10 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Collision (June 24)

Downs...

4. A Slightly Laboured Opening Segment

The second episode of AEW Collision kicked off with Fozzy's Judas blaring out across the Scotiabank Arena, with Chris Jericho and Minoru Suzuki making their way out to the ring. For these Suzuki Gods, they demanded an answer as to who Sting and Darby Allin's mystery partner would be for Forbidden Door.

Tetsuya Naito is the person who'll be going up against Jericho, Suzuki and Sammy Guevara at tonight's PPV, and that's a great, logical choice. Unfortunately, this segment felt a little muddled and overstayed its welcome somewhat.

Jericho as the whining, entitled heel was expected, but the Ocho's diatribe bordered on repetitive before Sting and Darby cut him off. For Suzuki, he looked like he didn't particularly know why he was there, bar to do a fun handshake spot with his tag partner.

Another issue with this segment, is that Tony Schiavone showed barely any fear whatsoever when Chris Jericho placed Floyd - his baseball bat - at Schiavone's throat and threated to rough him up. This is a Chis Jericho who is an eight-time World Champion, with a 33-year in-ring career, and who is positioned as a sinister villain capable of carrying out despicable acts.

In short, Schiavone should've been bricking himself. Instead, he acted unbothered and still managed to belt out a "It's Stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!" once the Icon's music hit.

One particular positive of this segment, mind, was Darby Allin once again demonstrating an ever-improving game on the microphone. That's not to say Allin is MJF or anything, but he really starts to feel like he's finding his voice these days - which he again did here.