Despite CM Punk’s return being official, AEW Collision ticket sales for the new show’s first round of events have gone very poorly.
A couple of weeks ago, AEW CEO Tony Khan finally confirmed what had been rumored for months, and the promotion would have a new weekly show on Saturday nights. However, rumblings claimed CM Punk would be the face of the show and that would be revealed alongside the announcement of its debut. However, that did not happen.
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AEW and CM Punk reportedly had more issues to iron out before making a return from suspension and that eventually just occurred in recent weeks. That is why the company boss revealed on a recent edition of Dynamite that the WWE legend would indeed make his return for the first episode of AEW Collision set for June 17 in Chicago, Illinois.
Only 700 AEW Collision tickets have been sold for event in Hamiltion, Ontario
Before the announcement, AEW Collision ticket sales for the event inside the United Center had reportedly struggled and weren’t even near half the capacity for the over 20,000-seat venue. Some speculated that the Chicago native could boost sales as he did for previous events in his hometown. Yet, that has been far from the case two weeks after the announcement.
The event has reportedly sold just 8,000 tickets and only 1,000 of them came following the CM Punk reveal. On a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, industry insider Dave Meltzer revealed that AEW Collision ticket sales beyond the debut episode have been even worse.
Meltzer alleges that the AEW Collision set June 24 has sold less than 2,000 tickets despite the venue having a sellout for AEW/NJPW – Forbidden Door the following night. While the July 5 Dynamite in Edmonton is expected to deliver solid sales in the region, the episode of Collision the week before in Hamilton has only sold a shocking 700 tickets.
Editions of AEW Collision in the following weeks in Regina and Calgary are also reportedly “struggling.”
This is certainly a bad sign for AEW and furthers a trend where outside of big events — i.e.; Forbidden Door — AEW events have seen a decline in numbers following debuts in many cities around North America.
