As we’ve been reporting here on eWn, AEW originally had plans for what was described as a “soft roster split” leading into the premiere episode of AEW Collision, which took place on Saturday night and featured the return of CM Punk.
According to a report from Fightful Select, AEW’s plans for the roster split “softened” leading up to Collision’s debut.
There had been early preparations and details for the roster split sent out to many in the promotion, including some special exemptions that would be made for most of the reigning champions. While some members of the roster were told that a “soft split” would be coming, those plans wound up changing and they were then told there would be some “natural sharing” of talent between Dynamite and Collision.
Several sources at Warner Bros. Discovery indicated that they weren’t fans of a roster split, and preferred that the brands be kept combined if the situation allowed for it.
Back in late May, a trademark was filed for the term “Transfer Portal” which was related to the original plans for a split roster. For now, those plans and trademark have been put on the back burner.
As far as how things were viewed internally at the time, the reactions were said to have been mixed. Several members of the roster were unhappy about potentially missing out on weekend signings and independent bookings. On the flip side, others were happy that the split would allow for much less backstage drama.
