Ever since his promotion to the WWE main roster, Ethan Page has been obsessed with winning the Intercontinental Championship.
The Canadian superstar accomplished that mission on the Nov. 2 edition of WWE RAW, defeating Chad Gable in a singles match to secure the coveted title.
Having achieved a major career milestone and personal goal, Page expected to be overcome with joy. However, the rising WWE star says that he practically feels the opposite after being crowned Intercontinental Champion.
Speaking with WWE Now after the show, Page shared that he didn’t expect to win gold so quickly on the main roster.
“Look, I feel weird, mostly because this is the ultimate goal. Now that I’ve achieved it so early and so quickly, it’s like skewed, I guess, my view of the future. I don’t know why I thought it would be so hard to obtain this. Then it happens so fast that I feel like I should reassess my goals,” he said.
The post-celebratory feeling Page is describing sounds similar to the “Olympic blues,” in which athletes experience an emotional crash after the Olympic Games.
After exerting so much energy into training for and competing in the Olympics, many world-class athletes experience a slight depression when they fall short of gold or don’t perform as well as they envisioned.
“There’s a stereotype that you’re only depressed if you have a result that you don’t like or if you’re disappointed with your performance,” two-time Olympic rower and gold medalist Christine Roper said in 2024. “I had a harder time after my better performance,” she said.
Ethan Page is Merely Scratching the Surface
For Page, his sights are set on greater achievements, making his current reign less thrilling.
“I think that’s why I feel nothing,” he said. “I just know it’s like, I’m gonna do something great again, I’m sure.”
Page didn’t explicitly say he views himself as a future World Champion, but he noted that his Intercontinental Championship reign could be the catalyst for his breakout.
“You know what? Actually, I just did an interview with Jackie, I gave her my thoughts, and I had said that it was extremely sad that I never got to witness myself actually win the Intercontinental Championship. And I think that actually is the precipice of everything. I don’t actually get to enjoy the journey; I’m the one like dragging the cart behind me, kind of thing.”
Ethan Page is far from the most likeable guy in the world, but he has the moxie, scrappiness, and confidence that you can’t teach.
During his time in NXT, Page quickly rose to the main event scene and secured gold along the way.
Now, the former NXT Champion is doing the same thing on the main roster.
Page said that he believes his Intercontinental Championship win validates his extreme self-confidence.
“Everything I’ve said has come true,” he said. “Mostly quick…some things have taken a little while. Like coming to the WWE. That was the longest journey.”
“Once I finally found the right door to open… once I finally got in here, it was game over,” he added.
Page added that he “ran through NXT” and considers himself a legend in the promotion.
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