How WWE Raw Foreshadowed An Escape From The Empty Arena Era

Dynamite empty
AEW

The fairly reliable WrestleVotes tweeted the below just 24 hours removed from Raw's notable aesthetic shift.

"I’m hearing that internally the WWE live event schedule is slowly being rebuilt. I’m still not expecting anything with fans prior to July, however. Discussions about ticket sales going forward have also begun, with social distancing guidelines remaining in place. That’s tricky."

Tricky's polite. It's impossible, fundamentally, but WWE and AEW have wriggled through this period so far and not a week of television has been skipped. It's laughable to assume any of the shows since March have been able to follow guidelines, regardless of what they were at the time.

This is the timeline in which WWE paid a small fortune to the powers-that-be in Florida and were then suddenly able to keep taping, having been forced to get WrestleMania in the can before a significant shutdown. The timeline that found AEW wrestlers sharing hotel and local facilities with MMA fighters and coaches before, during and after the news that Ronaldo Souza would have to miss UFC249 because of you-know-what. The timeline that has us all wondering if we're actually in the darkest one.

If July for fans feels optimistic, ask why that is? AEW wrestlers were ringside from March. WWE added them in May. The pattern is there for the doors to be flung open to anybody willing to take the chance after another two months, and isn't that actually better than forcing the wrestlers to play the role instead?

CONT'D...

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett