Stephanie McMahon on holding WrestleMania 36 amidst a global pandemic

In a historic first-time-ever move, WWE went on to hold their biggest PPV of the year in an empty arena this April.

 


 

WrestleMania 36 was set to take place at Raymond James Stadium in Miami in front of a crowd of 75,000. But Florida soon went under a lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic, making that kind of gathering impossible.

Speaking to Insider.com, Stephanie McMahon opened up about the decision making process ahead of WrestleMania.

Stephanie McMahon on WrestleMania 36

Stephanie McMahon revealed that the board-room atmosphere was tense leading up to the big pay-per-view event. Meetings were heated and stressful at most times. But in WWE’s defense, a pandemic of this level was unknown territory for any and all involved.

Stephanie shared that their topmost priority was to keep the performers, staff, and fans safe. To ensure that, WWE strictly abided by the guidelines from WHO, CDC, and Florida state government.

“First and foremost, we had to take into account the safety of our fans and of our superstars and employees — that’s paramount. Working with the local government offices in Florida, the CDC, and the World Health Organization, we made sure we were aligned with all the recommendations from the organizations to do the right thing.”

Stephanie also stated how they came to the decision of holding WrestleMania 36 at the Performance Center instead.

“We had to quickly pivot to decide — A) does the show still go on? and B) if so, where and how? We decided that yes we have the responsibility to our audience, and to our partners, to continue to produce our programming.”

She said it was a “unique experience” to tape that over two nights in a completely empty arena.

“We wanted to provide an opportunity for our viewers to escape. We still do. It’s our mission to put smiles on peoples faces. WrestleMania took place at our Performance Center over two nights in front of absolutely no people, and it was definitely a unique experience.”

From Performance Center to Thunderdome

WWE continued to tape events without a live audience at the Performance Center for the entire summer. The futuristic set of WWE Thunderdome, complete with pyrotechnics, lasers, and other cutting-edge technologies, debuted on a SmackDown episode ahead of SummerSlam in August.

WWE has been hosting RAW, SmackDown, and all the PPV events ever since in Thunderdome. The buzz of the crowd is now back, although on a virtual medium.

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