How AEW Collision Will SOLVE Wrestling's Biggest Problem

AEW Collision will give Tony Khan the perfect opportunity to rectify THIS huge problem.

AEW Miro Thunder Rosa CM Punk FTR Cash Wheeler Dax Harwood
AEW

With AEW seemingly to expand its TV presence with the launch of AEW Collision next month, such an expansion brings with it an opportunity for growth, for change, and for offering a potential solution to certain problems within Tony Khan's promotion.

Of course, Collision is expected to usher in the return of CM Punk, which in itself would give AEW a major shot of star power. Yes, the Second City Saint is forever an opinion-splitting figure, but even the Punk haters cannot argue that the Chicagoan is a true main event act who brings more eyes to whatever he's involved in.

For AEW, if Punk does indeed make his return - a return that once looked like an impossibility - on Collision's premiere, the hope will be that the Voice of the Voiceless' presence will have the same sort of impact it had for his company debut on Rampage's famed First Dance offering; a debut that set record ratings for AEW's secondary show.

As well as facilitating the return of CM Punk, though, AEW Collision also has the potential to deal with one of All Elite Wrestling's other lingering issues. With that in mind, then, here's how this upcoming new Saturday show can help to solve AEW's biggest problem.

6. How Did We Get Here?

AEW Miro Thunder Rosa CM Punk FTR Cash Wheeler Dax Harwood
AEW

Upon launching in 2019, All Elite Wrestling obviously had to deal with the fact that the majority of the industry's true top tier players were contracted to other promotions.

Sure, this meant that mainstream star power was largely lacking once you took Chris Jericho and possibly the Elite out of the equation, but the silver lining of this was that AEW could shine a spotlight on the stars of tomorrow who had yet to be given a real chance by a WWE, a NJPW, or even an IMPACT Wrestling.

As such, Tony Khan and his crew scoured the independent and international scenes to sign up talents who had the potential to step up from relatively unknown indy darlings to become mainstays on a globally broadcast wrestling product. Names such as MJF and Darby Allin had mild experience of TV wrestling due to their time with a promotion like MLW, but so many of the initial AEW roster had zero experience of working in such an environment.

The point being, it was very much a 'learning on the job' time during the early days of AEW for so many of the grapplers contracted to Khan's company. Likewise, there was understandably a level of 'learning on the job' for TK himself, as reflected by how many talents were being signed by AEW in an almost trial and error type of experiment.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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 dayjob, 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, Jamie Hayer, 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.