Hours before NXT TakeOver 31, WWE released a video on social media offering a first look at the Capitol Wrestling Center — the newly-designed venue inside the WWE Performance Center. The biggest changes fans will likely notice is the entrance ramp design, as well as steel cage walls surrounding the ring. WWE used the PC to host every episode of Raw and SmackDown from mid-March through mid-August as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with WrestleMania 36, Money in the Bank, Backlash and The Horror Show at Extreme Rules.
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Triple H explained the name comes as a reference to Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the promotion Vince McMahon’s grandfather Jess McMahon founded in the 1950s.
Get ready for #NXTTakeOver 31 with a sneak peek inside the Capitol Wrestling Center, the newly redesigned home of #WWENXT! pic.twitter.com/xnrjYp2seG
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) October 4, 2020
“It’s a historic callback to where this all began,” Triple H said. “We gutted the Performance Center and it’s now rebuilt, so it feels like we’re going back to the beginning. To me, it feels like we’re going back to 1953. Just like then, we’re doing something different and new, taking the business to a whole new level.
“The Capitol Wrestling Center captures the feel and the vibe of NXT,” he added. “We will have all the bells and whistles of the ThunderDome, but we’ll keep that NXT feel. It’s edgier, darker and raw — you’re walking into the ultimate heavy metal soundstage.”
Elsewhere in the interview, “The Game” confirmed live fans would be in attendance for Sunday night’s event.
“There will be a contingent of fans in attendance, some of which will be talent, others will be friends and family and some will be fans,” he said. “We will take every safety precaution that there is. All of this was signed off by our medical staff. Everybody that walks in the building will be PCR tested, take a questionnaire and be medically screened. There will be plexiglass pods with fans that are in groups, and the groups will vary in size. Everyone will wear masks, and each group will never be near anyone else.”
Check out the full card for TakeOver 31 below:
- NXT Championship: Finn Balor vs. Kyle O’Reilly
- NXT North American Championship: Damian Priest vs. Johnny Gargano
- NXT Women’s Championship: Io Shirai vs. Candice LeRae
- NXT Cruiserweight Championship: Santos Escobar vs. Swerve Scott
- Kushida vs. Velveteen Dream
