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2020 is proving to be a really tough time for the entire world, and just like all the other businesses and organizations, WWE is also hugely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. After airing SmackDown and RAW from the Performance Center with no fans, the company has announced to move its biggest event of the year WrestleMania 36 to the PC as well.
"In coordination with local partners and government officials, WrestleMania and all related events in Tampa Bay will not take place. However, WrestleMania will still stream live on Sunday, April 5 at 7 pm 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."
The live crowd plays a huge part in the world of Sports Entertainment and while WWE somehow managed to deliver an interesting episode of SmackDown, the RAW that followed had many major issues. With all the weekly shows looking set to air live from the Performance Center, for the time being, WWE needs to step up their game and take some unique steps to make these shows interesting.
So without wasting further time, let's take a look at the five things WWE must do with these shows from the Performance Center in Orlando. Be sure to let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
#5 Not replay recent matches
In the two empty-arena shows that we have witnessed in the last week, the biggest let-down has been WWE airing replays of recent matches as fillers. On SmackDown, we saw the SD Tag Team Elimination Chamber match and on RAW, we saw the entire one-hour-long Men's Royal Rumble 2020 match.
Of course, with the emergency shift of venue, the company can't be blamed a lot for this as they are trying their best to deliver a good show, but continuing this might become a huge problem and would result in poor ratings. Rather than showing matches which we saw merely a few weeks or a month ago, a better approach would be to play legendary and vintage WrestleMania matches to build the hype for the Show of Shows.
I, for one, still get nostalgic every time I see iconic matches like The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 25 or The Rock vs Steve Austin at WrestleMania 17.
#4 Have more live matches on the show with interesting stipulations
WWE Superstars feed off the energy of the crowd. It's those cheers and reactions of the WWE Universe that keeps them invested in the match inside the ring as they play a huge psychological role. Wrestling a match with no fan in the arena is way difficult than it sounds.
As evident by the recent episodes of SmackDown and RAW from the Performance Center, the company has booked very limited live matches for the show. While it's understandable to a limit, having only a single live match on RAW this week wasn't a great idea.
Even after all the setbacks caused, WWE has this unique opportunity to have some engaging matches on these shows with interesting stipulations. Remember the amazing empty-arena match between The Rock vs Mankind? (Check out the video above if you haven't seen it) With the amount of talent in the current roster, WWE can easily have such matches that are sure to steal the show.
Especially at WrestleMania 36, the company can give us a tour of the entire Performance Center by booking a match with the Superstars destroying each other in different areas backstage.
#3 Step-up the promo game
One of the few advantages for WWE during these "no-fans" shows is that the WWE Universe can't hijack a segment with their chants. We've often witnessed moments where a WWE Superstar is trying to cut a promo in the ring only to be met by the "What?" chants from the crowd, which pretty much takes away the feel from it. Thankfully, none of this can happen in the shows at the Performance Center.
With there being very little in-ring action, the need of the hour is for the Superstars to step-up their promo game. As witnessed in the last two shows, the promos in an empty arena come out to be much more intense than they do in a full-packed arena. Be it Edge challenging Randy Orton, or Roman Reigns sitting down for an in-ring interview with Michael Cole, the promo segments have been amazing this past week and this needs to continue.
The confrontation between John Cena and Bray Wyatt on SmackDown was one of the best segments we've seen this year as Wyatt's evil laughter echoed in the empty arena, giving it a more terrifying feel. Speaking of Bray, there's another interesting thing WWE could do with him...
#2 Have a live Firefly Funhouse segment inside the ring
Okay, hear me out! As crazy as it sounds, if there's someone who can pull any such thing off in a convincing manner, it has to be Bray Wyatt. The Firefly Funhouse segments were probably one of the best parts of WWE Programming in 2019, and continue to be the same in 2020 as well. Due to the sheer creative work that goes behind these segments, they have added a whole new depth to this new gimmick of the former leader of the Wyatt Family.
Last week we saw how Bray appeared sitting in the crowd after John Cena's promo and then jumped in to join him in the ring. Such a setting was only possible due to there being no fans, and WWE using their camera angles to perfection. Well, what if we get a special edition of Firefly Funhouse live inside the ring?
The fans have been discussing how WWE can continue keeping this new Bray Wyatt gimmick interesting, and such unique approaches could surely be one of the ways. While pulling it off in front of a live crowd might not be possible, the empty arena allows the company to try this.
With the Cena-Wyatt rivalry getting intense day after day and Wyatt further revealing new secrets about him, we might get to know something new about Wyatt through this in-ring Firefly Funhouse special segment. What do you think?
#1 Have major names appear as commentators
Nothing to take away from anyone's credibility, but one of the biggest reasons why SmackDown was a much better show than RAW this week was due to the presence of Triple H as the commentator and narrator of the lue brand's show.
The way he introduced us to the Performance Center and then carried himself throughout the show - taking jabs at Michael Cole, taking up different roles of a cameraman and make-up artist and whatnot, that was as entertaining as it could get for the fans watching the show from their home. Unfortunately, there was no such thing for RAW and it pretty much felt slow and dull due to it.
The point is, WWE needs to bring their attention to this issue and try to fix it as such small things drastically change the entire appearance of the product. While Triple H might not be able to do it every week due to his other commitments, WWE has enough legends and show-mans who can do what the Game did on SmackDown last week.
I'll even go as far as to say that maybe Vince McMahon himself can appear as a guest commentator at WrestleMania 36 just for the surprise factor of it.
