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The novel coronavirus has been making headlines for the past few months now. The virus has brought the world to a standstill. Who would have thought that there would be a time when there would be no sports to watch on TV?
Nevertheless, WWE has been managing to bring us weekly telecasts live. The promotion is doing its best midst of these rough times to entertain its audience. We, as fans, need to acknowledge the effort that the WWE Superstars, crew and everyone involved in giving us our weekly dose of RAW, SmackDown and NXT.
All of us are hoping and praying that the outbreak of this virus comes under control. We can't wait for our lives to go back to the way they were before this menace. But here we look at five ways COVID-19 has affected WWE.
#5 No live audience
The audience in attendance is the heart and soul of weekly programming and of PPVs. No matter who the Superstars performing are, the live audience has the power to make or break a match. Sometimes the crowd is unruly and hijacks the match but most of the time, it breathes life into the matches in the ring.
More often than not, the crowd is what keeps the competitors going. The Superstars feed off the energy of the fans in attendance. Not only the Superstars but also the fans watching at home get that rush of adrenaline when the fans in attendance cheer their favorite Superstar on.
The audience that attends the shows also brings out emotions in storylines and promos. A favorite Superstar winning a title or making an unbelievable entrance or even a heel winning a match that everyone thought he/she would lose generates roars amongst the live audience. Their reaction resonates with the fans watching at home and brings out the best in the Superstars.
#4 Recap of matches
It is evident that WWE is finding it hard to pull off two or three hour-long shows every week. The promotion is doing all that it can without putting its crew and Superstars' lives in danger to bring us its weekly shows. Well, it is safe to say that WWE has found a way around filling up the gaps.
The uncertainty of which Superstars would be available to perform or which ones can make it to the Performance Centre on a given day has forced WWE to telecast matches from its past. While it is fun to watch some of the classics of recent history, some of the matches are from very recent PPVs.
This is a great move to keep the audience at home engaged but if WWE played matches that the fans can reminisce about, this segment would get better reception. But kudos to the WWE team to think of something to keep fans tuned into the show with the limited resources it has.
#3 Canceled appearances/matches
In what was the first episode of SmackDown to air from the Performance Centre, Paige along with Jeff Hardy was supposed to return to WWE television. While the latter did make his return, the former Divas Champion was nowhere to be found.
Not only Paige's appearance but also matches that were supposed to take place at WrestleMania were shuffled. We saw Braun Strowman take Roman Reigns' place in the Universal Championship match. We also saw the Tag Team Titles being contended in a Triple Threat Match, in which only one team member represented his team.
Another match that took a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic is the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. This is another match at "The Show of Shows" that fans are usually excited about and a chance for all Superstars to make it to the WrestleMania match card. However, due to the coronavirus outbreak and the restrictions imposed as a result of it, this match was scrapped from the WrestleMania card.
We hope these times pass by quickly and WWE can get back to its planned matches and Superstar appearances.
#2 Consistent venue
All of us know that the WWE is always on tour. RAW and SmackDown emanate from different states of the USA every week and sometimes even from different countries. The lives of everyone involved in the WWE team aren't easy as they are constantly living out of a suitcase and have very little time to spend with their loved ones.
When the WWE decided to conduct its shows in empty stadiums, little did it know that it would turn to the home of NXT for the coming weeks. With travel restrictions and concerns for its' employees' health, WWE has made a smart decision by telecasting its shows from one venue consistently. That venue is the Performance Center.
Now, the Performance Center in Florida will not only be the home of RAW and SmackDown but also WrestleMania. This year's WrestleMania surely is going down in the history books for many reasons. But for as long as the pandemic continues, WWE has one place it can call home and that is The Performance Center.
#1 Pre-taped shows
WWE has no fans in live attendance and has used this opportunity to tape its shows ahead of time. This is a genius move by the promotion. If the state orders a lockdown, the WWE fans will be left stranded without their weekly dose of WWE television. To counter this, WWE has pre-taped its shows so that it has content to telecast on TV.
Last week's episode of SmackDown was pre-recorded. The show was promoting the match between Goldberg and Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship even though Reigns had made it clear that he would not be participating at WrestleMania.
Not only SmackDown but also WrestleMania has been taped earlier than the scheduled dates. For this reason, spoilers are available on the internet. We hope that you don't come across these spoilers and enjoy the extravaganza that the promotion has planned for you.
Are you aware of any other ways that the pandemic has affected WWE? Do sound off in the comments section below!
