Worlds Collide will not air live, WWE confirmed yesterday. The show is set for Saturday, September 26, at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, but it will not reach the company’s official YouTube channel until Wednesday, September 30.
The decision, however, was a strategic move aimed at AEW. According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, WWE wanted to keep Worlds Collide available only to fans attending in person, in an effort to reduce demand for All Out tickets. AEW is running that show the same night, also in the Chicago area.
Sapp summed up the thinking inside WWE this way.
“We want to make this only available live that way, less people will buy tickets to All Out.”
WrestleVotes Radio had reported on September 10 that WWE’s planned 8 p.m. ET start time for Worlds Collide was a deliberate choice, meant to put the show in direct competition with AEW’s pay-per-view.
Even so, All Out sold out NOW Arena. According to the latest numbers from WrestleTix, 9,322 tickets have been distributed for the AEW show, compared with 12,629 for Worlds Collide at Allstate Arena, which is configured for more seats.
In the United States, All Out will air live at 8 p.m. ET on HBO Max, as well as through DIRECTV and traditional pay-per-view providers. Worlds Collide, by contrast, will not be available until four days later, when it streams on YouTube with English and Spanish commentary.