obviously worked to perfect his craft over the years, heading to NXT gave him the opportunity to learn from the legendary Shawn Michaels. It’s no coincidence that in the recently released documentary “The Heartbreak Kid” about Michaels’ career, Page is seen numerous times alongside the NXT boss and Hall of Famer, earning praise as someone as “neurotic” in the art of professional wrestling as “HBK” himself was.
WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels oversees creative for the NXT brand.
(WWE via Getty Images)
“He’s the best because he’s the best,” Page says. “I’m the type of artist that will almost, without even knowing it, mirror the person closest to me or the person I’m working with. Now imagine being directly next to the best, smartest, greatest artist in the history of the company. I’m the type of artist that is like a sponge. Every time I went out to fight, it was through the filter of Shawn Michaels, because I understand what his level of greatness is. If he expects something from me, I have to hold it to the same standard.
Advertisement
“I always put pressure on myself, and I think that’s why I hope my title reign with the North American Championship is and will be a critically acclaimed run. I wanted that for myself but, more importantly, I also wanted it for Shawn Michaels and NXT as a team leader in what we were trying to accomplish at the time.”
Page’s persona is “All Ego,” and during our 20-minute conversation, he drops a lot of lines in there to purposely remind you how fluidly he can transition between reality and kayfabe. But what stands out amidst all of this is Page’s passion for the business and work ethic that has helped him get to this point.
He may have debuted on “Raw” on Monday, but he was back at the Performance Center on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (and probably Friday through Sunday, if I had to guess).
It’s part of a plan not only to get better, but also, like Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” to show that he’s not going away.
Advertisement
“I’m trying to grow these roots as deep as I can,” Page says. “These things take many years to come true, so my goal is to just film myself at the Performance Center, in Orlando, to show my availability to the company, my dedication. I have a lot of NXT Superstars that I meet with to chat about matches or just to, honestly, throw myself under the bus and show them something that I did that I thought was terrible so they can avoid it.
“Ultimately, yes, I’m sure I’ll end up coaching or doing something. I don’t want to talk out of turn because I don’t control any of the decisions, but I’d be willing to be available for it. I’m obsessed with wrestling and I love this. I’m a busybody; I think I’ll go crazy if I’m not working. By the time I’m done physically wrestling, I’ll be knocking on Shawn Michaels’ door or whoever.” is running NXT to say, ‘OK, I’m ready, what do you need?’”
For now, the focus is on “Raw.” Page won his first match on the WWE main roster, against Je’Von Evans, last Monday. Alongside the likes of Evans, Oba Femi, Trick Williams, Sol Ruca, Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, Lainey Reid, Ricky Saints and Blake Monroe, Page is among a potentially generational wave of talent that will be called up from NXT to the WWE main roster.
Je’Von Evans in action against Ethan Page during “WWE Raw.”
(WWE via Getty Images)
The sudden influx of talent has apparently made Page’s transition easier.
Advertisement
“The irony is that when I finally get to ‘Monday Night Raw,’ the locker room is filled with friends, rivals, familiar faces and people from my generation,” Page says. “I really noticed the kind of change that’s happening in WWE right now, and I couldn’t be happier to be a part of it. That locker room felt so refreshing and exciting. I’m happy I got to be one of them.”
The first goal on Page’s list as a “Raw” superstar is ambitious, but not too ambitious.
Of course, as any athlete will tell you, a championship is the ultimate dream. In baseball, that means winning the World Series; in football, the Super Bowl. WWE is slightly different in that you have multiple paths to becoming champion, usually by moving up the ranks.
Would it be easy and appropriate for Page’s character if he immediately said he wants to go after Roman Reigns’ World Heavyweight Championship? Of course, and that remains the main objective. But for now, there’s a pedestal Page wants to climb that’s a little more personal.
Advertisement
“The Intercontinental Championship is without a doubt the ultimate dream, fandom championship for ‘All Ego’ Ethan Page,” Page says. “Without a doubt, if there was ever a championship you would ever ask little Ethan, ‘Hey, what would be your dream championship?’ Intercontinental Championship.”
As a child of the ’90s, Page firmly belongs to a generation that saw some of the best Intercontinental Championship matches in history. He references Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat and Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels while remembering what got him hooked as a kid. For wrestling fans of a certain age, you don’t need more than those four names to know. exactly What coincidences are you referring to?
To get even more granular, in the same way Ken Griffey Jr. got a generation to wear their baseball caps backwards, a WWE performer caught Page’s attention as a kid.
Scott Hall became a member of the WWE Hall of Fame with his character Razor Ramon.
(WWE via Getty Images)
“It was Razor Ramon,” Page says. “He was the best wrestler for my father, and my father was the best human being for me, so through osmosis, his favorites became my favorites. (The Intercontinental Championship) was always the up-and-coming talent trying to break through on the world championship scene by getting his first real cut in the pursuit of gold and becoming a main character on the show. I’ve always been a fan of that and it’s always been a place where guys have opportunities to shine. I want those opportunities.”
Advertisement
As incredible as Page’s week was, it wasn’t the only moment that moved the needle for the rising star. As evidenced by what he has been doing with some NXT talent and at the Performance Center, Page confessed that he will “continue to help as many people as he can in professional wrestling.”
“My wife laughed with me,” Page says. “A friend of mine who wrestles with me and who I’ve been traveling with a lot got a message that he might be given a chance to try out for WWE. I got more excited about a ‘maybe’ for my friend than the good news I got this week. For me, it’s always that if I’m somewhere, I want to be able to give someone a chance to get there too, especially if I think they have talent.”
In the end, once Page finished his inaugural match on “Raw,” everything started to fall into place, even if the setup wasn’t all that strange. The locker room had many familiar faces, the company he worked for was still the same, the ring he wrestled in was still the same dimensions, but the lights were certainly brighter.
“I definitely got it after the match, standing in Gorilla (position) talking to Triple H,” Page says.
Advertisement
He waited until afterward to shake Michaels’ hand as well.
Finally, it was real.