Initial Ticket Sales For AEW Collision Debut In Chicago

It has been over four years since AEW’s inception and the company has seen a lot of growth. The company recently announced AEW Collision, which will be debuting on June 17th, signalling the return of Saturday night shows. That said, it appears that the initial ticket sales for Collision’s debut in Chicago have been revealed.

AEW will hold the debut episode of Collision at the United Center in Chicago. While there has been no official announcement that CM Punk will be present during the show, all signs point toward him returning during the debut episode.

As previously reported, AEW Collision’s ticket sales have tanked so far and this has caused many people to worry about the show’s future even before it debuts next month.

According to Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the initial ticket sales for Collision’s debut in Chicago have been revealed to be 4,234 tickets. Meltzer also noted that it was doubtful the show was going to be a sellout like CM Punk’s return in Chicago back in August 2021.

“They had 4,234 tickets out at the United Center in the presale the next day. Because it was such a short turnaround, a number that on paper sounds disappointing, but probably shouldn’t be viewed as anything significant until after the public on-sale on 5/26 and maybe the end of the weekend.

I don’t know that anyone expected an instant sellout like in 2021 for Punk’s return with the playbook of never mentioning his name but with the word of mouth going around. At least for the first day, they tried that playbook again. It wasn’t going to be the reaction of the first time, but we should wait until next week to judge what it means.

For Chicago, the usual rule of thumb would be to run Wintrust Arena for shows that would draw 7,000 or less (most TV’s), NOW Arena for 9,000 to 10,000 (run as the traditional All Out arena) and because the United Center is so expensive, it shouldn’t be run unless you are looking at probably 12,000 or more. WWE runs the All-State Arena, which holds about 12,000 and they can sell that out for television and PPV, but still don’t move to the United Center because of the long standing relationship and cost effectiveness.”

Quite a few top talent will be part of AEW Collision, including the likes of FTR, Thunder Rosa, Andrade El Idolo and more. Only time will tell whether AEW Collision’s debut will end up becoming a success.

What’s your view on AEW Collision’s ticket sales? Do you think the show will become a sellout? Sound off in the comments!