This past Saturday night, AEW presented its latest episode of Collision, taking place from the Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, PA. According to WrestleTix, the venue was equipped to seat 2,474 fans and only fell short of that goal by 216 tickets. The source for all things pro wrestling attendance numbers added later that based on photos they gathered from the event, they estimated there were likely closer to 1,700 to 1,800 fans.
On today’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed that he has received negative feedback about AEW from people “in and around” the promotion. One of the reasons for the negativity given to him was the poor crowd they drew for Collision this past weekend. It was noted that the company is currently grossing a lot of money, but many still question how much profit is being made.
The promotion vying for the title of number one in the industry was also brought up as a sticking point. At the moment, WWE is drawing very strong attendance and viewership numbers, and the distance between the two companies in those areas is more than it was eighteen months ago. At the moment, AEW’s upcoming Worlds End PPV in Nassau appears to be their only show with noticeably strong advance sales.
This report comes as The Young Bucks are off TV, reportedly getting ready to return as a heel faction leaning into how some perceive them publicly. The perception they are playing into seems to be that they abuse their power to protect their friends and run off others they do not like, like CM Punk. It sounds as if their long-time friends Brandon Cutler and Colt Cabana, who was at the center of a lot of the Punk drama, will be joining them.
This report will be discussed on today’s episode of Rumor & Innuendo. Rumor & Innuendo, hosted by myself and Karpeles, is now available on the Haus of Wrestling, Ad Free Shows, and Rumor & Innuendo YouTube channels, as well as the Rumor & Innuendo podcast feed.
New Rumor & Innuendo episodes stream live Monday through Friday at Noon EST on the above YouTube channels and the following X accounts: @WWECreative_ish, @WrestlingHaus, @Nick_Hausman, @adfreeshows, and @rumorinpod.