If 2025 has taught us anything, it’s that AEW’s Collision might be the most strategic show on TV—and not just because it airs with more sidesteps than a Young Bucks match. Thanks to a little thing called “lead-in magic,” AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) are now game-planning like fantasy football managers with a grudge.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, AEW’s recent ratings spike—including that one-million-viewer moment following NBA All-Star Weekend—isn’t a fluke. It’s a test. A test that passed with flying steel chairs.
The two-night Slam Dunk edition of Collision (March 22 & 23) delivered the show’s highest average ratings since December 2024, further proving that TNT’s sports buffet can provide a tasty appetizer for a good ol’ fashioned headlock.
And now? The big brains at WBD and AEW are reportedly drawing up a preemption playbook to ride this ratings wave straight through 2025. That means Collision could either be:
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Moved to another night (because, you know, NHL playoffs)
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Or used as a post-game chaos chaser after NBA, NHL, NASCAR, or even major soccer matches
Case in point:
🗓️ June 18 – NASCAR’s Quaker State 400 takes over Collision’s usual slot on TNT
🛞 AEW could follow that race with a turbo-charged episode (think: suplexes after speedways), but that hasn’t been officially confirmed yet.
With NBA, NHL, NCAA, FIFA Club World Cup, and Tony Khan’s own booking battles all clogging the calendar, flexibility is the name of the game. And WBD reportedly sees Collision as a top-tier asset—enough so that conversations have even taken place about possibly running it head-to-head with WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event in the future.
Sure, it’s unconfirmed. But the fact those words were spoken aloud in a boardroom says a lot.
One thing’s clear: AEW isn’t just reacting to scheduling conflicts anymore. They’re weaponizing them. And if that means more surprise million-viewer segments after slam dunks, penalty shots, and photo finishes?
We’ll call that a Collision course worth staying up for.