AEW fans were surprised to see Ian Riccaboni on Collision this week. It was a nice change of pace, but there was a deeper reason for this behind the scenes.
Tony Schiavone, who is usually on the AEW Collision commentary table every week, had a big loss in his personal list. His dog passed away, so AEW arranged for Riccaboni to be there as a fill-in for the veteran play-by-play specialist.
Why Riccaboni was on AEW Collision
Ian Riccaboni was on AEW Collision this week, but it doesn’t appear that is a long-time change for the show. Tony Schiavone dealt with a big personal loss as his dog died, so that called for a change of plans for AEW.
During Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained what happened. It turns out that Tony Schiavone was at Collision anyway, but Riccaboni was brought in just in case.
“So, Ian Riccaboni was there. It’s not a permanent move for him to be there. What happened was, Tony Schiavone’s dog died, and best wishes to Tony Schiavone, really, really hard day for him, but he came, he was there. They didn’t know, but he was there. Tony could have certainly taken the day off and, you know, there would have been no heat. Because of that, they brought Ian up there.”
Meltzer went on to say that, “if Tony didn’t want to work, then Ian would be there, and lead the show.”
https://twitter.com/AEW_Blog/status/1774251113677570510
Kevin Kelly’s AEW Release
Kevin Kelly was released from AEW, but Ian Riccaboni will not be his full-time replacement. He only worked Collision this week because of Tony Schiavone, who is dealing with a terrible personal loss.
Kelly Kelly’s posts on social media several weeks ago cost him his job with AEW. In those posts, he also shaded Ian Riccaboni as he claimed his career was being sabotaged.
Our thoughts are with Tony Schiavone as he deals with the terrible person loss of losing a pet. They call dogs man’s best friend for a reason, and we hope that he can find peace through this difficult time.