If there’s been one major hurdle to keeping fans connected to
professional wrestling during the pandemic, it’s been the lack of
live experience.
Let’s face it, watching Raw, SmackDown, Dynamite or any other
promotion’s television shows just hasn’t been the same without the
raucous fan atmosphere.
The WWE came up with an interactive solution to get fans’ faces
in the arena, and watching it all unfold last week was quite
breathtaking.
WWE’s Thunderdome let fans appear digitally via an elaborate
setup of screens distributed around the Amway Center in Orlando,
where the WWE has set up temporary residency.
Sure, it wasn’t the same as a live audience with the crowd noise
being simulated, but it gave fans something else to watch.
I can’t tell you how many times I went to wrestling
events during the prime WCW vs. WWE days looking for myself on
camera. I paid around $100 with tickets, food and gas for the mere
glimpse of myself on television, the fans that registered for the
Thunderdome experience paid nothing and got to view it safely from
the comfort of their own homes, while getting to scan the video
screens for their own images.
One other thing that shouldn’t have been lost on anyone was the
sheer magnitude of effort the WWE put into making its Thunderdome
layout look incredible.
Not only did it add to the overall fan experience, but on tv
during its debut on Smackdown last Friday and for SummerSlam on
Sunday, it gave so much more to the wrestlers’ entrances.
For a clear example of this, just look at “The Fiend” Bray
Wyatt’s entrance at SummerSlam. Already a spectacle, the WWE took
it to another level and it was truly fitting of the character.
SummerSlam Success
Speaking of Wyatt and SummerSlam, the latest WWE PPV wasn’t
exactly what the WWE had in mind in terms of presentation, but it
delivered on many levels.
While the WWE would’ve loved to present one of its biggest
events of the year in front of a live audience, it made the best of
a bad situation with some great matches and a surprise return.
New champions were crowned in Wyatt winning the WWE Universal
title from Braun Strowman and Asuka liberating the Raw Women’s
title from Sasha Banks.
Drew McIntyre retained his WWE Championship against Randy Orton
in a thrilling match that saw neither man hit their finisher in the
bout, a rarity for any wrestling match that turned out to be this
good.
Aside from a card full of great matches, the big
surprise came at the end of the Wyatt-Strowman match as Roman
Reigns returned to the ring after taking himself out of action
before Wrestlemania.
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Reigns, who excused himself from the ring during the pandemic
due to his past battles with leukemia and him and his wife just
having newborn twins, decimated both Wyatt and Strowman as “The Big
Dog” loudly barked his way back to the top of the pecking order on
SmackDown.
Tickets Please!
AEW had been casually testing the waters about getting fans back
into the seats during their shows.
According to several reports, the promotion recently allowed a
select number of people to attend live tapings of Dynamite that
weren’t essential to the production or a member of the talent
roster that had been surrounding ringside.
AEW last week announced that it put on sale a limited number of
tickets for group seating for Thursday’s live Dynamite show at
Daly’s Place in Jacksonville.
“To safely bring back the energy of a live audience to AEW’s
shows — in compliance with state and local regulations and CDC
guidelines — a select number of physically distanced seating pods
will be available for sale in groups of two, three, four and six
around the outdoor venue,” a release on allelitewrestling.com
stated. “For the first ticketed show on Aug. 27, a maximum crowd of
10 percent capacity will be permitted. Going forward, as long as
safety protocols are followed meticulously, a maximum crowd of 15
percent capacity will be permitted for all live events at Daily’s
Place.”
Those safety protocols include all fans wearing face coverings
over their nose and mouths. Also, the release stated that fans will
need to physically distance themselves from any person who is not a
member of their pod. Guests will also be asked not to attend the
day of the show if they have COVID-19, symptoms of COVID-19 or have
had close contact exposure to someone who they know has COVID-19 or
symptoms. In addition, all guests will have their temperature
scanned prior to entry. An increased number of hand sanitizing
stations will be available, and floor markings will also be used to
assist with physical distancing. Industrial fans were also added
this past year to further improve air circulation at the open-air
venue.
You can expect the WWE to follow suit at some point, maybe even
bringing live fans into The RP Funding Center in Lakeland like it
had planned to do before the pandemic worsened earlier this
summer.