FINAL COUNT: AEW Collision [Centre Bell, Montreal, QC]

AEW Collision
Tue • Dec 05 • 7:30 PM
Centre Bell, Montreal, QC

Tickets Distributed => 2,852

I sought the opinion of TVA's fight analyst and coauthor of four wrestling books, Pat Laprade (who also attended the show and provided some pictures), on why this event struggled at the gate. He shared the following insights: 'AEW could have improved its publicity for the show in this market and should have started weeks ago. There was no buzz around the two shows at all. This sentiment has been echoed by many people involved in the media here. Additionally, the ticket prices were a concern for fans, especially with WWE hosting a cheaper show in the market in less than a month. These factors adversely affected both Collision and Dynamite, but the impact was greater on Collision, as this show is not generally broadcast on cable TV in Canada, but only on TSN’s streaming service.'

This situation is reminiscent of the shows in Hamilton, Ontario, where one event (Dynamite) performed decently, while the other fared poorly. The 'paid' figure is probably much lower than this 'distributed' count as well (for reference, the Collision in Hamilton had an estimated 3,840 tickets distributed, with a paid figure of 2,351 according to Pollstar). It raises the question: do the benefits of production savings from renting the arena on consecutive nights outweigh the drawbacks when one of the events draws poorly? I was initially skeptical about back-to-back shows in Montreal, especially before realizing the lack of coverage for Collision in the area. I still have many questions regarding the viability of Collision as a second weekly taping in such settings. Ultimately, the decision will hinge on the financial returns of the next TV deal.