Report: Backstage News On Why June 17 Was Selected For Debut Of AEW Collision

A new era of All Elite Wrestling began over the weekend as the promotion presented the debut episode of AEW Collision from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday, June 17.

The premiere has been widely praised so far, in particular CMFTR vs. Samoa Joe & Bullet Club Gold in CM Punk's return match, and Andrade El Idolo vs. Buddy Matthews. 

Talk of a new TV show on Saturday nights had been swirling for months before Collision was officially unveiled on May 17. According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, AEW decided to debut the show on June 17 as there were no key sports events on TV head-to-head with Collision. 

"The show was a good show. In that sense, it's a positive. I mean, if the show went and sucked, then you would go like, 'Oh, it was bad whatever.' Saturday's gonna be a very tough night over the long haul because of all the different forms of competition. There's gonna be almost every week and real bad in the fall and all that. They picked this week to debut because the key sports events are over and there's nothing for a couple of months, so they can build this audience until they know it's gonna be very, very tough once college football starts. So they wanted this...was a very strategic night to pick for the debut of this show," Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio.

Following the show's debut in Chicago, AEW Collision will head to Canada for the next four weeks, where ticket sales have been less than ideal so far. 

H/T to WrestlingNews.co