Hulk Hogan Tribute Becomes AEW’s Top Collision Video by Huge Margin

AEW might’ve stayed silent on Hulk Hogan’s death longer than most fans expected, but when the company finally spoke up, the payoff was massive—at least online.

After days of backlash over AEW and Tony Khan refusing to issue any public tribute following Hogan’s July 24 passing, it was veteran announcer Tony Schiavone who broke the silence during the July 26 episode of AEW Collision. And now, the clip is blowing up across AEW’s official platforms.

AEW uploaded the tribute to YouTube—and in just nine hours, it pulled in a whopping 187,000 views. To put that in perspective, the next closest video from Collision was Anthony Bowens’ match response video, sitting at 59,000 views. That’s a difference of 128,000 views, or a 218% jump from the second-most-watched clip. The other Collision videos from the night include:

• Collision Highlights in 8 Minutes: 17K
• Toni Storm saves Alex Windsor: 54K
• Nick Wayne & Kip Sabian vs. AR Fox & Angelico: 29K
• Kris Statlander demands a thank you: 20K
• Triangle of Madness debut: 41K
• Big Stoke solo promo: 16K
• $400K Tag Match highlights: 21K
• Bang Bang Gang win tag match: 46K
• Dustin Rhodes issues challenge: 28K
• Dustin vs. Moriarty TNT Title match: 41K
• Anthony Bowens vs. Max Caster segment: 59K

Schiavone’s speech aired following the opening match and was the first time anyone from AEW publicly addressed the loss of the WWE Hall of Famer.

“It was quite a week for all of us who have been in professional wrestling for a long time with the unexpected death of Hulk Hogan. Hulk Hogan was the man who brought professional wrestling into the mainstream in the 80s and in the 90s, right here on this network, right here on TNT almost 30 years ago.”

He went on to honor Hogan’s family and the pain behind the headlines.

“Sometimes we… forget that they are just like us, human. And we forget they have families that care about them. Our condolences go out to Hulk’s family, his children Brooke and Nick, his wife Sky… From all of us here at All Elite Wrestling. RIP brother.”

Fans are split on whether AEW deserves praise for finally addressing Hogan’s passing—or criticism for waiting until public pressure forced their hand. Tony Khan has still made no direct comment.