AEW No Longer Going Head-To-Head With John Cena's Last WWE Match (AEW News)

AEW Collision will air at 4:30pm EST on 13 December.

by Andrew Pollard
John Cena Tony Khan
WWE/AEW

With the holiday season soon upon us, AEW's weekly programming is set to undergo a little bit of a change-up for a few weeks next month. And in what is certainly a beneficial move, part of this change-up now means that AEW won't be going directly head-to-head with John Cena's retirement match.

Warner Bros. Discovery has released its December schedule for HBO Max, giving wrestling fans a look at AEW's schedule for that period due to the nature of AEW programming being simulcast on TBS and TNT.

The first AEW broadcast impacted by these changes is the 13 December edition of Collision, which takes place from Cardiff, Wales. Rather than its usual 8pm EST start time, that Collision episode will instead air at 4:30pm EST, meaning it will avoid WWE Saturday Night's Main Event, which will feature the final match of John Cena's legendary career and is almost guaranteed to draw a strong number.

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Taped from Manchester, England earlier that day, Wednesday 17 December will have a triple whammy of AEW programming, with Dynamite at 8pm EST, Collision at 10pm EST, and the Worlds End countdown show at 11pm EST. There is also another Collision set for Saturday 20 December, which will start at 2:30pm EST.

Christmas Eve - which falls on a Wednesday this year - will be the annual Dynamite on 34th Street, starting at 6pm EST, and Christmas Collision will start at 9pm on Christmas Day. The New Year's Smash edition of AEW Dynamite will revert to its usual 8pm EST on New Year's Eve.

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This WBD press release also promises that 19 December will see the addition of "more AEW Dynamite, Rampage and Battle of the Belts from 2022" added to HBO Max.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.