Backstage News on Kevin Kelly’s NJPW Status After Joining AEW Collision Commentary Team

Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness called their first show back together as an announce team on Saturday night with the premiere of AEW Collision from Chicago, IL, with the main event of CM Punk & FTR going over Jay White, Juice Robinson & Samoa Joe.

There has been some speculation as to what this new AEW role means for Kelly’s status with NJPW, as he has been the English commentator for them on NJPW World for the past few years.

While speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer provided an update on Kelly’s status with AEW and NJPW.

Bryan Alvarez: “Kevin Kelly and Nigel opened up the show."

Meltzer: “Kevin, good, good hire."

Alvarez: “Kevin Kelly is gonna be a regular except for I guess during the G1 [Tournament].”

Meltzer: “He's got, he's going to Japan from mid-July to mid-August, so he won't be around then. And then he's gonna get, he's doing at least one more Japan show, but I think it's like a one-shot. So I don't know if that's gonna mean missing a show, but AEW and New Japan, you know, they have good relations, so Tony's not gonna like, do something where, you know, it's like he can't go anymore. But as far as long term, I don't know what the situation is, but, Kevin Kelly is def is, is, is committed from what I understand to New Japan, at least through the end of the year. And he's gonna be calling the tag team tournament, but, from home, which means that he probably can go to all the AEW shows. So I think there's probably just the G1 one stuff that where he'd be missing and maybe, maybe one other show, maybe even not one other show. Depending on if that show was a weekend show, which it probably is. So it is probably one other show in whatever the big fall show would be, whatever it is. September, October, they're gonna do like a big one, you know, whether it's Autumn Attack or whatever the show is gonna be, that he's committed to going there for that.”

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