Backstage News On AEW Splitting The Roster And Collision – As we’ve noted, the new AEW Collision show is expected to premiere on Saturday, June 17 from the United Center in Chicago, IL. The show is to feature the return of CM Punk.
The Wrestling Observer reports that in addition to Punk’s return, the Collision premiere is also expected to include the debut of another major name, or return.
Meltzer wrote, “The show, believed to be called AEW Collision, as noted last week, is expected to debut on 6/17 with a show from 8-10 p.m. Eastern, from the United Center in Chicago, which would also be the return of C.M. Punk along with what is expected to be either another major name debut or return.”
AEW Collision is expected to air from 8-10pm ET on TNT. As we’ve seen with other AEW programming, Collision will be preempted many times during the year due to sports coverage on the network. The premiere date of June 17 was chosen because there will be no Saturday NBA or NHL Playoff games after that point.
It’s believed that AEW Collision will be officially announced on or just before Wednesday, May 17, which is when the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfronts are scheduled to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
With Punk’s return, Collision will likely start out with decent numbers, like Rampage did, but long-term, the obvious goal is to not end up at the level Rampage is currently at. Dynamite drew around 450,000-650,000 viewers with a 0.20 key demo rating when it was moved to Saturday two years back due to sports coverage on Wednesdays, and this is when the show was available in 14% more homes and the Wednesday numbers were numbers were much higher, so it’s a much tougher night.
Regarding Rampage, it was confirmed that AEW will continue to air the one-hour show each Friday night, unless preempted to another night. If the idea is to do a roster split, with one group working Wednesday and another working Saturday, because Rampage is likely to be taped on Wednesday, then that would mean the show would predominately have the Wednesday night crew.
It was noted that the Saturday crew will be headed by Punk and AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR, while the Wednesday crew will be led by The Elite and The Blackpool Combat Club. Chris Jericho is rumored for the Saturday crew because Punk in particular will need a strong opponent, which could be one reason why the recent meeting with Jericho was arranged. Regarding the meeting, it took place on Friday, April 21 and the only thing new is that it “went well,” but no other details were provided. Jericho was not at this week’s TV tapings as his appearance was taped ahead of time.
Meltzer wrote, “If the idea is a talent split, with one group working Wednesday and another working Saturday, because Rampage is likely to be taped on Wednesday, that would mean it would have the Wednesday night crew predominately. The Saturday crew will be headed by Punk and FTR, and the Wednesday crew by The Elite and BCC.”
We noted earlier this week how it looks like AEW quietly ended their “Dark: Elevation” series. AEW still has not confirmed the status of the show, but The Observer notes that the future of Elevation and Dark is known to be a subject of discussion within the company.
Backstage News On AEW Splitting The Roster And Collision
