The venue for WrestleMania 36 has changed and will now be held at the WWE Performance Center.
In an unending wave of cancellations because of the coronavirus, one company and one man has not cowered in fear of the virus. What company and what man has the testicular fortitude to stand up to the tyranny of the coronavirus you ask? His name is Vincent Kennedy McMahon and he is the Chairman & CEO of WWE.
McMahon and WWE released a statement on the decision to move WrestleMania.
“In coordination with local partners and government officials, WrestleMania and all related events in Tampa Bay will not take place,” WWE said. “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.”
WWE
WWE’s Plan B
WWE has decided to move the venue of WrestleMania 36, instead of cancelling the event outright. The show will have no live audience and only essential personnel present. They have moved the most recent Raw and Smackdown Live shows to the Performance Center, so this is not something new for them. However, this is the first Pay Per View event WWE has held there since the old NXT Takeovers. It just so happens it’s the biggest wrestling event of the year and is only the Super Bowl of pro wrestling.
An Empty WrestleMania 36? Yep That’s The Weirdest Thing I’ve Ever Heard
Having WrestleMania 36 with no one in the crowd will be insanely weird. The past Raw and Smackdown episodes were both very strange. It works as a novelty, or a once or twice in a-blue-moon type of thing, but WrestleMania is totally different. WWE pulls out all the stops and spends a lot of money on entrances. One year Rusev rode a tank to the ring. I don’t see something like that happening at the Performance Center. WWE and the city of Tampa Bay will also lose a lot of money because of this stupid virus.
WrestleMania is not the only event affected by the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. NXT Takeover and the WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony are reported to not take place as scheduled. Some websites have reported they are cancelled altogether, but I think that is most likely not the case. It would make a lot more sense to just stage them at the Performance Center as well.
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WrestleMania 36 will take place on April 5th, with some very high profile matches. The top three billed matches are WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre, Universal Champion Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns and The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles.
Does this change of venue make you more or less excited for WrestleMania 36? Do you think it will have a negative effect on the show? Is this just the weirdest thing ever? Take off your face masks for a second and drop a comment below and on social media.
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