How Did WWE's Roster React To Returning To A Live TV Schedule?
Backstage notes from WWE's impending move to the Amway Center.
This is a huge week for WWE from a television production standpoint.
The promotion is finally moving away from pretaped shows at the Performance Center and returning to live television with Friday's episode of SmackDown, having scored a $450,000 deal to run in Orlando's Amway Center through October. On top of this, the "state-of-the-art" ThunderDome viewing experience debuts on SD, hopefully bringing some much-needed bombast back to shows.
How has the WWE locker-room reacted to all of this? Well, apparently.
Fightful Select published a report stating that the wrestlers they've heard from are "unanimously positive" about going back to live TV, hoping that the switch will lead to shorter tapings, as the Performance Center sessions regularly stretched through the small hours of the morning. Some have expressed concern for how the ongoing global health crisis may impact the schedule, however.
It is also stated that the wrestlers didn't find out about the move until WWE announced it on their website. While it had been in the works for several weeks prior to what, WWE's independent contractors weren't clued in beforehand, and instead learned of it at the same time as everyone else did.