The final stop before the AEW Dynasty pay-per-view, the April 11 edition of “AEW Collision,” grew in both viewership and ratings. 

The average viewership for the shop rose to 423,000 viewers, as compared to the 373,000 viewers the previous week (April 2), according to “Programming Insider.” It should be noted, however, that the April 2 edition of “Collision” didn’t air in its usual Saturday slot and was preempted to Thursday night. While viewership for the pre-Dynasty “Collision” was higher, it is still lower than the previous four-week average, which is at 467,000. “Collision’s” viewership for the month of April is also higher than the same period last year, with this month’s average at 423,000 compared to 395,000 last year.

The 18-49 key demographic ratings also grew, albeit marginally, for the show, rising from 0.07 to 0.08, which is also the four-week average for the show. The show, as per “Wrestlenomics,” was ninth in the ratings on the night.

The April 11 “Collision” was headlined by a women’s tag team match involving the Brawling Birds, the duo of Alex Windsor and Jamie Hayter, who got one over Marina Shafir and Thekla, ahead of their respective matches at Dynasty. Kazuchika Okada retained his AEW International title against Myron Reed, while The Hurt Syndicate returned to action with a winning start.

WrestleMania 42’s two night affair closed up shop on Sunday night, and it did so the way many predicted, with Roman Reigns besting CM Punk to become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. It’s the first time Reigns has ever held WWE’s secondary World Championship, and while it remains to be seen where his reign goes in the immediate future, it seems WWE already has a plan for a major title defense later this year.

On Sunday’s “Wrestling Observer Radio,” recorded before Reigns defeated Punk to become champion, Dave Meltzer let it slip that Reigns was all but assured to win the title. The reason that was the case, according to Meltzer, is because WWE had lined up a marquee feud for Reigns as champion.

“Well, I know that the plan…the plan is Roman Reigns as champion against GUNTHER, okay?” Meltzer said. “Now again, that was as of a week ago, midweek even. So if that’s a direction for…I’m pretty sure it’s not for Backlash. Maybe SummerSlam? Maybe something else? But that’s like a match…that’s the one where they’re like ‘Okay, we’ve got the big things there.'”

Meltzer’s information came just a few hours after GUNTHER had wrestled at Night One of WrestleMania, defeating Seth Rollins with an assist from Bron Breakker. GUNTHER and Reigns have rarely crossed paths during their WWE run, though they were the final two in the 2026 Men’s Royal Rumble match, with Reigns eliminating GUNTHER to get the win. Thus far, it’s the only blemish on GUNTHER’s record over the last few months, which has otherwise seen him retire WWE legends John Cena and AJ Styles.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Wrestling Observer Radio” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription

AEW’s Mike Bailey hopes there is more diversity in pro wrestling, while also advocating for exclusive contracts not to exist.

Pro wrestlers in big companies don’t get the opportunity to wrestle for multiple promotions, with AEW being the exception, as their partnerships with NJPW and CMLL allow their stars to wrestle in those promotions too. Bailey, while understanding the need for promotions to sign their stars to exclusive contracts, says it hinders wrestlers’ progress.

“Exclusive contracts are bad for pro wrestlers, for the development. I understand there is a need for them. The ecosystem, the companies, it doesn’t work without them, and that makes sense. But if everyone in the world could wrestle absolutely anyone else regardless of contracts, just imagine the matchups you would see. Well, we can’t really have that. But the closest thing we can have is what AEW is doing, partnering up with CMLL and New Japan Pro Wrestling, and working together to showcase the best wrestlers from all over the world. I mean, it’s been a problem in professional wrestling for a long time,” he said to Adrian Hernandez.

Bailey believes that pro wrestling is changing due to partnerships among pro wrestling companies from different parts of the world. He believes that it should not be a requirement for a wrestler to be able to speak English to become a world champion, asserting that this notion is becoming outdated due to these partnerships.

“I think it’s due to partnerships like that and opening up the playing fields to literally letting anyone who is the best at pro wrestling wrestle at the very top, as it should be, and I think putting any kind of barrier on that is absolutely ridiculous. So, I think that what AEW is doing right now [is right], I mean, you can see it because other companies are following suit, is exactly what needs to happen in professional wrestling,” added Bailey.

The Canadian star wrestled around the world before joining AEW last year and continues to wrestle for CMLL and a few independent promotions.