On May 17th, Tony Khan made one of the most poorly kept secrets in pro wrestling official when he announced that AEW Collision would launch on June 17th.
The live two-hour show will air every Saturday night from 8-10pm Eastern on TNT.
The announcement also saw the unveiling of the logo for the new show, which bears a striking resemblance to the old WCW Nitro from the 1990s.
The AEW Collision logo is an homage to the WCW Nitro logo pic.twitter.com/A6jnRj507z
— AFW (@AllFNWrestling) May 17, 2023
Fans weren’t the only people to notice the homage, with former WCW President Eric Bischoff now giving his thoughts on the move.
Eric Bischoff gives his opinion on the Collision logo
Bischoff was in charge of WCW while the logo was in use, and on the latest edition of his Strictly Business podcast, he addressed the comparison, initially calling it a “rip-off.”
“Allusion is a good word, [but] I say rip-off is a better one.”
However, he also admitted the branding put a smile on his face.
“The truth is like it put a smile on my face and I guess imitation is a sincere form of flattery.”
Despite this, Easy E derided the decision, saying it isn’t a “creative strategy” and makes it hard to see how AEW is differentiating itself from WWE.
“There’s not a creative strategy that would allow AEW to execute on the mission of being different than WWE.
“They may have more blood, [but] that’s about the only thing I can think of that really distinguishes in a meaningful way.
“You want to really evolve the product, whether it be in the format, how the show was shot, the way promos are treated, the way stories are told, [or] production values.
“All of those things have to fit together, but at the core of that there has to be a vision that says this is what’s going to make us stand out and this is why we’re different and I just don’t see it.”
Collision is widely expected to see the much-anticipated return of CM Punk to the company, but in recent days that has become less of a certainty as the deal has hit a stumbling block.
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the above transcription.