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[VulcanRaven]

WrestleMania 36 to Take Place Without Fans Due to Coronavirus

Sports entertainment powerhouse World Wrestling Entertainment said that it was moving WrestleMania 36 from Tampa, Florida, to its Performance Center in Orlando due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the big annual event taking place without fans.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Sports entertainment powerhouse World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on Monday announced that WrestleMania 36 won’t take place at a big stadium as planned, but be moved to its Performance Center trainings facility in Orlando due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The company, led by CEO Vince McMahon, has been understood to be in regular touch with city officials from Tampa, Florida, where the big annual event was due to take place April 5. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had suggested cities cancel large-scale events and gatherings for at least 30 days.

"In coordination with local partners and government officials, WrestleMania and all related events in Tampa Bay will not take place," WWE said in a statement. "However, WrestleMania will still stream live on Sunday, April 5, at 7 p.m. ET on WWE Network and be available on pay-per-view. Only essential personnel will be on the closed set at WWE’s training facility in Orlando, Florida, to produce WrestleMania."

On Thursday, WWE had said it was planning to move forward with WrestleMania, but had started putting "contingency plans" in place. "While we remain committed to hosting WrestleMania at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, April 5, we are putting contingency plans in place in the event that it is canceled by government officials, civil authorities and/or local venues," the company said. "The health and safety of our fans, performers and employees are our top priorities and we are monitoring the situation closely with our partners and government officials in Tampa Bay."

WWE's Friday edition of Friday Night SmackDown aired without an audience. The company tweeted a day before the show: "Friday Night SmackDown on March 13 will air live as regularly scheduled and emanate from WWE's training facility in Orlando, FL, with only essential personnel in attendance. The event was originally scheduled in Detroit, MI."

This is going to be interesting. I'm very excited about AJ Styles vs Undertaker match so I'm glad the show is still happening but it would be smarter to just delay it.

This is the place:

 

[Bullet Club]

If we get more stuff like this, it could be great.

 

[nush]

This is an opportunity for the. To do something really creative. Lord of the Flies WWE edition or something. Please don't do the empty stadium and ring.

 

[BlackOlivesMatter]

Vince has been waiting all year to jerk off to Roman Reigns winning the belt, there's no way the show was ever going to be cancelled or postponed.

 

[Bullet Club]

Vince has been waiting all year to jerk off to Roman Reigns winning the belt, there's no way the show was ever going to be cancelled or postponed.

It would be funny if he still got booed with no audience in attendance.

 

[Super Mario]

This is an opportunity for the. To do something really creative.

I agree. It won't feel like wrestlemania in an empty arena. Not even close. But, with the right idea, it could be something very unique

 

[Woo-Fu]

Even good actors have trouble working an empty room. I wonder how the lockdown will affect their pay-per-view numbers.

 

[Space Runaway]

The fuck? Bizarre.

 

[ManaByte]

Even good actors have trouble working an empty room. I wonder how the lockdown will affect their pay-per-view numbers.

What pay-per-view numbers? People just watch it streaming on the Network.

 

[dcll]

They should have some fake crowds added from some of those wrestling games

 

[cryptoadam]

At this point to salvage some good PR WWE should make the network free for WM. The stock is already going to tank no matter what. Just be the good guys and use positive PR and spin it we love the WWE universe and we want to help everyone in quarantine here is free Wrestlemania. Look how much we care and how good we are at the WWE.

They may kill the 9.99 they would get from people watching WM, but the amount of press will pay for it 10 fold once this thing is over and life is normal again.

 

[NickFire]

I don't know what the best solution is. Postponing is most likely beyond difficult for something this big, screws up their annual calendar, guarantees no income, etc. But after watching both Smackdown and Raw, proceeding in the performance center without the crowd just sounds awful. If it has to be this way, then above all else, please teach the wrestlers to only pose for the camera when they come out and enter the ring. Watching them climb all 4 turnbuckles / pander to the fictional crowd on all sides is so cringey it hurts.

 

[DESTROYA]

They could pump in crowd noise like the Atlanta Falcons used to do

 

[Shaqazooloo]

Seems odd, but I hope they use it as some sort of gimmick and maybe play it up for laughs or something..

 

[cryptoadam]

Your move AEW. Double or nothing and Blood and Guts in empty arena's when?

 

[KormaChameleon]

This is what you can expect.

 

[SurprisedPikachu]

This is what you can expect.

It's so fake.. but it's entertaining.

 

[GV82]

They should have some fake crowds added from some of those wrestling games

I don't know what the best solution is.

Do what the Japanese did in 2014 with their football crowds.


Or jokes aside smaller arena, fill front rows with all the other wrestlers & staff instead of being backstage, with one to two seats distance apart so there is at least a small amount of atmosphere, whilst not ideal, I think it still looks & feels better than empty, keep Camera Angles closer than wider.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Good to see they're managing on without fans, WrestleMania is considered the best PPV.

 

[Gargus]

Going to be weirder than most sports without an audience. Entertaining the crowd is half of what wrestling is. I imagine any sport the players are feeding off the audience to a certain degree.

Course this is their chance to do something bizarre and shake things up a little.

Green screen it on the top of a skyscraper. Or have everyone run in and go apeshit allover a stadium. Show them fighting in the ring, the seating areas, the bathrooms, everywhere at once. Bust out in the street or something blazing saddles style.

Just do something a normal audience can't possibly be a part of

 

[Fox Mulder]

Empty arena wrestling is awful. Half the sport is playing to a crowd and they also talk to each other under the crowd noise.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

seeing how surreal and terrible smackdown was last week I cannot imagine this being a good idea

 

[RiccochetJ]

seeing how surreal and terrible smackdown was last week I cannot imagine this being a good idea

I enjoyed Smackdown. HHH stole the show and Saxton on Monday was awesome too. I'm looking forward to it.

Empty arena wrestling is awful. Half the sport is playing to a crowd and they also talk to each other under the crowd noise.

90% of wrestling crowds are trying to get themselves over. They're complete shit most of the time. I would agree with you if most fans nowadays weren't complete self absorbed idiots.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

I enjoyed Smackdown. HHH stole the show and Saxton on Monday was awesome too. I'm looking forward to it.

ill be honest with you. im not a big wrestling fan. was back in 97-2000, but one of my friends is currently so i pop in every now and then when i catch it on randomly. so that said, i cant comment directly on the actual storyline aspect and all, but the lack of an audience left me wanting. it really highlights the acting and scripted drama of it all. i can enjoy it for what it is dont get me wrong, but im just saying the lack of an audience really stung me. dunno what the general reaction for WWE fans has been in regards to it, but i cant imagine paying for a ppv that is going to feel like that.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

They should have some fake crowds added from some of those wrestling games

That or the crowd from Forza 5.

 

[RiccochetJ]

ill be honest with you. im not a big wrestling fan. was back in 97-2000, but one of my friends is currently so i pop in every now and then when i catch it on randomly. so that said, i cant comment directly on the actual storyline aspect and all, but the lack of an audience left me wanting. it really highlights the acting and scripted drama of it all. i can enjoy it for what it is dont get me wrong, but im just saying the lack of an audience really stung me. dunno what the general reaction for WWE fans has been in regards to it, but i cant imagine paying for a ppv that is going to feel like that.

You shouldn't pay attention to me. I'm an unabashed WWE fan. For me the no crowd moments have been awesome so far (when they're not replaying entire ppv matches). I'm not sure what to expect from Wrestlemania but I'm going to watch all of it.

When that day that Raw or Smackdown returns to performing in front of an arena will be one of the most craziest atmospheres. It's going to be awesome and there's a legit chance I'm going to cry.

I'm also going to legit cry when the Oilers return to the Ice, but that's a different story.

 

[pennythoughts]

one step closer to the hunger games

 

[SentientStone]

Better be safe and not smell what the Rock is cookin' at this time.

 

[chitzy]

Considering how horrendously awful wrestling fans are in the current day I would say an empty arena is a vast improvement.