Hamilton wrestler Ethan Page on top of the world

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Hamilton’s Julian Micevski, better known by his ring name Ethan Page, is on top of the world.

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The longtime independent wrestler, who recently joined World Wrestling Entertainment’s NXT brand, was crowned the NXT champion in an entertaining main event on Sunday night at NXT Heatwave in Toronto.

Page, who faced Je’Von Evans, fellow Canadian Shawn Spears and Trick Williams for Williams’ title, came out on top in a surprising conclusion, which saw Williams blast both Evans and Page with his Trick Shot, with Page falling on top of Evans, dazed. But before Williams could pin either, Spears, who was outside the ring, grabbed Williams by his foot, while the referee counted the 1-2-3 and declared Page, unbeknownst to him, the winner.

When Page came to, the NXT Championship belt was placed atop his chest. A stunned and clearly pleased Page was all smiles, as was the pro-Page crowd of more than 8,000 at Scotiabank Arena, a stone’s throw from his Hamilton hometown.

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The creative and satisfying conclusion capped an excellent match that showcased the abilities of all four men. It also bookended an excellent show that featured six great matches and concluded a wildly successful weekend for WWE, which moved into Toronto to host three straight events at Scotiabank Arena. Friday night, Smackdown welcomed more than 16,000 fans and Saturday night, a sellout crowd filled the place for Money in the Bank.

The semi main event featured NXT women’s champion Roxanne Perez defending her title against Lola Vice. The women were in tough on the card, wedged between the main event and a previous match that arguably stole the show.

After a show start, which featured technical wrestling, a little story telling and gave the crowd a chance to come down following the aforementioned previous match, things cooked from the middle part of the match to its conclusion, with both women showing off their power, aerial skills and ability to wow a crowd and keep its interest.

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Perez successfully defended with Hammer and Anvil elbows on Vice’s arm, before locking in a crossface, then delivering three Pop Rox finishers for the win.

In what was arguably the show stealer of the night, the NXT Tag Team champion Axiom and Nathan Frazer defending their titles versus Chase U (w/ Thea Hail and Riley Osborne). The champions successfully defended their titles in a match that delivered on every level, from high spots, to excellent technical wrestling, great storytelling, psychology, a few false finishes and a terrific finish, leaving the appreciative audience standing and cheering when the dust settled. In fact, the match was so good, it would warrant consideration for tag-team match of the year in any list of the best matches of 2024 so far.

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Women’s North American champion Kelani Jordan successfully defended her title versus Sol Ruca in the first women’s match of the card. Jordan delivered a poisionrana to Ruca, followed by a split legged moonsault for the win. The match pitted two former professional gymnasts against one another, with both showing off their advanced aerial skills, balance and gymnastics.

The night’s opening match featured NXT North American champion Oba Femi defending his title against Wes Lee in a David vs. Goliath match as the much larger Femi physically punished Lee, who showed off his aerial skills and heart. Femi successfully defended his title after a mostly dominating performance that saw Lee take the bulk of the punishment. Femi hit the sit-out powerbomb for the win.

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