Ethan Page Reveals That TNA Hall Of Famer Abyss Was A Big Inspiration For Him
One-half of the Impact Wrestling Tag Team Champions, Ethan Page, recently spoke with AEW's Chris Van Vliet about his current run on the Impact roster. Page mentioned how he first got inspired to join Impact Wrestling, saying it was the "Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling" days that truly made him a fan.
"To me, it means something different than everybody else, I think. I guess in a short form, TNA was my WCW because of my age, if that makes sense," Page said. "That was my alternative which got me into the Ring of Honors and stuff like that, which got me into becoming a wrestler. So TNA meant a lot to me as a fan. So I am a TNA tag champ [instead of Impact tag champ] right now, at least in my mind."
One TNA/Impact Wrestling Hall of Famer that had a heavy influence on Page's decision to one day become a professional wrestler was "Abyss" Chris Parks. Before becoming a producer for WWE, Abyss was well-known for some of the most brutal matches in TNA/Impact Wrestling history.
"I started watching just after they finished their weekly PPVs and went to their big 3-hour PPVs," Page explained. "So the Jeff Hardys, the Christian Cages, and then obviously when Kurt Angle came. But Abyss was always one of my favorites. As an original character, I always wanted to see him go on and wrestle guys like Kane and The Undertaker. He was always having crazy matches and they were doing things that WWE, at the time, wasn't doing, like with the thumbtacks, and barbed wire, and stuff like that. They would go a step further. I don't know, maybe I had that blood lust but I was a huge fan of Abyss."
Ethan hopes that fans will tune in to Impact and give the new breed of talent a chance to show that they're capable of putting on an unforgettable show. He wasn't shy to admit that their current television home, the Pursuit Channel, may be what is causing their rating to remain lackluster.
"I guess the lack of exposure we have with our television station right now," Page said. "I won't make you bring it up, I'll bring it up. I think that also deters people from actually watching the show, which sucks. I think our TV [show] puts up against anyone right now – check it out. Honestly, I think it's great. Whatever everybody else did before the team we have now shouldn't affect the guys, because most of them are gone. So why don't you see what the new crop is putting together, because we're doing our best and it's really good, I think."