WWE Planning "Something Different" For Royal Rumble 2021

Plans afoot to change things up for the WWE's annual January extravaganza.

Nov 4, 2020 November 4th, 2020

While 2020 as a year has been completely unlike anything any of us have ever experienced before, it appears that WWE has plans for something a little out of the ordinary for January’s Royal Rumble PPV.

As per the usually reliable @WrestleVotes, WWE is eying “something different” for the 2021 edition of one of the company’s most beloved annual extravaganzas. What this something different is, we’ll all have to wait and see right now.

We’ve heard plentiful stories over the past six months or so about how WWE is desperately looking to find a way to have fans be in attendance for its programming, and that again obviously remains a priority for Vince McMahon’s sports entertainment behemoth.

Where the WWE ThunderDome is concerned, at present WWE is contracted to emanate its Raw, SmackDown, and PPV events from Orlando’s Amway Center – which is the venue that currently hosts the ThunderDome setup - until November 24.

Right now, the NBA and the ECHL ice hockey league are due to start again in December, which means that the Orlando Magic and the Orlando Solar Bears will both be using the Amway Center from next month.

Wherever WWE opts to move its shows to after November 24, it looks as if the company is still planning to use the ThunderDome layout to try and generate at least some semblance of atmosphere for its programming.

Texas, North Carolina, and Illinois have all reportedly been explored as temporary home for WWE once the Amway Center arrangement concludes - while a date has yet to be officially announced for the 2021 Royal Rumble PPV.

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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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