Eric Bischoff Says This Aspect Of AEW Collision Was Biggest Improvement In 10 Years

The debut episode of "AEW Collision" got Eric Bischoff — an ardent critic of the upstart promotion — to view AEW programming in a different light, to the point where it "completely erased the last 12 months" of his opinion of AEW. As Bischoff plans to give AEW another shot, one of his selling points of the new Saturday show is the commentary duo of Nigel McGuinness and Kevin Kelly.

"I thought it was the freshest, most significant improvement, in any one element of an overall production that I've seen in probably 10 years," Bischoff said on "83 Weeks." "It was that good. Look, this is their first time out. Respectfully, they've had plenty of experience doing this, but together, on this show, live, and under the pressure of a new show, I thought to myself, 'I can't wait to hear them a month from now!'"

Bischoff then expounded on why McGuinness and Kelly would only get better in the coming weeks, arguing that they were not accustomed to calling the action — at least not together — for a nationally-televised show in the United States, and that such an experience would only improve their chemistry.  "Once they get their groove and rhythm together, point me to a better color and play-by-play team and I'll tell you that you're wrong," Bischoff stressed. 

The Hall of Famer also offered constructive criticism, hoping that Nigel and McGuiness would take his critique in stride. "There was a little bit of a tendency, for Kevin Kelly in particular, to do color commentary. Leave color to Nigel. Nigel's been in the ring, he can talk about his experience. Let Nigel bring us inside the mind of the talent in the ring."

Unfortunately, Bischoff and others who enjoyed the "Collision" commentary team would have to wait until after the summer for Kelly to return from his NJPW duties. It's unknown which announcer would substitute for Kelly during his time away.