WWE’s plans for Worlds Collide have somehow gotten even messier. After word surfaced that the September 26 show was expected to stream live on YouTube, that idea now appears to be dead — with the event once again expected to be taped and released later.
Dave Meltzer addressed the situation in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, saying the WWE and AAA crossover event is currently set to be taped rather than broadcast live. That lines up with the original word that Worlds Collide was being treated more like a live event than a normal WWE television production, despite another update this week pointing toward YouTube.
Meltzer said the September 26 show is still WWE’s final major head-to-head event with AEW currently on the calendar, but fans watching from home apparently won’t be getting a live alternative to All Out.
“The last currently scheduled head-to-head battle with major promotions is the Chicago battle on 9/26 with AEW running a PPV and WWE running something live in the city, which will be taped, but is not scheduled to be broadcast live.”
The biggest clue may be sitting at the commentary desk — or more accurately, the fact that there apparently won’t be one. Meltzer said the AAA announcers are not scheduled to travel to Chicago. JBL previously revealed that he was initially asked to attend the show before being told the commentary team would instead record their work after the event.
“With two days to go, the only thing known is that the AAA announcers are not booked to be there as John Layfield said they were told they would record voice overs at a later date.”
That’s a pretty hard detail to square with the idea of a live YouTube broadcast. JBL’s comments had already raised eyebrows because even he admitted he wasn’t sure how fans were eventually going to see the show. Meltzer said the original plan called for Worlds Collide to air live, but something changed along the way.
“The show was originally to be broadcast live, and was being advertised hard on the AAA show and mentioned on others shows, presumably on YouTube. Why plans changed I have no idea.”
According to Meltzer, JBL had originally agreed to make the trip to Chicago before WWE changed course and told him the announcers would handle voiceovers after the show instead.
“Layfield had said he was first asked about coming to Chicago for the show and said okay, but this was a few weeks ago. Then he said he was told that they were going to voice it over after the show and release it in another form.”
That “another form” is where things get murky. Club WWE has been floated internally as one possible destination for the taped event, but Meltzer stressed that nothing has been finalized. WWE has also given no explanation for why a show that was initially expected to air live suddenly lost that plan.
“There has been speculation within the company of it being released as a special to Club WWE members, but nobody has said that as a definite, nor has anyone given a reason why the change.”
That is especially strange considering what WWE actually booked for the show. During the September 19 episode of AAA, Rey Mysterio revealed the complete Worlds Collide card, including CM Punk, Rey Mysterio and AAA Mega Champion El Grande Americano against Omos, Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh.
WWE didn’t exactly throw together a random house show lineup and call it a day. CM Punk is working, Rey Mysterio is working, the Lucha Brothers are involved, and the entire thing is happening in the Chicago market on the same night as AEW All Out. Meltzer questioned the strategy as well, especially because AEW already sold out its building and a free YouTube stream likely wouldn’t have put much of a dent in pay-per-view purchases anyway.
“Obviously, since the entire reason for the show was to hurt AEW’s PPV and live gate, I don’t know why things changed. It didn’t hurt AEW’s live sales since it’s sold out, and even if it was put on YouTube, it would have almost no affect on the PPV, since this strategy has been done over-and-over and in every case there doesn’t appear to have been any affect.”
So after days of conflicting information, we’re basically back where this whole thing started. Worlds Collide is expected to be filmed, the announcers are apparently doing their work afterward, and WWE still hasn’t told fans when or where they’ll actually be able to watch the loaded card.
With the show happening September 26, WWE is running out of road for another last-minute switch. At this point, the biggest mystery surrounding Worlds Collide isn’t who wins — it’s whether anyone sitting at home will get to see those wins anywhere close to when they happen.
What do you think WWE is doing with Worlds Collide, and would you still watch the show if it gets released days later instead of airing live? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments.
