Ethan Page says one of his most memorable chair spots in NXT came far closer to a serious injury than fans realized.
Speaking on Insight With Chris Van Vliet, Page looked back on the match in which he won the NXT North American Championship from Ricky Saints, and a moment with a chair that he says nearly cost Saints an eye.
“It could have been worse,” Page said. “He almost lost his eye.”
He walked through how it happened.
“He ends up injuring his trachea, the way the chair fell. I give him a twisted grin, and I’m trying to pull his throat down in between the legs of the chair,” Page said. “As I’m yanking him down, if you watch the leg closest to the camera, it literally grazes his cheek, and you see his cheek after, there’s a mark. It’s like purple. Maybe an inch to a half an inch, he would have lost his eye.”
Page acknowledged how it looked, given his on-screen demeanor.
“I don’t know why I’m smiling, but yeah,” he said.
He noted the match also had a lasting keepsake attached to it.
“That night I became North American champion, and Mattel enjoyed that so much that they commemorated the moment by giving myself and Ricky Saints a two pack with the North American Championship from that match,” Page said.
Page also pointed to an earlier chair spot, when he knocked out Je’Von Evans’ teeth, as a turning point for his character.
“Sometimes you just gotta do what you’re told,” Page said. “That whole experience gave me something I desperately needed in NXT, which was a very hard edge, and it was pivotal for Ethan Page.”
