Former WWE champion says "it takes a great deal of patience" working with NXT talent
WWE NXT has transformed into a top brand under Shawn Michaels’ leadership. A former champion recently opened up about working on the brand.
Ethan Page has been highly successful in WWE since making his debut earlier this year. He debuted in May and has already enjoyed a good run with the NXT Championship.
Page has been around in the industry for nearly two decades. Therefore, working with the upcoming stars of NXT has been a test of patience for the egoistic superstar. In a conversation with Sports Illustrated, Ethan Page was asked how it felt to work with the future of the wrestling industry.
"You do it with an ocean's amount of patience," Page said. [H/T Sports Illustrated]
The former AEW star explained his answer, stating that most of the wrestlers on the roster became fans of the sport after being taken up by WWE. On the other hand, he fell in love with wrestling at a young age.
"Is that a bad thing? No, not at all," Page continued. "I respect the hell out of these athletes. They're freaks. I can't do anything they can do, but it is a lot different than the 18 years it took me to get into the position that I'm in and maybe the 18 years of living it took them to land in the same spot as me. So yes, it takes a great deal of patience," Page noted. [H/T Sports Illustrated]
Page will compete against Eddy Thorpe, Je'Von Evans, Nathan Frazer, and Wes Lee in the Iron Survivor Match at Deadline. The winner will get a shot at the NXT Championship.
Ethan Page noted how NXT stars took different paths to get to WWE
Ethan Page earned his first WWE contract after working in the industry for nearly two decades. Meanwhile, many stars on the NXT roster are nearly half his age.
In the aforementioned interview, Page noted that everyone had to take a different path to the company. While some were lucky enough to be signed up by the company and trained at its facilities for the future, others had to prove themselves in other promotions.
"Also, a great deal of maturity and understanding that not everyone is on the same path and everyone is going to do what they do differently. It did take them a lot of work to get to the level that WWE would even look in their direction. So, they needed to be special in their own field for us to even want to bring them on board into professional wrestling," he said. [H/T Sports Illustrated]
Ethan Page has once defeated Trick Williams for the NXT Title. He could do so again for another title reign before a main roster move.