Although they tried to avoid it, AEW will be faced with direct competition from WWE SummerSlam this Saturday in the form of the pre-show.
The show will begin earlier, from 5 to 7 p.m. ET on TNT. The show will be taped on Thursday night at Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
WWE announced on Monday’s Raw that SummerSlam will feature a three-hour pre-show beginning at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the main card at 7 p.m. ET. While speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer stated that AEW had planned to air the show on Friday night to avoid the SummerSlam competition, but plans changed.
Meltzer stated, “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 competes against WWE PLE, it suffers a significant ratings drop, regardless of whether it is head-to-head or airs hours later after an afternoon WWE show.
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
