AEW Collision Broadcast Team Will Be Affected By NJPW G-1 Climax Tournament

The commentary duo of Nigel McGuinness and Kevin Kelly was among the many bright spots in the premiere episode of "AEW Collision." In fact, even the likes of Eric Bischoff — who've routinely criticized Tony Khan's promotion — praised AEW for putting together the team of McGuinness and Kelly. Unfortunately, Bischoff and others who enjoyed AEW's new broadcast team won't get to hear the duo through the entirety of the summer.  

According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Kelly will miss at least a month of "Collision" tapings as he's already committed to being in Japan for the entire G-1 Climax tournament, which will take place from July 15 until August 13. The report suggested that Kelly is expected to rejoin McGuinness after the NJPW tourney, seeing as he's not due to be in Japan again until October for the King of Pro Wrestling show. According to Dave Meltzer, Kelly is also scheduled to work other NJPW shows in September and the year-ending tag team tournament, but those duties will be performed from a remote location, meaning he could still travel with the AEW crew to fulfill his "Collision" assignments.

It's unknown which announcer will substitute for Kelly during his time away, but the name of ROH announcer Ian Riccaboni has been floated as a possibility. Riccaboni typically pulls double duty for both ROH and NJPW, calling the action for NJPW Strong shows in the United States, besides doing the same for ROH Honor Club on a weekly basis. Meltzer concluded that the status of Kelly as a member of AEW's announcement team in 2024 has yet to be determined.

Tonight's Forbidden Door go-home episode of "Collision" will emanate from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The show will be headlined by a multi-man match pitting CMFTR & Ricky Starks against Bullet Club Gold & The Gunns.