Former AEW Star Stuns Everyone in Surprise WWE NXT Debut

Former AEW star Ethan Page makes a shocking debut in WWE NXT after attacking Trick Williams

WWE NXT was loaded with surprises tonight, including the reveal that TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace would be challenging Roxanne Perez for the NXT Women's Championship. It was safe to assume that Jordynne would be the biggest surprise of the night, but NXT had one more stunning moment up its sleeve, which it saved for the final moments of the episode. In the ending segment, Trick Williams was confronted by Lash Legend over the attacks on the Meta-Four, but before he could respond to her question, he was attacked by a new addition to the roster, which was shockingly former AEW star Ethan Page.

After Williams and Je'Von Evans got some key help from Sexyy Red to take down Gallus, Legend headed to the ring to ask Williams if he was really behind the attacks on Noam Dar and Oro Mensah. Williams was about to respond, but then the lights went out. When they came back on, Williams and Legend looked at each other to see what happened, but the crowd was already reacting to someone else heading to the ring.

The attacker then shoved Williams down to the ground and started attacking him, unleashing an array of strikes on the Champion. Page then revealed he was the one behind the string of attacks, saying, "Hey Trick, I took out Noam. i took out Oro." Williams got himself to the corner turnbuckle while Page spoke to the camera, saying, "Woop that Trick? Yeah, I'm about to."

Page then charged across the ring and delivered a vicious knee to the side of Williams' head, leaving him knocked out. The crowd started chanting "Ethan Page" as the episode came to a close, so the NXT crowd already knows who All Ego is, though this was a rough introduction for the NXT Champion.

With only one more week until NXT Battleground, we could be looking at who Williams will face for the Title, though it may be too soon for that to happen if NXT wants to build this feud into a bigger rivalry. Even if Williams isn't battling Page for the Title at Battleground, we could see Page having some sort of involvement in the match, but we'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, you can find the updated card for NXT Battleground below.

NXT Battleground Updated Card:

  • NXT Battleground Host: Sexyy Red
  • NXT Women's Championship Match: Roxanne Perez (C) vs. Jordynne Grace (C)
  • NXT North American Championship Triple Threat Match: Oba Femi (C) vs Wes Lee vs Joe Coffey
  • NXT Women's North American Championship Ladder Match: Sol Ruca vs Lash Legend vs Fallon Henley vs Jaida Parker vs Michin vs Kelani Jordan
  • NXT Tag Team Championships Match: Axiom and Nathan Frazer (C) vs. The Good Brothers
  • NXT Underground Match: Lola Vice vs Shayna Baszler

NXT Battleground takes place at the UFC Apex on June 9th.

What did you think of Ethan Page's NXT debut? You can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!