5 changes WWE need to make to ensure WrestleMania at the Performance Center is successful

It’s official, then – WrestleMania as we know it, is off for this year. While the event carries on in name, there will be no stellar spectacle in front of 60,000 fans in Tampa, Florida.

With the global population battling the Coronavirus and its aftermath, WWE have been forced to follow the lead of many major public events and exhibitions in conceding that it’ll no longer be possible to stage the show in the way they’d originally planned.

In true Vince McMahon spirit, however, WWE have vowed that its most famed show of the entire year must go on and, as such, the company confirmed it will now be staged at their training facility, the Performance Center, in Orlando Florida.

A WWE statement said:

"In coordination with local partners and government officials, WrestleMania and all related events in Tampa Bay will not take place. However, WrestleMania will still stream live on Sunday, April 5 at 7 pm ET on WWE Network and be available on pay-per-view. Only essential personnel will be on the closed set at WWE’s training facility in Orlando, Florida to produce WrestleMania.”

WWE finds themselves in a truly unique position; opting to stage their most spectacular event of the entire year, but without its most prized asset – the fans in attendance.

Over the last week, they’ve staged Friday Night SmackDown and RAW from the Performance Center, but how will they fare in staging WrestleMania at the same venue? Undoubtedly there are challenges, and things to consider. Here, we highlight five things WWE may need to change to ensure WrestleMania remains a triumph in the face of adversity.

#5 Play to their strengths

Triple H is unlikely to be behind the camera for WrestleMania, but WWE excels at production

Wrestling fans have their own tastes – some fans adore WWE and won’t watch anything else, while many don’t enjoy their product and prefer AEW, NJPW or the Indies instead. Most, of course, like a little bit of everything and take their content from all corners.

Despite the varying opinions on who does what best, however, there is one way WWE has stood head and shoulders above the competition, and that’s in respect of production value. When it comes to promotional packages, videos and build, there are few in the world of entertainment who produce better than Vince McMahon’s company. That’s nothing to do with character concepts, delivery of in-ring promos or anything else – purely the skill of creating aesthetic content that’s good to look at. That’s been the case for decades, too, with WWE, historically, always outshining the likes of WCW and ECW back in the day.

So WWE needs to stick to what their good at and play to their strengths. For WrestleMania, they need to be at their best, their absolute peak, and produce visuals that will live long in the memory.

#4 No hard cam

Creatively, this one is difficult, but it’s a must. One thing that, in my view, hasn’t quite hit the mark during the RAW and SmackDown episodes filmed at the Performance Center, is the continued and persistent use of the hard camera in the ‘arena.’

The hard cam is situated on the side of the arena that you rarely see on television, and films directly ahead – usually to show the atmosphere and audience in attendance, and to give a central, focal point for programming. Kind of a compass, if you like – a way of positioning everything and moving around from there. It’s one of the basics of being a sports entertainer. Look at the hard cam, play to the hard cam and talk into the hard cam. With no fans in attendance, though, and talent speaking effectively in an empty room, you have to ask; is this working?

It may be that WWE has to find a new and innovative way to deliver the eye-contact content that has been such a staple of its programming. Again, this one is a horrifically difficult problem to solve – hard cams have been used since the televisual dawn of time, so how do you move away from it? In my view, WWE need to try and find a way.

#3 Make it shorter

There will be less fanfare and showbiz for this year's Mania

One of the standout, key characteristics of any WrestleMania broadcast is its length. You know, for instance, that RAW is three hours long, and SmackDown two. In the same way, WWE fans of the modern age know that, where WrestleMania is concerned, you need to block out most of your evening and night to get the whole thing watched.

Including any KickOff show, usually at around a couple of hours in its own right, Mania has typically lasted around seven hours in most recent times. This is surely something that Vince McMahon will have to consider ahead of the 2020 edition given the change in location.

I think logic dictates that this year’s WrestleMania has to be shorter. Afterall, much of the show builds around its pageantry. Crowd shots, the attendance announcement. Extensive pyro and wrestlers celebrate, lengthy entrances as they stride down the mammoth ramp. The singing of America The Beautiful while planes storm overhead. Realistically, little or none of that can happen this year, so how will WWE fill the gap? There may be a temptation to air replays, of course – the recent episode of RAW featured a re-run of the 2020 Men’s Royal Rumble match in its entirety – but that seems a hollow way to pack out the biggest show of the year.

My thoughts would be to trim it accordingly, and give fans a shorter, sharper, memorable show that will certainly not be soon forgotten.

#2 No arena mics

If the idea of staging WrestleMania without hard cams, as per my earlier suggestion, may prove problematic yet necessary, this next thought will likely trigger chaos.

In my view, the show should go on without the use of any arena microphones. That may seem completely crackers, when you consider that, for as long as any of us have been watching wrestling, Superstars have been grabbing the mic to let people know their thoughts and deliver those all-important promos. Unfortunately, though, I believe it is almost a must.

This is no criticism of RAW or SmackDown recently – let’s be honest, this whole situation is truly unique, and how can any of us say how such massive shows should and shouldn’t be constructed. Purely in my view, though, the use of mics in an empty arena environment only serves to take away from a new kind of authenticity that WWE will need to establish while they’re at the PC.

There are no fans in the arena, so there is literally no need to amplify your voice. Sure, mic them up individually in the way any studio television show would do for their guests, but leave the stick mics at home. Sit talent somewhere else and have them deliver their promos in a different style and setting.

#1 Show us around

Let's see more of the WWE Performance Center

Ahead of the first WWE program to be aired at the PC as part of the reaction to coronavirus – last week’s Friday Night SmackDown – Triple H opened things up with a hugely-impressive introduction to the Performance Center. We learned about its history, why it was created, what it does, and the simply incredible list of talent it has helped to create.

It’s official, then – WrestleMania as we know it, is off for this year. While the event carries on in name, there will be no stellar spectacle in front of 60,000 fans in Tampa, Florida.

I’d love to have a proper ‘tour’ of the Performance Center, for instance. Not a guided one where you follow a map – but a really good look around. Stage a match or a brawl in the changing facility or in the gym, have a promo from the ‘promo classroom’ – really accentuate the PC’s plus points, and be proud of them. For sure, the facility will never have an audience as big as it will on April 5 when a global audience turns in to WrestleMania.

Edited by Amar Anand