WWE will hold NXT Battleground this Sunday, and to this point, there was still one major mystery heading into the premium live event. That mystery was in regards to the NXT Championship, which as of now wasn’t set to be defended at the event, but that is no longer the case. You can thank Ethan Page for that, as after attacking Williams on last week’s NXT he made his return to the show in the final segment, with General Manager Ava Raine attempting to finish the deal to bring him to NXT. She didn’t want to agree to Page’s demands, but Williams came in and said to give him what he wants, even though Page would get a shot at the Title at NXT Battleground. Raine signed the contract and it was made official, so not only is Page officially NXT, but he is getting at Title shot in his very first match.
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After Page sat down with Ava and went back and forth with the crowd a bit, he addresses his lengthy demands. “I want to thank you but you have to understand one thing. You’re going to have to get used to this Ethan Page calling the shots thing, because if, and that’s a huge if, I sign this contract, I’m going to get a lot of perks that people in the locker room aren’t going to get,” Page said. “I don’t think they will like that very much, and you won’t like that very much, but I don’t give a damn. I earned that.
Page then explained that NXT needed to sign him due to the current void of stars on the brand. “You are signing, and you are signing this contract on live TV tonight because you need to sign Ethan Page. Listen, please, everybody here knows, everybody watched the draft. NXT lost what, 8 of its top stars, leaving a giant void perfectly sized for Ethan Page to fill and become the face of NXT and take this brand to new heights and to our new home,” Page said.
Williams then came out and Page threw the table out of the ring to the floor, saying that no one would be going through a table tonight. Williams said, “So let’s handle business then. Ava, please give this man whatever he wants. So Trick Williams and everyone else in the building can get what we want, and that’s for me to whoop your ass. You see Ethan I know that you’re new here, but let me tell you how things go. I’m Trick Williams, and this is my house. I’ve been here for a minute now, 2.0 to be exact. I’ve got a few friends in the back that’s been with me the whole time, and this crowd has been here the whole time too. Through the ups and the downs, they have been here. My problem with you is, you think you can come to NXT and jump the line, jump me the NXT Champion, you must be crazy.”
Ava then explained to Williams that she wasn’t going to agree to Page’s terms, and Page explained why. “One, she’s giving me my first match in this company at Battleground, for this NXT Title, and two, she’s signing on for the end of the Whoop That Era.”
Williams said, “Ava you’ve been here with me for a long time. We built this together, let me make this crystal clear. You can’t end nothing dog. At Battleground, you’re going to be hearing one thing, NXT, tell him what we gonna do.” That led to Whoop That Trick chants, and Page signed the contract and so did Ava, making Page officially part of the roster.
NXT Battleground Updated Card:
- NXT Battleground Host: Sexyy Red
- NXT Championship Match: Trick Williams (C) vs. Ethan Page
- 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 NXT? You can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!
