Disaster For AEW Collision (AEW News)

Major problems for those who tuned in live for AEW Collision.

by Andrew Pollard
Tony Khan AEW Collision Max
AEW/Max

For those AEW fans who tuned in live for AEW Collision last night, they unfortunately only got part of what they bargained for.

Unfortunately for those watching TNT on the East Coast, Collision was cut short, ending after 90 minutes despite being scheduled as the regular two-hour broadcast. This was not planned, this was not intended to be a 90-minute show, and AEW President Tony Khan was quick to take to X with an apology, citing "technical issues with the transmission" of this latest episode and noting how Collision would air in full on the West Coast.

In a somewhat ironic piece of coincidence, the programming that took over from Collision after it was abruptly ended... why, that would be the Dwayne Johnson-starring Black Adam. As some fans joked on social media, not only did The Rock ruin WrestleMania 41, but he'd now ruined AEW Collision.

To make matters worse for AEW, the subsequent West Coast broadcast of Collision ran into the exact same problem, ending 30 minutes early as Black Adam aired.

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The full episode has since been made available for TNT viewers and on the Max streaming service, with Tony Khan giving the following update on X.

In terms of what the live audience missed, that was Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara vs. Lio Rush and Action Andretti, and a main event of Powerhouse Hobbs taking on Wheeler Yuta.

As of this writing, there have been no further updates on the specifics of the technical issues impacting this Collision broadcast, but this likely marks the biggest broadcast issue in AEW's history. While there were the standard, expected early teething production problems for AEW during the company's infancy, such audio and video issues have largely been ironed out by this point in time. But having a show end 30 minutes early? That's clearly a major problem.

Considering this latest Collision was taped on Wednesday, it seems that this is a TNT problem rather than an AEW one, but that still doesn't take away from the fact that those tuning in live last night were left frustrated and disappointed - not least in how the god-awful Black Adam was the programming that cut Collision off.

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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.