10 Ups & 12 Downs For WWE In 2020 (So Far)
Downs...
12. Pure Sterility
The first, tremendous SmackDown episode aside, WWE's early forays into empty arena wrestling were grim - and could have been avoided had Vince McMahon swallowed his pride and followed the competition's lead sooner.
Rows of empty seats were stark reminders of an escalating global health Criss that made the escapism these shows were supposed to provide impossible. Focusing the hard camera on these areas, not the stage, heightened this. Though safer than AEW's gather masses (does that even matter when people are wrestling in the ring and violating social distancing guidelines by posing for group social media content, anyway?), the lack of noise made for a sterile, library-like atmosphere. Performers unironically playing to non-existent crowds looked laughable. The list goes on.
Things have now moved in the right direction, though reports suggest Vince McMahon was initially reticent to switch the camera angles and bring Performance Center audiences in for fear of looking like he was copying AEW. Who cares, though? A good idea is a good idea, regardless of who did it first, and the previous, lifeless format only made WWE's tired old formulae even more striking.