First Look At WWE ThunderDome Set

WWE looking to make major change to its TV presentation from this Friday.

Aug 17, 2020 August 17th, 2020

With WWE earlier today announcing that this week’s episode of SmackDown will see the debut of a concept called ThunderDome, now comes a first glimpse at what this setup will look like.

In a press conference this afternoon, WWE revealed that a “state-of-the-art viewing experience” will launch under the ThunderDome title beginning this Friday. Utilising a new set, video boards, pyros, lasers, drone cameras, and cutting-edge graphics, the aim of ThunderDome is to offer a completely unique fan experience.

Ahead of ThunderDome arriving just in time for WWE’s temporary move to the Amway Center, Instagram user roadie4life has shared some images of the ThunderDome setup and Pro Wrestling Sheet has obtained a video of the construction being put together.

As mentioned, main roster WWE programming is moving from the WWE Performance Center to Orlando’s Amway Center from this Friday right through until the end of October. That means that all Raw and SmackDown episodes and PPVs will emanate from the venue.

For NXT, the current plan is for the gold and black brand to still house its content from Full Sail.

The ThunderDome idea is definitely something different to the empty arena format we’ve been accustomed to from WWE in recent months – and there’s the big question of how wrestling fans will behave on the video screens. Can anyone say Chat Roulette?

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

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