9 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Collision (July 1)

8. Renewed Focus For All Ego

Heading into this week's AEW Collision, some savvy wrestling fans had pondered whether AEW may opt to utilise Ethan Page in a meaningful way. A hugely talented, oft-underserved performer, would All Ego get the chance to shine in his hometown?

The answer to that, was an unequivocal yes.

So far, Page's AEW run has been an extremely mixed bag, with his solid in-ring game and extreme charisma being underutilised on main AEW programming. Instead, the Ontario native has bounced from the Men of the Year, to the Firm, to being under the charge of Matt Hardy, and unfortunately found himself more featured on Dark and Dark: Elevation than Dynamite and Rampage.

Making his first Collision appearance here, MJF - fantastically decked out in USA-themed gear - put away local talent Kip Morst in barely 30 seconds. Lambasting the "crappy-ass Hamilton" crowd, the Salt of the Earth threw out the challenge to face the best grappler this city could offer up. After a brief tease, it was Ethan Page who stepped out and stepped up to Max.

Page cut the sort of serious, passionate promo AEW audiences have yet to really see from him, as he shone a spotlight on his own story and the story of his family, who moved to Canada from Macedonia. The 33-year-old then put up a valiant fight - complete with brilliantly selling an injured left knee - before eventually being put away for the 1-2-3 after a Heatseeker.

Now, it just remains to be seen if this is the start of a renewed, fresh focus on Ethan Page, or if this was merely a one-off moment in the Collision spotlight for a hometown hero.