At today’s Warner Brothers Discovery Upfront 2023/2024, AEW: Collision was officially announced. The new, two-hour show will debut on June 17 and feature Thunder Rosa, Miro, Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs, Andrade El Idolo, and others. It will air on TNT, Saturday nights at 8 pm EST, and may stream on Max as well, or be available after. While it wasn’t explicitly addressed in the press release, or in the upfront, there was talk of WBD content airing on Max more frequently in that fashion. We will work to get clarity on that.
The announcement of Miro, Rosa, and Idolo is welcome to their fans, who have missed seeing them on TV. It is interesting to note that The Elite, Blackpool Combat Club, and other big names were not announced for the new show as there have been rumors of the roster being split between Dynamite and Collision.
Fightful is reporting that despite speculation AEW could be bound for a soft roster split, it looks like the split could be a bit more definitive. It now appears there will be a hard split of the roster between the two brands. It isn’t known if the talent will be split up in a draft, or by some other means of deciding who goes where. It was also noted that the AEW Champions will likely be exempt from the hard split, and there will be other exceptions from time to time.
One big name that was not announced as part of today’s WBD Upfront presentation was CM Punk. Rumors are still running wild in regard to The Second City Saint returning to the promotion, coinciding with the launch of Collision. It has previously been reported that the debut episode of Collision is expected to take place at the United Center on June 17, the now confirmed debut date for the show, and will be titled “The Second Coming.”
As it stands now, Rampage will likely film on the same day as Dynamite and Ring of Honor alongside Collision.