Update on future AEW vs. WWE Saturday night competition
Going forward, there could be less competition between AEW and WWE on Saturday nights.
The TNT schedule recently revealed that Collision will not be airing against the first night of WrestleMania 41. Instead, that week’s Collision will be broadcast live on Thursday, April 17. Dave Meltzer discussed the situation on Wrestling Observer Radio and noted that Warner Bros. Discovery and AEW are monitoring the possibility of having less AEW vs. WWE competition on Saturdays in the future.
Meltzer brought up Memorial Day weekend this May as another Saturday where Collision could be moved so that it does not air opposite WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event.
“I think the same thing is going to happen — I don’t know that this is as a fact, but the week of Memorial Day weekend, I think that they are going to run, instead of going head-to-head with Saturday Night’s Main Event, I think that they’re going to run on Thursday,” Meltzer said. “And the interesting thing here — I have not been told that, but I was told that they are monitoring the situations when it comes to Saturdays with WWE major shows, in particular Saturday Night’s Main Event, because TBS doesn’t want to go against a wrestling show on NBC, understandably so — or TNT doesn’t. And, you know, perhaps pay-per-views as well. Obviously they don’t want to go against WrestleMania. And also that week, there’s probably other commitments for TNT anyway.”
The April 17 episode of Collision is taking place live from the MGM Music Hall in Boston. Dynamite and Collision are being held at the venue on back-to-back nights with both shows being branded as special Sping BreakThru episodes.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.