AEW Collision makes its big debut on TNT this Saturday, and when it finally hits the air it will boast a new Commentary team. Today AEW President Tony Khan revealed that Collision’s commentary team will feature Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness, and Jim Ross. Kelly has been a fixture of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, while McGuinness has been a part of Ring of Honor. Ross will be providing expert analysis for the new team, and he has been involved with Rampage after moving from Dynamite. Kelly revealed on Twitter that he will continue to work in New Japan, but will have a temporary fill-in for any dates that might conflict.
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One such example will be the G1, as when asked about it Kelly said “No ill have fill-in help for Collision while I’m in Japan for #G1CLIMAX33.” In the original announcement, Khan wrote, “#AEWCollision debuts TOMORROW NIGHT on @TNTdrama at 8pm ET/7pm CT at the @UnitedCenter in Chicago! We’re going to have a great announce team on Saturday Nights with your new weekly commentary team @realkevinkelly + @McGuinnessNigel, joined by expert analysis from legend @JRsBBQ!
Much of the attention surrounding AEW Collision is understandably surrounding CM Punk, who will be making his long-awaited return to AEW Television. Punk hasn’t been involved with AEW since All Out, and has already teased he has a lot to say in his AEW return. Today Punk gave an interview to ESPN ahead of Collision, where he touched on a host of topics, including his frustration at back-to-back injuries.
“I think, in wrestling, we always kind of joke how we always get hurt doing the dumb stuff,” Punk said. “Fall off a 15-foot ladder through a table and you’re fine and you’re running 6 miles the next day and you’re in the gym. And then it’s just always the dumb little things, like some routine thing that I’ve done a thousand times in my career, and it injures you. And then just the mental aspect of this recovery, it has not been easy. Luckily, I’ve got a really good support system, my wife [April Mendez, a three-time WWE divas champion under the moniker AJ Lee] and [dog] Larry, and I’ve got great friends and a super great rehab team that was able to get me back this quickly even though it doesn’t feel — it feels like it was 12 years ago.”
Punk also addressed what happened at All Out, apologizing to Khan for how he handled everything with Hangman Adam Page and the position he put Khan in after his comments during the scrum. “The first thing I said to Tony when I sat down with him and spoke to him after it was, ‘Man, I’m really sorry I put you in that position,’” Punk said. “I apologize for the scrum. But when you’ve watched that scrum, you’re looking at a very, very frustrated guy who had told people. That’s not the first time he heard all that. It’s not the first time lawyers were told all that. And I was just looking for something to be done and nothing got done.”
“So, if you want something done right, you got to do it yourself. And I just didn’t approach it in the right manner, but tension was high. I was very, very pissed. I pretty much knew that I had just injured myself again. I was hurt, and I was disappointed. Yeah, it’s very easy for me to say I regret that and I handled it the wrong way, 100%,” Punk said.
Punk will have plenty to say when Collision hits the air, and it all kicks off tomorrow night on TNT at 7 PM CST.
