Last week, All Elite Wrestling President Tony Khan announced that AEW: Collision’s debut episode will emanate live from The United Center in Chicago, IL on June 17. The announcement came on the heels of an announcement the week before announcing five of the six cities where Collision will be holding its first events from. Now, another AEW: Collision announcement, following last week’s announcement, and the announcement from the week before, will be announced tonight on Dynamite by Tony Khan.
“#AEW CEO & GM @TonyKhan will make an announcement about the debut of #AEWCollision TOMORROW on Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite LIVE from San Diego at 8pm ET/ 7pm CT on @tbsnetwork!” AEW tweeted out. “Don’t miss Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite on TBS live TOMORROW!”
Tonight’s announcement could be a few things. Notably, CM Punk has not been officially announced for the new series yet, despite all signs pointing towards him returning to promotion as part of the show. While many expect Punk’s return to be the worst-kept secret leading into his return, much like his debut on the second AEW: Rampage episode, it is possible Khan lets the cat out of the bag tonight, building more excitement for his new TNT property.
There is also the talk about AEW splitting their roster in two, creating distinct brands for Dynamite and Collision. If that is the case, Khan could announce that some kind of draft is on the horizon. Already announced for Collision are Samoa Joe, Thunder Rosa, Andrade El Idolo, Samoa Joe, and Powerhouse Hobbs. As mentioned before, Punk seems more than likely as well, and other names that haven’t received much air time, or have been off TV completely, could be added to that mix.
One name that is reportedly not expected to be backstage for the Collision tapings is Ace Steel. Steel is good friends with Punk, and had his back during the controversial AEW All Out locker room altercation. Following the brawl, everyone but Steel was suspended, and he was terminated. As we exclusively reported, Steel was re-hired by the company months ago with the idea that he would be brought back to work Collision tapings. That seems to have changed, and now it appears that Steel will be providing assistance remotely.