Wrestling fans rejoice: There’s about to be more professional wrestling available on national television!
AEW announced Wednesday the not-so-secret news that the promotion will be airing a new television program Saturday nights on TNT, starting June 17 called “Collision.”
(With a pretty cool logo, too.)
Yes we all knew. Your momma and your cousin did, too. But that shouldn’t damper your celebration. More professional wrestling on major television is a win for the entire industry.
There was no word on a new television rights deal between the two sides, but having a conglomerate the level of Warner Bros. Discovery provide five hours of live TV on a weekly basis is a sign that they believe in what professional wrestling can bring to their company.
“We’re doubling-down on wrestling with ‘AEW: Collision,’ which gives fans two more hours every week,” Jason Sarlanis, President of Turner Networks, ID and HLN, linear and streaming, said in a press release. “AEW’s roster of talent has expanded so quickly that we felt it needed another night to bring our audience the epic rivalries, unforgettable matches and stars they love to watch.”
As Sarlanis alluded to, AEW’s roster is a big winner as well, as it means more television time for more wrestlers, which has been an ongoing issue for the promotion.
So yes, raise a glass for Tony Khan and the rest of AEW. The company has sold a bunch of tickets to a show in Wembley Stadium, will soon get its most notable star back in the fold, and added two more hours of television.
However, there will be some challenges ahead or as I’ll call “champagne problems.”
What’s a “champagne problem?”
Once upon a time, I worked for the Philadelphia Eagles, and I was with the team when they went to and won Super Bowl LII. But before all of that, we had to handle the very hectic business of securing our tickets, flights, and hotel accommodations for the game. Naturally, everyone you ever knew is also looking for tickets.
While this can be overwhelming, the team attempted to quell everyone’s anxiety by referring to it as a ‘champagne problem,’ as it is something the 30 teams not participating in the Super Bowl would gladly deal with.
The first among them for AEW is the night Collision will air: Saturday.
Yes, I know that Saturday is traditionally a great night for professional wrestling on television. I grew up primarily in the 1990s, but even I remember tuning into World Championship Wrestling at 6:05 p.m. on TBS on Saturday nights. For wrestling fans of a certain age, watching wrestling on Saturday was our introduction to the sport and entertainment hybrid.
But like professional wrestling itself, times have changed, and so have people’s viewing habits. Putting a major show on a Saturday in 2023 is a bigger risk now than it was during the 1980s. One thing AEW can be happy with is that it will pretty much have the night to itself during the summer outside of the occasional WWE premium live event and UFC pay-per-view — both of which will be more than happy to go head-to-head with AEW.
Once the summer ends, things will get even more challenging because of … other live sports on Saturday night! The conversation around weekly television ratings always somehow devolves into what kind of competition said program was up against. And while I typically dismiss those talks, I think this should be of legitimate concern for AEW.
That is because as summer turns to fall, college football takes over Saturday nights. And if you haven’t noticed, A LOT of people watch college football in the fall.
According to ESPN, “during the average regular season Saturday, 4 million viewers and 2.7 million P18-49 viewers were watching ABC or ESPN college football in the average minute in primetime.” That is just ESPN. CBS and Fox also air primetime college football game … on network television.
OK, college football doesn’t air year-round, so AEW will be fine once it ends, right? Well, maybe. Once college football is done on Saturday nights, in steps the NBA with its primetime games on ABC.
In theory, the NBA faces the same issue as AEW, but the Association attempts to rectify the tough viewing night with the best matchups the league has to offer. They then go out of their way to promote said matchups, along with the stars playing in the game.
AEW could also do the same thing, but wait, it won’t be able to because of the next challenge: a (rumored) brand split.
The NBA may be split into Eastern and Western conferences, but LeBron James and Steph Curry are not exclusive to any one network. Jon Moxley or Kenny Omega, on the other hand, will be. So yes, the brand extension will provide more opportunities for more wrestlers, but it will hamper AEW if it wants to “pop a rating” by adding a big name to the show.
I suppose AEW could always go the WWE route and say “screw it,” invent something silly like the “Wild Card Rule,” and have wrestlers pop up on any show on a complete whim, but that wouldn’t be fun at all. Would it? I feel like fans would collectively lambast AEW the same way they do WWE.
But at the end of the day, AEW can cross those bridges when it gets there. These are champagne problems after all — and every other wrestling promotion in the world outside of WWE would love to have them.