It appears this will be another long week for the WWE roster, with a hefty amount of TV content being taped throughout this week. PWInsider has a report on WWE apparently changing plans for this week’s TV tapings. Yesterday, WWE had planned to tape two weeks worth of Monday Night Raw. However, WWE later opted to change plans and instead taped the Raw episode that was broadcast last night USA, along with this week’s episodes of Friday Night Smackdown, 205 Live, and Main Event.
Per the report, yesterday’s TV tapings ran about 9-10 hours total. So, it was a long day for the roster in attendance. The NXT talents who were there and standing around the ring for yesterday’s Raw also had remained standing for the other shows that were taped that day as well. Per the report, there were short breaks, so people did apparently have time to sit down in between matches. For the breaks, chairs were brought out for the trainees. However, they still had to spend most of the day standing up.
The report notes that the process was “exhausting” for the people playing the fans in the crowd to create that fan energy for WWE for the entire day. That said, some trainees were reportedly happy to be there, since they weren’t involved with anything related to WWE for the last several weeks. Additionally, this TV taping session was the first time some of the trainees had been inside the Performance Center in a while.
Attendees at the Performance Center had their temperatures checked prior to entering the building. Also, their temperatures were checked again later on that same day.
The report notes that WWE has another long TV taping session scheduled for today. Today’s TV tapings are scheduled to include next week’s episodes of Raw, Smackdown, 205 Live, and Main Event. Meanwhile, Wednesday’s tapings will be for several hours of NXT. This will apparently set NXT TV up to TakeOver: In Your House, which is scheduled for June 7. The plan is to reportedly have the trainees around the ring again for the NXT tapings to make it feel like more of a “traditional live event experience.”
PWInsider’s report also states there was talk backstage about the plexiglass used for this week’s tapings becoming the norm for future WWE live events for when WWE is able to resume touring again for TV programming and pay-per-view cards. The plexiglass would act as an additional barrier between the fans and the wrestlers.
Also, WrestlingNews.co has a report on WWE using developmental trainees playing the role of “fans” at last night’s episode of Raw and the TV tapings that are being held this week. Per the report WWE had not yet made a decision as of yesterday (May 25) on if they will have the trainees portraying the fans for Wednesday’s NXT TV tapings. WWE opting not to try this idea sooner was apparently a Vince McMahon call.
For many of its pandemic shows, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) has had wrestlers around the ring to provide crowd noise and to react to the in-ring action. WWE has largely avoided having people in the crowd for its Performance Center events during the coronavirus pandemic, until this week. The WrestlingNews.co report by Paul Davis says that a source claimed the reason the decision was made to wait so long on having developmental wrestlers in the crowd is that Vince McMahon believed it would be a “bad look” for WWE to have too many people in seats at the Performance Center during a time when social distancing is being heavily encouraged.
Additionally, the report states that the Performance Center is a small building where the coronavirus could spread easily. Also, there was said to have been backstage talk at the Performance Center this week, that the changes that were made at the TV tapings will be “the new normal” for WWE until they are allowed to bring actual fans back. Vince McMahon’s hope is that fans will be allowed back into buildings in time for Summerslam.
As previously noted, WWE is rumored to be exploring alternatives for Summerslam 2020. The mayor stated that there won’t be any parades or festivals in the city happening until September 7, which could make the city a question mark for this year’s WWE event.
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
