As noted before, Warner Brothers Discovery’s Upfronts presentation this past Wednesday featured the official announcement of AEW’s new AEW Collision series. This new series is currently expected to feature a roster split and CM Punk’s upcoming return to AEW.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that AEW officials have yet to make an official decision if they will be doing a hard roster split or not for their Dynamite and Collision brands. Those same sources reportedly stated that AEW officials have been going back and forth on this idea and likely won’t make a decision until the day of Collision’s launch and possibly even after its launch depending on need, ratings, and other factors.
Meltzer reported that WBD officials were under the impression as of two weeks ago that there would be weeks where CM Punk would be on Collision and other weeks where he would be on Dynamite depending on AEW’s plans for him. For the weeks Punk is not on Collision, WBD officials are under the impression The Elite would be on those shows.
In regards to the broadcast plans for Collision, Meltzer reported that it is currently not known if Collision will air live on both the East and West Coast or be a staggered feed with live for the East and tape delayed for the West. Meltzer reported that the current belief is that Collision will be staggered similar to Dynamite and Rampage for most weeks. Meltzer also reported that it is currently not known how Collision will be broadcast internationally but the current belief is that it will air on FITE TV for international markets.