WWE Looking To Move All Shows To An Outdoor Venue

Could WWE's Empty Arena Era be coming to an end?

by Andrew Pollard
WWE Thunderdome
WWE

Following WWE’s temporary move to Orlando’s Amway Center and the introduction of the ThunderDome, Vince McMahon’s sports entertainment juggernaut is now looking at yet another way to create a fresh, engaging environment for its programming.

As per the ever reliable @WrestleVotes, WWE is looking at a way to start running shows from outdoor venues. WWE’s current agreement with the Amway Center will see Raw, SmackDown, and PPV events taking place at the venue through until the end of October. Now, WWE has a small team of people trying to work out if running shows from an outdoor venue would be feasible when the Amway Center deal expires.

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If WWE can indeed pull this off, the plan would then be for Raw, SmackDown, and PPVs to all emanate from wherever this outdoor venue is – with the current word being that an outdoor venue in one of the southern states of the US is a priority, given the likelihood of better weather conditions.

At this time, there’s no word on whether WWE would look to still incorporate the ThunderDome setup into this outdoor setting, although being outdoors could well open up the opportunity to bring a limited number of fans back to WWE shows.

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Of course, this is something that AEW has begun to do in recent weeks, as small numbers of fans have been able to attend episodes of Dynamite and the All Out PPV – all of which have emanated from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida.

Senior Writer
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.