Ethan Page has spent 2026 reflecting on a professional wrestling career that has now reached its 20-year mark, but the WWE performer does not view his recent ascent as a surprising reinvention. To Page, the trajectory is familiar. He has moved through multiple promotions, worked in a wide range of locker rooms, and continued finding new opportunities whenever one chapter ended.
That experience has helped shape Page's confidence since joining WWE. In only two years with the company, the Canadian wrestler has held both the NXT Championship and the North American Championship, then made the jump to the main roster in April. His arrival on WWE Raw has put him in position to chase one of the most meaningful prizes of his career: the Intercontinental Championship.
Speaking on Notsam Wrestling, Page made it clear that he believes his ability to stand out at the WWE level should not be treated as an unexpected development. He said the skills required to become a star were already part of his identity long before he reached the company.
“I was already a bigger star than most of the people that were already on ‘Raw.’ I just had to arrive and here I am,” Page said. “So, it was a very easy transition for me. I mean, superstardom comes naturally to me.”
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It is a typically direct assessment from Page, whose presentation has long leaned into self-assurance and an eagerness to challenge the perceptions of anyone who might doubt his place. His comments also reflect the perspective of someone who did not take the conventional route of entering WWE early and building his entire national profile within one system.
Instead, Page's career has included time in TNA, Ring of Honor and AEW before his WWE signing. Those stops gave him experience in prominent wrestling environments with different cultures, expectations and competitive landscapes. By the time he entered NXT, Page was not approaching national television for the first time. He was arriving with years of work behind him and a clear belief that he could immediately perform at a high level.
A Career Built Across Multiple Promotions
Page pointed to the breadth of that background when discussing why he has been able to adjust to each new setting. He described his career as one defined by navigating change, adapting to unfamiliar rosters and continuing to push upward regardless of where he was working.
“I've been on every roster. I've been in every locker room. I've worked for every carny promoter,” Page said. “I mean, it's just another job and I'm going to find my way to the top again. Like I have everywhere else.”
For a wrestler entering his third decade in the business, that outlook is rooted in longevity as much as momentum. Page has seen companies change, opportunities shift and working relationships end. Rather than presenting those moments as setbacks that defined his career, he framed them as evidence of an ability to endure and land in stronger positions.
That is where Page's unusual self-description came in. While comparing himself to a cockroach may sound like an insult in another context, he used it as a compliment centered on survival. The metaphor was meant to underline his resilience through an industry that can be unpredictable for performers at every level.
“I'm a cockroach, dude. Like I've survived every atomic bomb,” Page said. “Every company that's closed, I lived. Every job I've quit, I've gotten hired to a better company. Every promoter I've told off, I've left and been picked up by a better promoter.”
The statement captures both the bravado that has become associated with Page and the practical reality of a 20-year career. Sustaining that kind of run requires more than a single breakthrough. It requires the ability to remain relevant, continue developing, and make the most of the next opportunity when it appears.
Page's WWE tenure has given him some of the most visible evidence of that ability. Winning the NXT Championship and North American Championship established him as a major figure within the brand. His main-roster call-up in April then brought a new stage and a new set of opponents, while also raising the stakes around the championships Page can pursue.
The Intercontinental Championship Is the Immediate Goal
Since arriving on Raw, Page has largely centered his attention on the Intercontinental Championship. The title carries personal importance for him because it is a championship he wanted to win from the time he first became a wrestling fan.
That history gives Page's current pursuit a different kind of weight. The NXT Championship and North American Championship were major accomplishments in his WWE run, but the Intercontinental title is connected to the version of Page who watched professional wrestling before he entered the industry. It represents a goal that existed well before his first WWE contract, before his NXT success and before his call-up to Raw.
Page's remarks suggest that he sees the pursuit as part of a larger final climb rather than a departure from his established path. He has competed for major companies across his career and found ways to gain traction in each setting. WWE, in his view, is the highest remaining rung.
“There's only one more ladder to climb and that is the WWE/TKO ladder,” Page said.
That wording is notable because Page is not describing WWE as a place where he merely hopes to remain employed. He is positioning it as the ultimate arena in which to prove the same point he believes he has made throughout his career: wherever he goes, he will eventually work his way toward the top.
Confidence Has Defined Page's WWE Presentation
Page's confidence has been a defining element of his WWE run, and his comments on Notsam Wrestling are consistent with that approach. He is not presenting himself as an underdog grateful simply to have reached the main roster. He is presenting himself as an experienced wrestler whose arrival was inevitable and whose past work prepared him for the scale of WWE.
Whether audiences agree with Page's assessment is part of what makes the stance effective. Declaring that he was already a bigger star than many members of the Raw roster is designed to invite debate, draw attention and establish where he believes he belongs. More importantly, his record in WWE gives the claim a foundation: he did not enter the company and disappear into the depth of the roster. He won significant championships in NXT and moved to the main roster within two years.
There is also a distinction in the way Page talks about survival. He is not simply celebrating the fact that he has lasted 20 years. He is emphasizing that each transition has produced another opportunity. In his telling, promotions closing, jobs ending or relationships becoming strained did not stop his progress. They led to the next destination.
That perspective makes the Intercontinental Championship chase especially fitting. Page is pursuing a title with deep WWE history, one that has long been viewed as a marker of standing on the main roster. For a wrestler who says he has climbed every ladder placed in front of him, winning it would be both a current accomplishment and a link to the fan he once was.
Page has already made clear that he does not consider his WWE rise to be a finished story. His NXT championship wins and April call-up are important milestones, but he sees them as steps toward something bigger. With the Intercontinental Championship in his sights and the WWE/TKO ladder ahead, Page remains committed to the same approach that has carried him through two decades: survive the change, seize the next opening and make sure he rises again.
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Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.