Backstage Update On Canceled Upcoming AEW Show In Columbus

The upcoming "AEW Collision" taping at Columbus, Ohio's Nationwide Arena has been canceled, according to a report by "Fightful Select." However, the city is still slated to host "Collision" around that date, just at a new, yet-to-be-disclosed location. The reason for the abrupt change has not been made public, but "Fightful Select" said AEW "had been working on a venue change as an interesting opportunity had come up. We're told AEW will be announcing it soon." The report also said that "Collision"'s original venue, Nationwide Arena, was instructed to hold off on notifying the public until a new location was announced, but with less than one month remaining, they've opted to post it on their official website.

Rumors are now swirling over this apparent new venue. Columbus' Nationwide Arena seats 20,000 people, and AEW has had problems selling tickets lately. No word on if the venue change is due to AEW's declining numbers, or if they've simply scored a more unique location. AEW drew roughly 50,000 fans for this year's All In at Wembley Stadium, but that was down roughly 20,000 from the same event at the same venue in 2023. Regular TV attendance hasn't come anywhere close to that. The decline continues even after AEW recently inked a lucrative new multi-year TV deal with Warner Brothers Discovery. 

It's not as if people are staying home to watch these shows, either. Television ratings have been trending downward, including the historically low rating for November 1's "AEW Rampage." "Rampage's" performance among the coveted 18-34 demographic was hyper-alarming, despite facing no direct competition from other sporting events.