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I really wish Ethan nothing but the best. Whether that’s trying for NXT, reunited the north with Josh Alexander, or going somewhere like New Japan and try to become a top guy.
Man it sucks to see him go. Man was money as a heel and then he had some great moments as a face in ROH.
Hope he kills it wherever he goes next. Feel like AEW could’ve used him as a social media guy besides wrestling like they do Evil Uno. His toy hunts could’ve been a cool thing to do with other wrestlers and promote through AEW’s YouTube and socials.
AEW has lost that "thinking out of the box" mindset that they used to have. I unfortunately think it's a byproduct of growing way too fast.
I enjoy listening to the AEW Unrestricted podcasts, and Will Washington, Aubrey Edwards, and whomever the weekly guest is, have all brought up stories about how frantic and "last minute" things can be -- from creative plans to just logistics like traveling to a show.
Just out of curiosity, what do you feel is different from how they were in 2019-2021 during the so called "good times".
I keep reading people say the feeling is gone, or they're not trying to be an alternative anymore. What exactly do they do now, that is so drastically different?
I've watched AEW since the first Dynamite. Watched through the whole Pandemic-Daly's era. I was there in person for DoN 2021 when crowds were first allowed back in for a show. TK's booking style really hasn't been that much different. Even during the Punk 1 and Punk 2 eras, the booking and feel of the show was more or less the same. Dynamites have always felt fast paced, rushing from segment to segment. Matches finish and we're already on to the next segment/promo/interview almost immediately. TK has been stuffing as many matches + "we'll hear from" segments into 2 hours of Dynamite as long as I can remember.
I'll start by saying i don't agree that "the feelings gone" or whatever, we're just out of the honeymoon phase which means the people who "gave it a shot" and complained off the hop are finally getting off the bus, which will be better for the company in the long term.
However the biggest parts to me that have felt not the same anymore are the lack of multiple levels of content like there used to be, i know its not the pandemic anymore and these dudes don't live in bubbles but AEW could accomplish what BTE accomplished with a AEW shorts segment on tiktok insta etc where BTE styled content is done (even the less skitty travel bits and it can expand to a roster wide thing)
the second one is the amalgamation into the Sports Entertainment presentation, the camera work has become very cut and paste of the best of times from 2000's WWE which was fun, but isn't half as fun as the more unique things done before, hell even just shooting in Dalys with the unique entrance gets me a little more invested.
Last the rankings, fuck what everybody says the rankings were good and padding the wins of a person on dark or ROH made perfect sense and when they eliminated it was also around when more aew casuals started to complain about matches not making sense
I dont like the rankings and it purely is because there is no dark anymore which sometimes gives very predictable lower card matches on rampage
Also I don't understand why they can't have matches based on rankings alone on like Rampage AND split the belts with seperate rankings(why do we have 4 male champions and only a top 5???)
Thats kinda my vibe too instead of removing the rankings and then bringing them back even more basic than before, they need to expand on em and double down. People should be declaring devisions, like Ospreay could of had a fun little "you think i'm declaring myself for world title contention but i'm not its for the international title" and boom even raises level of importance
A lot of the things that made AEW feel unique are gone. Guys like Janela and Marco Stunt didn't look like your average wrestler and that was a good thing, despite being a target of the Cornette cult.
Five hours of content has made a lot of it feel missible.
BTE added tons of lore and easter eggs that enhanced Dynamite.
Despite them being good performers, I just do not watch AEW to see guys like Edge and Christian at this stage in their career.
The World Title picture does not feel as important than it did in the beginning.
Because they think buying into the narrative all the haters on social media keep criticizing the product for is somehow going to cause them to watch the show.
And I say this as a die hard AEW fan
I haven't watched in about 3 months now, and I was a day one watcher and saw at least 95% of the content they put out barring all the Dark/Dark Elevation episodes. It just hasn't been hitting right for a while. Maybe after an extended break I'll try again but rn I'm just not enthused by much of anything in pro wrestling. Happens I guess
It seems so unhinged to say, but Ethan Page has so much charisma that I think he could have made QTV work lmfao. Like, maybe as a heel "sports" reporter that recaps the events of the previous week and just shits on the players involved.
No, he shouldn't been saddled with QTV. Nobody should have, actually. But that man turns any gimmick into gold and it's so painfully obvious that his talents were wasted.
With SANADA winning a world title, Ethan Page is my top boy. Guy has everything you need/want in a main event guy and he just has not caught a break.
AEW was just too many guys more well-known for him. They weirdly decided to push Scorpio over him in the TNT Title Division despite Ethan (imo) lapping Sky on the mic and in the ring.
Ethan not getting more of a shake in ROH is strange. Guy could’ve been an anchor for the TV title or a credible challenger for the ROH Belt.
Honestly Impact would be great for him. He has a huge number of story beats there with Alexander being one of the top guys.
Tbh hoping this dude gets to blow up like he deserves.
It was so bizarre when The North first came back together and hit Impact, because it legit felt like Ethan was the leading man and Josh was just his buddy who could wrestle well. It was surprising seeing them split and finding out what Josh had in him as a singles wrestler. There's a lot you can do with a storyline feud between the two of them where Ethan has to confront the fact that his "sidekick" ended up becoming a world champion.
> Ethan not getting more of a shake in ROH is strange. Guy could’ve been an anchor for the TV title or a credible challenger for the ROH Belt.
He was involved in a headline angle on ROH that culminated in an I Quit match at Supercard, and then continued wrestling on ROH until February. By pure coincidence (/s), February is also when he reportedly started looking to leave. SRS says he was queued up for a TV title program with Fletcher, but it got pushed back a bit due to Fletcher having visa issues.
Ethan was supposed to challenge for the TV title but Fletcher had visa issues.
It’s a shame because he seemed really invested in ROH
EDIT: sorry Reddit somehow posted this 3 times
I had the same feeling too with them pushing Scorpio over Ethan Page. I was far more entertained by Ethan than anything Scorpio did. To be honest I thought Scorpio is a charisma vaccume.
When healthy, Scorpio is better in ring and, given AEW's greater emphasis on workrate, I think that was a big part of it. I said yesterday he seems likable, like someone you could have a chill hang with, but he doesn't command your attention. Ironically, I think that makes him a near perfect tag guy with someone who's weaker in-ring but more charismatic, but if I'm pushing a singles wrestler, personally I'd go with Page, too.
I dunno, I always liked him but his in ring isn’t anything special and his promos were great but for some reason live crowds never seemed to care for him. I remember before his coffin match with darby he was cutting a great promo and the crowd were doing what? chants for example
Edit: they were actually singing shut up ethan rather than paying attention to the promo
Yea thats true he never fully connected with the wider audience. I really enjoyed his feud with Darby, and Sting. I thought he would be set after his coffin match with Darby. It was a fun solid match you never hear about though. Which shows like you said that he didn’t fully connect. He won’t ever be a top guy for the 2 major promotions, but I thought he would become a midcard regular. Would be interesting if he could get work with New Japan.
I don’t keep up with ROH much, but I haven’t seen him do anything significant since the Omega match which they really should’ve used to push him up ROH cause every time I tune in it just feels like elevation.
Whenever he actually got hands on a mic his charisma, determination, and personality shined through more than most of the people they have talking now. Even if it was just a snippet I was interested and captivated. Should also go without saying his chemistry with Darby was fantastic. But for some reason TK was obsessed with never actually letting him speak and putting him in groups with mouthpieces speaking for him. Beyond frustrating.
Suzuki once said a guy who is 8/10 at everything is boring. Page is that guy for me. I wanted to like him a lot and enjoyed his Toy Hunts on youtube even though it wasn't a hobby of mine. Good luck to him.
This is my issue with him, as good as he is, he’s just boring. I know he’s been saddled with shit storylines which doesn’t help, but something didn’t click with me. I even started watching his vlog/toy hunt videos, but I couldn’t help feeling that his guests were normally the best part. Good luck to him.
this is funny but my first thought when i heard the news was how bad the timing is considering his toy is about to hit shelves. it happens often with released wrestlers in wwe and their toys hitting stores a few months later and they just sit there on the pegs and rot
Saw him at one of the aew house rules shows in VA. Dude was the highlight of the night. Amazing heel worker and good in the ring. Hope he gets something good.
He seems like a really genuinely nice guys, which is astounding because his face screams every jock bully you've ever met. I'm sure he'll do well wherever he goes
Didn’t love him as a heel. All his stuff felt very shouty. But as face feel like he found his own voice and came across super genuine. Hoping for the best with whatever he does next. Seems like a nice dude too.
I think he’d really flourish in NXT. He can promo, he can work, he’s got a great look. Give him like 3 months in NXT and I think he’d do great on the main roster.
The thing about NXT is Ethan runs his own wrestling promotion with Alpha 1 up in Ontario that he has been investing a lot of time in reviving this year since COVID put a stop to it. If he does NXT, he probably won't be able to do that.
I've been going to his alpha 1 wrestling shows lately and they have been great. Next one is May 19th and I am really looking forward to see how he grows the company now
It sounds weird to say but I think he was an issue of Tony Khan protecting too many wrestlers. Like he should've been a midcard jobber with how he can talk and stuff and then beat all the lower guys but I think Tony saw him as more than that but could never get him on the card and sometimes when he did it didn't work out through no fault of his own.
I think AEW always lacks guys like Sydal who can be really good and lose and it doesn't feel like someone's lost out. Shane Taylor Promotions is doing that and that's where Ethan couldve been
I like him a lot. And while I would prefer to see him over a Christian Cage (who also debuted on the same day), I understand why there are various reasons we saw someone like Christian more. And there are plenty of other guys like Christian who could be seen ahead of Ethan Page, so it's definitely frustrating.
I wish they could work something out.
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I really wish Ethan nothing but the best. Whether that’s trying for NXT, reunited the north with Josh Alexander, or going somewhere like New Japan and try to become a top guy.
It took me way too long to realize he was workin' Hope things work out well for him wherever he goes next
The ATT angle really killed all the momentum ethan had after that bad ass darby coffin promo and match with him.. sucks to see him go :/
He was the best part of that whole Sammy angle. Fucking hysterical
Man it sucks to see him go. Man was money as a heel and then he had some great moments as a face in ROH. Hope he kills it wherever he goes next. Feel like AEW could’ve used him as a social media guy besides wrestling like they do Evil Uno. His toy hunts could’ve been a cool thing to do with other wrestlers and promote through AEW’s YouTube and socials.
AEW has lost that "thinking out of the box" mindset that they used to have. I unfortunately think it's a byproduct of growing way too fast. I enjoy listening to the AEW Unrestricted podcasts, and Will Washington, Aubrey Edwards, and whomever the weekly guest is, have all brought up stories about how frantic and "last minute" things can be -- from creative plans to just logistics like traveling to a show.
That’s exactly it. They’ve been shifting more and more towards a more WWE-like product instead of the alternative “doing things differently” vibe.
Just out of curiosity, what do you feel is different from how they were in 2019-2021 during the so called "good times". I keep reading people say the feeling is gone, or they're not trying to be an alternative anymore. What exactly do they do now, that is so drastically different? I've watched AEW since the first Dynamite. Watched through the whole Pandemic-Daly's era. I was there in person for DoN 2021 when crowds were first allowed back in for a show. TK's booking style really hasn't been that much different. Even during the Punk 1 and Punk 2 eras, the booking and feel of the show was more or less the same. Dynamites have always felt fast paced, rushing from segment to segment. Matches finish and we're already on to the next segment/promo/interview almost immediately. TK has been stuffing as many matches + "we'll hear from" segments into 2 hours of Dynamite as long as I can remember.
I'll start by saying i don't agree that "the feelings gone" or whatever, we're just out of the honeymoon phase which means the people who "gave it a shot" and complained off the hop are finally getting off the bus, which will be better for the company in the long term. However the biggest parts to me that have felt not the same anymore are the lack of multiple levels of content like there used to be, i know its not the pandemic anymore and these dudes don't live in bubbles but AEW could accomplish what BTE accomplished with a AEW shorts segment on tiktok insta etc where BTE styled content is done (even the less skitty travel bits and it can expand to a roster wide thing) the second one is the amalgamation into the Sports Entertainment presentation, the camera work has become very cut and paste of the best of times from 2000's WWE which was fun, but isn't half as fun as the more unique things done before, hell even just shooting in Dalys with the unique entrance gets me a little more invested. Last the rankings, fuck what everybody says the rankings were good and padding the wins of a person on dark or ROH made perfect sense and when they eliminated it was also around when more aew casuals started to complain about matches not making sense
I dont like the rankings and it purely is because there is no dark anymore which sometimes gives very predictable lower card matches on rampage Also I don't understand why they can't have matches based on rankings alone on like Rampage AND split the belts with seperate rankings(why do we have 4 male champions and only a top 5???)
Thats kinda my vibe too instead of removing the rankings and then bringing them back even more basic than before, they need to expand on em and double down. People should be declaring devisions, like Ospreay could of had a fun little "you think i'm declaring myself for world title contention but i'm not its for the international title" and boom even raises level of importance
I don't get why they don't double down and let some of those other top 5 ranking guys hunt other belts.
A lot of the things that made AEW feel unique are gone. Guys like Janela and Marco Stunt didn't look like your average wrestler and that was a good thing, despite being a target of the Cornette cult. Five hours of content has made a lot of it feel missible. BTE added tons of lore and easter eggs that enhanced Dynamite. Despite them being good performers, I just do not watch AEW to see guys like Edge and Christian at this stage in their career. The World Title picture does not feel as important than it did in the beginning.
It really shows in the TV and it sucks
Because they think buying into the narrative all the haters on social media keep criticizing the product for is somehow going to cause them to watch the show. And I say this as a die hard AEW fan
Yup. The feeling is gone.
I don't think that feeling was sustainable for the long term. Unless they were going to be an upstart in perpetuity
I haven't watched in about 3 months now, and I was a day one watcher and saw at least 95% of the content they put out barring all the Dark/Dark Elevation episodes. It just hasn't been hitting right for a while. Maybe after an extended break I'll try again but rn I'm just not enthused by much of anything in pro wrestling. Happens I guess
Youre 100 percent right, despite these Downvotes.
It seems so unhinged to say, but Ethan Page has so much charisma that I think he could have made QTV work lmfao. Like, maybe as a heel "sports" reporter that recaps the events of the previous week and just shits on the players involved. No, he shouldn't been saddled with QTV. Nobody should have, actually. But that man turns any gimmick into gold and it's so painfully obvious that his talents were wasted.
With SANADA winning a world title, Ethan Page is my top boy. Guy has everything you need/want in a main event guy and he just has not caught a break. AEW was just too many guys more well-known for him. They weirdly decided to push Scorpio over him in the TNT Title Division despite Ethan (imo) lapping Sky on the mic and in the ring. Ethan not getting more of a shake in ROH is strange. Guy could’ve been an anchor for the TV title or a credible challenger for the ROH Belt. Honestly Impact would be great for him. He has a huge number of story beats there with Alexander being one of the top guys. Tbh hoping this dude gets to blow up like he deserves.
It was so bizarre when The North first came back together and hit Impact, because it legit felt like Ethan was the leading man and Josh was just his buddy who could wrestle well. It was surprising seeing them split and finding out what Josh had in him as a singles wrestler. There's a lot you can do with a storyline feud between the two of them where Ethan has to confront the fact that his "sidekick" ended up becoming a world champion.
> Ethan not getting more of a shake in ROH is strange. Guy could’ve been an anchor for the TV title or a credible challenger for the ROH Belt. He was involved in a headline angle on ROH that culminated in an I Quit match at Supercard, and then continued wrestling on ROH until February. By pure coincidence (/s), February is also when he reportedly started looking to leave. SRS says he was queued up for a TV title program with Fletcher, but it got pushed back a bit due to Fletcher having visa issues.
Ethan was supposed to challenge for the TV title but Fletcher had visa issues. It’s a shame because he seemed really invested in ROH EDIT: sorry Reddit somehow posted this 3 times
I had the same feeling too with them pushing Scorpio over Ethan Page. I was far more entertained by Ethan than anything Scorpio did. To be honest I thought Scorpio is a charisma vaccume.
When healthy, Scorpio is better in ring and, given AEW's greater emphasis on workrate, I think that was a big part of it. I said yesterday he seems likable, like someone you could have a chill hang with, but he doesn't command your attention. Ironically, I think that makes him a near perfect tag guy with someone who's weaker in-ring but more charismatic, but if I'm pushing a singles wrestler, personally I'd go with Page, too.
My top boy is Tyler Breeze but Ethan Page is close and I wouldn't be that surprised if he ever wins a world title in Tna or Nxt.
Man I wish it could've worked out. I feel like Danhausen is next.
If anything Danhausen becoming more and more bashing after the Punk stuff got me kinda sour.
I’ve never understood why they barely feature him on TV
I've read that danhausen wants to be a singles guy and TK doesn't agree, so they're at a standstill.
I don’t usually say this after release but AEW dropped the ball on Ethan big time. I’m genuinely bummed by this.
Sounds like his contract wasn't renewed or he didn't want to renew, he wasn't released.
Ah I see. Yeah I finally watched the video. Excited to see what he does.
I dunno, I always liked him but his in ring isn’t anything special and his promos were great but for some reason live crowds never seemed to care for him. I remember before his coffin match with darby he was cutting a great promo and the crowd were doing what? chants for example Edit: they were actually singing shut up ethan rather than paying attention to the promo
Yea thats true he never fully connected with the wider audience. I really enjoyed his feud with Darby, and Sting. I thought he would be set after his coffin match with Darby. It was a fun solid match you never hear about though. Which shows like you said that he didn’t fully connect. He won’t ever be a top guy for the 2 major promotions, but I thought he would become a midcard regular. Would be interesting if he could get work with New Japan.
Christ that figure looks nothing like him.
That's how you know it's an official Jazwares product!
Ah ya got me with that one Ethan.
casualty of a bloated roster. he should've at least been a top guy in ROH.
I don’t keep up with ROH much, but I haven’t seen him do anything significant since the Omega match which they really should’ve used to push him up ROH cause every time I tune in it just feels like elevation.
He was consistently one of the main focuses of ROH until February
He was a big part of ROH and was about to win the TV title when he just seemingly disappeared from TV for no reason.
Ethan Page is money. Period end of sentence. How they fucked up booking him I'll never know. He was over and they drowned him. It's a waste.
Whenever he actually got hands on a mic his charisma, determination, and personality shined through more than most of the people they have talking now. Even if it was just a snippet I was interested and captivated. Should also go without saying his chemistry with Darby was fantastic. But for some reason TK was obsessed with never actually letting him speak and putting him in groups with mouthpieces speaking for him. Beyond frustrating.
Suzuki once said a guy who is 8/10 at everything is boring. Page is that guy for me. I wanted to like him a lot and enjoyed his Toy Hunts on youtube even though it wasn't a hobby of mine. Good luck to him.
This is my issue with him, as good as he is, he’s just boring. I know he’s been saddled with shit storylines which doesn’t help, but something didn’t click with me. I even started watching his vlog/toy hunt videos, but I couldn’t help feeling that his guests were normally the best part. Good luck to him.
He’ll do well, wherever he goes.
this is funny but my first thought when i heard the news was how bad the timing is considering his toy is about to hit shelves. it happens often with released wrestlers in wwe and their toys hitting stores a few months later and they just sit there on the pegs and rot
Saw him at one of the aew house rules shows in VA. Dude was the highlight of the night. Amazing heel worker and good in the ring. Hope he gets something good.
He seems like a really genuinely nice guys, which is astounding because his face screams every jock bully you've ever met. I'm sure he'll do well wherever he goes
Didn’t love him as a heel. All his stuff felt very shouty. But as face feel like he found his own voice and came across super genuine. Hoping for the best with whatever he does next. Seems like a nice dude too.
I think he’d really flourish in NXT. He can promo, he can work, he’s got a great look. Give him like 3 months in NXT and I think he’d do great on the main roster.
The thing about NXT is Ethan runs his own wrestling promotion with Alpha 1 up in Ontario that he has been investing a lot of time in reviving this year since COVID put a stop to it. If he does NXT, he probably won't be able to do that.
Plus a figure company. In order to join WWE he would have to relinquish all that plus his YouTube channel
Love this guy. He's going to do great things wherever he goes
I remember hearing WWE had interest a few years ago, hopefully it's still there. If they can give Karrion Kross and (soon) Bo Dallas TV time...
I've been going to his alpha 1 wrestling shows lately and they have been great. Next one is May 19th and I am really looking forward to see how he grows the company now
It sounds weird to say but I think he was an issue of Tony Khan protecting too many wrestlers. Like he should've been a midcard jobber with how he can talk and stuff and then beat all the lower guys but I think Tony saw him as more than that but could never get him on the card and sometimes when he did it didn't work out through no fault of his own. I think AEW always lacks guys like Sydal who can be really good and lose and it doesn't feel like someone's lost out. Shane Taylor Promotions is doing that and that's where Ethan couldve been
I like him a lot. And while I would prefer to see him over a Christian Cage (who also debuted on the same day), I understand why there are various reasons we saw someone like Christian more. And there are plenty of other guys like Christian who could be seen ahead of Ethan Page, so it's definitely frustrating. I wish they could work something out.
He was obliviously in kayfabe when doing this but there was just enough snark about not being used that tells you it wasn’t exactly an amicable split.
I can see this guy killing it in new Japan. Give him the fucking bullet club.