Exclusive: Ethan Page: Everyone In AEW Wants To Win The Head-To-Head Battle With WWE SmackDown

AEW Rampage and WWE SmackDown will go head-to-head for the first time on Friday, October 15.

WWE set a supersized edition of SmackDown on FS1 for October 15 last week and the final 30 minutes, which will be commercial-free, will air against Rampage on TNT. AEW have since fired back, though, and Tony Khan announced a special Buy In show on YouTube from 9 pm ET that will feature Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki and Bobby Fish vs. Lee Moriarty. 

Ethan Page will headline tomorrow's edition of Rampage in a six-man tag team match with Scorpio Sky and Junior Dos Santos against The Inner Circle's Chris Jericho, Jake Hager and Sammy Guevara.

Speaking to Tom Campbell on Desert Island Graps ahead of Rampage, Page admitted everyone in AEW wants to win the ratings battle with SmackDown. 

"We want to win. I think the general backstage is look, we have the potential to do something great and unless we fully commit to doing something great we could miss an opportunity. Everyone wants to win," Page stated.

AEW President Tony Khan has not been quiet since WWE announced the supersized SmackDown, tweeting shortly after: "I saw you're doing a half-hour head-to-head with us. I can't wait to finally beat your main show head-to-head. It's been a long time coming. See you next Friday for #AEWRampage on @AEWonTNT!"

While some fans would prefer Khan to remain quiet, Page is a fan of the AEW president being so outspoken. All Ego also believes there is going to be a "giant shift in professional wrestling" in the next five years. 

"Tony, although I complain on-screen a lot about what the company is doing to Ethan Page, this guy is a leader. He leads by example and he's willing to put his name on the line, his money on the line, his reputation on the line. He's trying his best to create something that people will talk about forever and I want to be a part of that. If he's willing to do the work, I want to do the work too. He makes me want to work harder and be the best version of Ethan Page I can for him, for AEW and for the fans," Page continued. 

"I love it, I love how vocal he is and hey, someone has to win and someone has to lose. This whole, 'oh we should love each other', that's great, I'm all for respect and having a good community but competition is also great. Competition creates magic. You need pressure to make a diamond and that's what we're trying to do. I'm all for him calling people out and saying we're gonna be the best and we're gonna win because that's how I feel and now I have a boss who's also willing to do it. It just makes me feel, 'You know what? I could do the same. We are the best and we're gonna do it. We're gonna pull it off.' 

"I think in the next five years there's gonna be a giant shift in professional wrestling and I couldn't be happier that I'm gonna be a part of it. I literally have long conversations with my wife about how insane it is to feel the momentum and know you're a part of something special. Everyone in the locker room knows and they are blessed to be a part of what's going on in AEW right now."

You can listen to Ethan Page's full episode of Desert Island Graps here. If you would like to watch the video version, you can subscribe to the $10 tier of the Cultaholic Wrestling Patreon here.