| AEW Collision | |
|---|---|
 AEW Collision logo (2024–present) | |
| Genre | Professional wrestling |
| Created by | Tony Khan |
| Presented by |
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| Starring | AEW roster |
| Opening theme |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 120(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Tony Khan(Head of Creative) |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera setup |
| Running time | 120 minutes (including commercials) |
| Production company | All Elite Wrestling |
| Original release | |
| Network | TNT |
| Release | June 17, 2023 (2023-06-17) – present |
| Network | HBO Max |
| Release | January 4, 2025 (2025-01-04) – present |
| Related | |
AEW Collision, also known asSaturday Night Collision or simplyCollision, is an Americanprofessional wrestlingtelevision program produced by the AmericanpromotionAll Elite Wrestling (AEW). It airslive every Saturday at 8 p.m.Eastern Time (ET), with some exceptions, and issimulcast onTNT and the streaming serviceHBO Max. The show premiered on June 17, 2023, and is positioned as AEW's second main program behindWednesday Night Dynamite.
The show is AEW's third overall program to air on TNT afterDynamite, which aired on TNT from October 2019 to December 2021 before moving toTBS in January 2022, andFriday Night Rampage, which aired on TNT from August 2021 until its cancelation in December 2024. This subsequently makes it the fourth overall wrestling show in general to air on TNT, afterDynamite,Rampage, and the formerWorld Championship Wrestling's (WCW)Monday Nitro (1995–2001), as well as the first Saturday night program on aTed Turner network since the final episode ofWCW Saturday Night on June 24, 2000. Since January 4, 2025, the show has been simulcast on TNT and the streaming service HBO Max, airing live on the streaming platform regardless of the location from where the show is produced.
On February 15, 2023, the Americanprofessional wrestling promotionAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) filed to trademark the name "Collision", hinting at a possible new in-ring television series in addition to their other programs,AEW Dynamite onTBS andAEW Rampage onTNT.[1] Another trademark for the name was filed on April 28, leading to the belief that this would be the name of an upcoming Saturday television show.[2]
On May 17, 2023, AEW and broadcast partnerWarner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced a third weekly television show titledAEW Collision to airlive on TNT as a two-hour show on Saturdays starting June 17, 2023, at 8 p.m.Eastern Time (ET).[3] This was AEW's second weekly professional wrestling program to concurrently air on TNT afterRampage (which was cancelled in December 2024) and fourth overall wrestling show in general to air on TNT afterRampage,Dynamite (which aired on TNT from October 2019 to December 2021), and the formerWorld Championship Wrestling's (WCW)Monday Nitro (which aired on TNT from September 1995 to March 2001) and the first wrestling show in a Saturday night time slot to air on a network founded by Ted Turner since the end ofWCW Saturday Night on August 19, 2000.[4] It was also revealed that AEW's sister promotion,Ring of Honor (ROH), would move its tapings forROH Honor Club TV to coincide withCollision, with ROH's show being taped after the live broadcast ofCollision.[5]
In preparation for the debut ofCollision, AEW'sYouTube programs,AEW Dark andAEW Dark: Elevation, were canceled. This was due to an amended deal with WBD, in which all of AEW's programs would air exclusively on their channels.[6] It was also reported thatRampage would begin showcasing younger AEW wrestlers and unsignedindependent wrestlers, essentially becoming whatDark andElevation were for the company.[7]
Prior to the official announcement ofCollision, there had been speculation that the inaugural episode would be held at theUnited Center inChicago, Illinois. It was also speculated that it would feature the return ofCM Punk, as the United Center is where Punk had made his AEW debut for thesecond episode ofRampage in August 2021. Since September 2022, Punk had been inactive due to both an injury and also a suspension as a result of the legitimate backstage altercation that occurred during theAll Outpost-event media scrum. Following the announcement ofCollision, however, it was reported that there were still issues regarding Punk's return to AEW, with WBD denying his involvement with the show, but on May 24, 2023, it was reported that the issues had been settled.[8] AEW presidentTony Khan then confirmed that the first episode would be held at the United Center,[9] and feature the return of Punk to AEW.[10] Although Punk was brought back to be the centerpiece of the show, he would be fired that September after another legitimate backstage altercation that occurred atAll In.[11]
In speaking with the media on May 25 in promotion for AEW'sDouble or Nothingpay-per-view (PPV) that weekend, Khan clarified thatCollision was not part of a new or extended deal with WBD, and instead, it was added on to their current contract, with AEW receiving a monetary increase from WBD for the show. Khan also confirmed that WBD reached out to AEW with the opportunity for another show, and that it was WBD'sChief Executive OfficerDavid Zaslav's idea for there to be more AEW content on TNT.[12] It had also been speculated that with the addition ofCollision, AEW would do some form of a roster split, similar toWWE'sbrand extension, in which half of the roster would perform exclusively onDynamite while the other half would exclusively appear onCollision. In an appearance on theBarstool Rasslin' podcast on June 13, Khan said that there would not be a hard split where wrestlers would exclusively appear on only one program. Instead, he said some wrestlers would be featured exclusively on certain shows for a certain period of time, but there could be opportunities for storylines to cross betweenDynamite andCollision. He also confirmed that allAEW champions would continue to appear on all AEW programming.[13]
On June 16, a day beforeCollision's debut, Khan confirmed that the show's commentary team would consist ofKevin Kelly andNigel McGuinness, withJim Ross occasionally sitting in on main events.[14] On October 14,Tony Schiavone was confirmed to join the commentary team.[15] This remained until March 8, 2024, when Kelly's AEW contract was terminated.[16]
Beginning with the August 5, 2023, episode,Collision airs against WWE's monthly PPV andlivestreaming events, which are typically held on Saturdays at 8 p.m ET, starting withSummerSlam.[17] Additionally, due to AEW's pay-per-viewFull Gear being held on Saturday, November 18, 2023, that weekend's episode ofCollision was instead held the night before on Friday, November 17 at 8 p.m. ET,[18] which put it head-to-head against WWE's Friday night program,SmackDown.[19] AEW would later attempt to avoid counterprogramming against WWE's Saturday PPVs by airingCollision at an earlier time those days.[20]Collision aired live on Friday, September 6 alongsideRampage, a day beforeAll Out and competed again withSmackDown, which held its series finale onFox.[21] With the return ofSaturday Night's Main Event on December 14 airing onNBC andPeacock,Collision goes head-to-head with WWE's revived program when it airs.[22] To avoid counterprogramming against Night 1 of WWE'sWrestleMania 41 on Saturday, April 19, 2025,Collision aired live on Thursday, April 17, which was also the second part of theSpring BreakThru special.[23] On March 31, 2025,Dave Meltzer of theWrestling Observer Newsletter reported that going forward, AEW may continue to moveCollision off Saturday nights when WWE is running a Saturday show, noting that AEW and WBD were monitoring the situation.[24]
On occasion, AEW has not taped episodes ofCollision due to scheduling conflicts or have moved the shows earlier broadcasts to avoid a conflict with various TNT Sports events. For example, as a result of AEW's PPV event,Worlds End, being held duringCollision's Saturday night time slot on December 30, 2023,Collision was not held that week.[25] An episode ofCollision was also not held on March 23, 2024, due to theNCAA March Madness coverage occurring that night.[26] Currently, the conflicts are with March Madness (including the Final Four every other year),theNational Hockey League Stanley Cup Playoffs, and theNASCAR In-Season Tournament, where the show will air on a different date.
On October 2, 2024, AEW announced a new media rights deal with WBD, wherein AEW's television programsDynamite andCollision would besimulcast on WBD's streaming serviceMax and their respective television channels beginning in January 2025. The first broadcast ofCollision to simulcast on TNT and Max was on January 4, 2025.[27]
Starting withAll Out in September 2025, WBD began selling AEW pay-per-views on Max. As AEW's PPVs between September and December typically take place on Saturdays to avoidcounterprogramming theNFL – and specifically, the Khan-ownedJacksonville Jaguars –Collision on pay-per-view weeks is now split into two episodes to fulfil contractual obligations: a one-hour presentation immediately followingDynamite on Wednesday, andSaturday Tailgate Brawl, which airs immediately before the PPV on TNT and Max and serves as thepre-show for the pay-per-view.[28]
Since the start of AEW Collision simulcasting onHBO Max from the January 4, 2025 episode onward official tv ratings for the show's simulcast on Max has been unavailable.[31][32]
The wrestlers featured on All Elite Wrestling take part in scriptedfeuds andstorylines. Wrestlers are portrayed asheroes,villains, orless distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match.
The primary commentators for AEW Collision areTony Schiavone, andNigel McGuinness. Additional commentary has been provided byKevin Kelly,Jim Ross,Ian Riccaboni and others since its creation.
Since July 2024, Arkady Aura is Collision's lead ring announcer.
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