AEW will have to deal with head-to-head competition with WWE SummerSlam this Saturday in the way of the pre-show, something they attempted to avoid.
The show has been moved to an earlier start time, from 5 pm to 7 pm ET on TNT. The promotion will tape the show on Thursday night at Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
WWE announced on Monday during Raw that SummerSlam will have a three-hour pre-show starting at 4 p.m. ET, while the main card starts at 7 p.m. ET. While speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that AEW had originally planned to air the show on Friday night to avoid the SummerSlam competition, but plans changed.
Meltzer said, “They moved Collision to not go head-to-head, that’s why it’s on at 5 o’clock. I had thought they were going to put Collision on Friday night, which at one point was the plan. That’s why they’re taping on Thursday this week. For whatever reason…they’re not going to do a good number for Collision. It’s gonna be brutal between SummerSlam and the Olympics. It’s gonna be real, real tough for Collision this week.”
Whenever Collision goes up against WWE PLE competition, it takes a big hit in the ratings regardless of whether it’s head-to-head or airs hours later after an afternoon WWE show.
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