6 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Collision: Holiday Bash (Dec 23 - Results & Review)
Downs...
3. Poor Timing, As Usual!
Hopefully, one of Tony Khan's new year resolutions is to sort out show formatting.
What was this all about? AEW cut to a picture-in-picture ad break right as Claudio Castagnoli walloped Bryan Danielson with a huge uppercut outside the ring. That was a pivotal moment in the match too, because it showed that Claudio (who was desperate to win) would attack Bryan's face/injured eye to get the job done.
Tony Schiavone had already thrown to commercials, so the commentary team fell silent for a few seconds. That led to an odd visual of Castagnoli steam-rolling his way in on Bryan and connecting right as the screen went double feature and muted the match audio. It was pretty amateur hour and just shouldn't be happening.
You absolutely cannot have major moments in an important match being ignored that way. It's frustrating for fans. Yes, commercial revenue is important to AEW too, but come on - it isn't much to ask that any pic-in-pic stuff steers clear of potentially wrecking the matches people tuned in to see.