Tonight is the debut of AEW’s new weekly 2-hour TV show Collision on TNT at 8/7C from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
AEW CEO, President and General Manager took to Twitter on Friday, revealing the commentary team for Collision.
Khan has announced that Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuiness and Jim Ross will be the weekly announce team for Collision.
Collision debuts tonight, live on TNT, beginning at 8:00 pm ET.
AEW President Tony Khan took to Twitter on Friday to announce that he’s licensed the music for Elton John’s 1973 hit “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.” The song will serve as the official theme song for AEW Collision.
As we previously reported here on eWn, Tony Khan also announced that Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness will be doing commentary for AEW Collision with analysis from Jim Ross.
Khan wrote,
“It’s official!
Our opening theme for Saturday Night #AEWCollision on TNT is
Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting by Sir Elton John!
While @FulhamFC and @WatfordFC will never be best mates on the pitch, you’re now a great friend to @AEW, @eltonofficial, and we salute you, Sir!”
Source: eWn
Tony Khan took to the TBS airwaves during Wednesday night’s “Dynamite” to announce that former AEW World Champion CM Punk will indeed be featured on the “Collision” debut on June 17 at the United Center in Punk’s hometown of Chicago, Illinois. The announcement was met with a mix of cheers and boos from the live crowd in San Diego, California.
Tony Khan Confirms CM Punk Return For AEW Collision Debut
Vivien Killilea/Getty Images
BY ROSS W BERMAN IV/UPDATED: MAY 31, 2023 9:19 PM EST
With “AEW Collision” on the horizon, one question has lingered in the minds of AEW fans, when will CM Punk return to the company?
Tony Khan took to the TBS airwaves during Wednesday night’s “Dynamite” to announce that the former AEW World Champion will be featured on the “Collision” debut on June 17 at the United Center in Punk’s hometown of Chicago, Illinois. The announcement was met with a mix of cheers and boos from the live crowd in San Diego, California.
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Punk had long been rumored as returning to the company, with his difficulties with some members of the locker room creating the necessity for “Collision” and what is rumored to be a roster split for AEW. Khan had been tight-lipped about Punk’s possible return, even as he continued to tout the “Collision” premiere. The announcement that the show would take place in Chicago’s United Center, the location of Punk’s AEW debut, further fed the speculation that Punk would be returning to action.
“AEW Collision” will air on Saturday nights at 8 PM ET on TNT and run two hours, making it the second major show for AEW behind its flagship program “Dynamite.”
Punk has not been on AEW programming since his infamous tirade after AEW All Out in September of last year that led to a backstage brawl between Punk, Kenny Omega, Matt and Nick Jackson, Punk’s friend and trainer Ace Steel, members of the AEW talent relations staff, and Punk’s dog Larry. Omega recently downplayed rumors of animosity, seemingly making light of the situation during his feud with the Blackpool Combat Club.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
With Collision set to debut next month, will AEW split its roster between their new show and Dynamite?
AEW‘s newest weekly show, a two-hour Saturday series called Collision, is set to begin next month, June 17, from the United Center at Chicago. Much of the conversation has been about whether CM Punk will be there (the location announcement seems to confirm that he will be), but there’s perhaps an even bigger topic to be addressed for the company’s long term future.
In a media call in the lead up to this week’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view, Tony Khan spoke about Collision and addressed rumors that AEW would be doing a brand split between Dynamite and Collision, similar to what WWE does with Raw and SmackDown. “I haven’t given a lengthy explanation yet for what I’m planning regarding the future of the roster and how people will be allocated across Dynamite and Collision and our other shows. It’s a great question, certainly. I can see why wrestling fans all over the world would be interested and curious about that. That’s frankly by design that we want to build that curiosity in and get people wondering exactly what you’re asking, ‘what’s the future of the AEW roster, and what does this all mean going forward after Double or Nothing?’ It’s a really good question and something we’ll be excited to follow up on.” (h/t Fightful)
Source: TheSportster
We have some new updates pertaining to the ongoing situation between CM Punk and All Elite Wrestling.
In recent months, both AEW and CM Punk have been in talks about continuing to work together. While a verbal agreement had reportedly been reached, there was an issue that arose last week over the fact that while Ace Steel would be able to work for AEW again, he would not be allowed to attend the live TV tapings for Collision. This didn’t sit well with CM Punk.
According to a report from Fightful Select, AEW and CM Punk have continued their talks over the past week. The conversations were said to have been “productive” and the feeling is that he’ll be appearing on AEW Collision on June 17.
While there were rumors that CM Punk was recently served with legal papers, it has been confirmed that several documents were sent to Punk to be signed over the last week. The legal papers reportedly involve certain subjects, disparagement clauses, and to make sure that Punk makes all of his scheduled TV dates. While not confirmed, it doesn’t appear the papers were legal “threats.” They simply protect AEW in the event that any issues come up moving forward.
As far as the location for the debut episode of AEW Collision is concerned, the United Center in Chicago, IL was still being discussed as of last week. It was noted that while Daily’s Place has been discussed as a backup location, there are other places besides the United Center and Daily’s Place being talked about.
As of this writing, the talent who will be working the debut episode of AEW Collision have not been given their travel itineraries.
Source: eWn
AEW Collision will premiere on June 17 on TNT as a two-hour program. AEW President Tony Khan will announce the location of the first episode this Wednesday on Dynamite.
It was believed to be in Chicago at the United Center, but if they don’t work things out with CM Punk for him to return on the show, they will go to Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL.
Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that AEW is off to a rough start with selling tickets to the Collision shows as none of them have sold out and is in a challenging situation with these being the first events of a show that is about to launch.
Here is AEW’s updated touring schedule:
AEW Dynamite/Rampage: May 24 – MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
AEW Double or Nothing: May 28 – T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
AEW Dynamite/Rampage: May 31 – Viejas Arena in San Diego, CA
AEW House Rules: Friday, June 2 – Cadence Bank Arena in Tupelo, Mississippi
AEW Dynamite/Rampage: May 24 – MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
AEW Double or Nothing: May 28 – T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
AEW Dynamite/Rampage: May 31 – Viejas Arena in San Diego, CA
AEW House Rules: Friday, June 2 – Cadence Bank Arena in Tupelo, Mississippi
AEW House Rules: Saturday, June 3 – Von Braun Center Propst Arena in Huntsville, Alabama
AEW Dynamite/Rampage: Wednesday, June 7 – Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, CO
AEW Dynamite/Rampage: Wednesday, June 14 -Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
AEW Collision: Saturday, June 17 – TBD
AEW Dynamite/Rampage: Wednesday, June 21 – Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL
AEW Collision: Saturday, June 24 – Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
AEW Forbidden Door: Sunday, June 25 – Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
AEW Dynamite/Rampage: Wednesday, June 28 – FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario
AEW Collision: Thursday, June 29 – FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
AEW Dynamite/Rampage: Wednesday, July 5 – Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta
AEW Collision: Saturday, July 8 – Brandt Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
AEW Dynamite: Wednesday, July 12 – SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
AEW Collision: Saturday, July 15 – Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
AEW Dynamite/Rampage: Wednesday, July 19 – TD Garden in Boston, MA
AEW Collision: Saturday, July 22 – Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey
AEW All In PPV: Sunday, August 27 – London, England at the Wembley Stadium
Source: eWn
AEW issued the following regarding the launch of AEW Collision:
TNT LAUNCHES A SECOND NIGHT OF WRESTLING WITH “AEW: COLLISION” FEATURING HEADLINERS THUNDER ROSA, MIRO, SAMOA JOE, POWERHOUSE HOBBS AND ANDRADE EL IDOLO ON SATURDAY, JUNE 17
NEW YORK (May 17, 2023) – TNT launches a second night of professional wrestling with a new tentpole series, “AEW: Collision” on Saturday, June 17, it was announced today by Kathleen Finch, Chairman and Chief Content Officer, US Networks Group, Warner Bros. Discovery, during the company’s 2023 Upfront presentation at Madison Square Garden in New York City. This live, two-hour, in-ring show will air every Saturday night from 8-10 p.m. ET and feature more wrestlers, more stories and more action to super-serve fans. “AEW: Collision” will feature headliners including Miro, Samoa Joe, Thunder Rosa, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Andrade El Idolo.
In only four years following the launch of “AEW: Dynamite,” AEW’s footprint has more than doubled across TNT and TBS. Along with “AEW: Dynamite,” Friday night’s “AEW: Rampage,” the recent follow-doc “AEW: All Access,” and now “AEW: Collision,” TNT and TBS deliver the best matches and most entertaining moments in professional wrestling today. AEW has reached 23M total viewers so far this year across all of its shows on TBS and TNT.*
“We’re doubling-down on wrestling with ‘AEW: Collision,’ which gives fans two more hours every week,” said Jason Sarlanis, President, Turner Networks, ID and HLN, linear & streaming. “AEW’s roster of talent has expanded so quickly that we felt it needed another night to bring our audience the epic rivalries, unforgettable matches and stars they love to watch. Adding ‘Collision’ to our programming mix on TNT will allow us to satisfy the massive demand we’ve felt from our hardcore fanbase and be the ultimate complement to ‘AEW: Dynamite’ on TBS.”
“With the addition of ‘AEW: Collision’ on TNT, I’m extremely proud that a Turner network will be the home of Saturday night wrestling for the first time in more than two decades,” said Tony Khan, CEO, GM and Head of Creative of AEW. “The debut of ‘Collision’ is significant across numerous sectors including television, wrestling, entertainment and sports, and reinforces AEW as the bold property we envisioned when we launched in 2019. ‘Collision’ will deliver live every Saturday night more of what fans and viewers tell us they want – athleticism, big personalities, exciting storylines and hard-hitting wrestling action, all of which have become synonymous with AEW.”
About TNT
TNT, a Warner Bros. Discovery brand, is Cable’s #1 entertainment network, known for big, lean-forward television that takes viewers on a thrill ride of electrifying stories, dynamic characters and premium events. TNT is home to some of television’s most popular sports franchises and unscripted and scripted originals including “AEW: Rampage,” “AEW: Collision,” “Rich & Shameless,” and “The Lazarus Project”. TNT also presents primetime specials and sports coverage, including the NHL, NBA and NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championships. Website: www.tntdrama.com
About AEW
Founded by CEO, GM and Head of Creative Tony Khan in 2019, AEW is offering an alternative to mainstream wrestling, with a roster of world-class talent that is injecting new spirit, freshness and energy into the industry. “AEW: Dynamite” airs every Wednesday from 8-10 p.m. ET on TBS and attracts the youngest wrestling audience on television. The fight-forward “AEW: Rampage” airs every Friday from 10-11 p.m. ET on TNT, and the new “AEW: Collision” airs every Saturday from 8-10 p.m. ET on TNT. AEW’s multi-platform content also includes “Being the Elite,” a weekly behind-the-scenes YouTube series, and “AEW Unrestricted,” a weekly podcast series. For more info, check out Twitter.com/AEW; Instagram.com/AEW; YouTube.com/AEW; Facebook.com/AEW
New Report Casts Doubt On AEW Instituting Hard WWE-Style Brand Split With Collision
Despite an earlier report stating that some talent in AEW were under the belief that the company would be instituting a “firm” brand split in the near future, Mike Johnson of PWInsider Elite is reporting that’s not the case. Instead, some talent are said to be exclusive to the newly-announced “AEW Collision” on Saturday nights while others stay on “AEW Dynamite,” and many will float between both shows based on storyline needs. A hard brand split between “Dynamite” and “Collision” was reportedly never even under consideration.
Sources: eWrestlingNews and Wrestling Inc.
AEW will launch Collision on June 17th, 2023 with it airing on TNT as a two-hour program airing every Saturday night.
It will be built around CM Punk as a way to separate him from those who have issues with him and vice versa dating back to the All Out incidents.
Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that The Elite will remain on Dynamite while Punk and FTR will be used on Collision.
“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,” Meltzer wrote.
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