Bully Ray Is Conflicted About Ethan Page Graduating From WWE NXT

Bully Ray is eager to see Ethan Page succeed on the WWE main roster, but also wishes he could stay longer at NXT.

Page has resurrected his pro wrestling career since moving to WWE from AEW, with the NXT North American Champion flourishing and featuring prominently on the developmental brand. Ray, on "Busted Open," spoke about the dilemma that NXT boss Shawn Michaels has whenever a talent does well on the brand.

"You know, Shawn Michaels had once said that it's very difficult to be the guy running the ship over at NXT, because his job is to create stars. At the end of the day, Shawn's job, and the entire job of NXT, is to create stars for the main roster. And just when somebody is catching fire, just when somebody is getting over, just when somebody's putting asses in seats for NXT, just when people are tuning in maybe for a rating or for a buy rate or whatever, that person can be snatched up at any time," he said. "And it really struck my mind about Ethan. I'm like, 'Man, as much as I want to see Ethan Page move forward in his career,' and I think that kid has such an amazing resurgence from the AEW days of the NXC days, and where he is now, I'm like, 'Oh, please, god, don't call him up to the main roster yet.'"

Ray drew parallels between Page's situation and that of Roxanne Perez, whom Ray thinks highly of. He had wondered before her call-up to the main roster whether creative had anything good for her that would make her stand out from the rest, but is pleased to see her adapt and be featured prominently. 

"Roxanne has been doing a phenomenal job on Monday Night Raw, in the ring, clicking with the group with her promo time. Same thing for Ethan," said Ray.

The WWE legend also believes that another NXT star, Je'Von Evans, is in a similar predicament to Page, but the one thing he has over the former AEW star is his age.