WWE superstars fitting well
Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins were praised by John Cena for their work during the promotion’s fanless era due to the COVID-19 pandemic in talk to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated.
Cena said Bray was obviously doing great job and Rollins had wonderfully fitted by adapting into crowd less environment.
On the Firefly Fun House match for WrestleMania 36, Cena and Wyatt had worked together. Since last year Rollins has been going by the Monday Night Messiah persona is also working a program with Rey Mysterio Jr.
Challenges in WWE without live crowd
WWE Superstars have now inherited the challenge of performing without live audiences. Cena acknowledged that WWE programming has taken on different feel fans. He says that he always said and believed that the most important superstar is the audience. I don’t think we’ve ever seen a better indication of that than right now and now the program is different.
Optimistic Cena about WWE’s programming until live fans can safely return to arenas while also acknowledging the obstacles that lie ahead with their own eyes.
What John Cena Says?
Cena firmly believes that not only will it survive, it will also thrive. He believes they’re beginning to do that and the longer they go without an audience, they need to transform as an entirety what sports entertainment actually means. It is general if they think they’re in this weird sort of middle ground, where they don’t know when crowds will be let back into the arenas. If they completely adapt to the paradigm shift, this may scare away the normalcy the viewers are used to seeing. So it is like faking your soul that there is an audience but actually it is an empty arena.
According to Cena, it’s a very weird time. He does not think they’ve committed to transition yet. That’s absolutely justifiable because, eventually, people will be let back into turnstiles and it’s very complicated. While performing, there isn’t a clear-cut answer to be like just do this and it will be better.
Pandemic: An off-road trip for WWE
Since March, WWE has been forced to forge ahead without audiences due to COVID-19. And now it shows taking place at its performance center in Orlando, Florida.
On a worthy note WrestleMania, since the event’s inception in 1985, was held without fans for the first time.
This pandemic has forced WWE to get creative, but it has resulted in some entertaining television for the people working from home.
Blake Oestriecher of Forbes said that this year WWE had two almost universally acclaimed hits at WrestleMania 36 in The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles in a Boneyard Match and the Firefly Fun House match believed to be season hits.
Edge on Live Camera
Edge adopted the practice of speaking directly into the camera, during his angle with Randy Orton Jr. leading into their WrestleMania 36 match, breaking the fourth wall to connect with fans watching on television.
In an April episode of WWE Backstage, Edge spoke that before the first promo he did, it was an in-ring promo. And when he looked at the camera guy and Edge said, OK, I’m coming right down the barrel.
The cameraman went, ‘What?’ And Edge said, ‘Yeah. I gotta come down the barrel.’ And that was when that decision was made in my mind that I have to go straight to camera, straight to Randy and in essence to the audience.
He found this as fun and really just treated it like it was a monologue in theater or maybe an audition. He thinks that this has been the most rewarding part of it so far. Edge misses that interaction and that instant gratification when the live audience is present. But everyone is getting out of different areas that they normally don’t get to go to. And finding a different area of the craft is fun for him.
WWE: What’s cancelled and what’s next?
Money in the Bank match at its headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut was held back which featured fighting in WWE CEO Vince McMahon’s office.
Behind plexiglass, superstars have also been ringside cheering or booing their fellow wrestlers.
Sunday, Aug 23 is the next big WWE event day where Summer Slam will be held at the WWE Performance Center. On Sunday at least six titles will be on the line, which includes Sasha Banks vs. Asuka for the Raw Women’s World title and Braun Strowman vs. Wyatt for the WWE Universal Championship.