The COVID-19 pandemic has kept WWE from touring in front of live fans since mid-March, and news broke on Monday morning that the promotion will continue to run episodes of Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown and WWE’s pay-per-views at the WWE ThunderDome (inside Orlando’s Amway Center) through the end of November. But their stay inside the venue could last even longer, as Bryan Alvarez reported on Monday’s Wrestling Observer Live that the plan is to stay until January.
“I have been told, and this is unofficial because WWE is officially stating through November,” Alvarez said (h/t WrestlingNews.co). “But I have been told that this is probably going until at least January. For the original agreement, no fans were allowed in. Maybe they’ve adjusted the agreement and fans can slowly be put into the business like they’re doing with the Performance Center. But they are in the ThunderDome for a while.”
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Prior to the creation of the ThunderDome, WWE was running its shows from inside the WWE Performance Center. NXT has since transformed that venue into the Capitol Wrestling Center while reintroducing a combination of live fans and virtual fans.
While the company won’t have to worry about interference from the Orlando Magic (who called the Amway Center home prior to the pandemic), Spectrum Sports’ Jon Alba pointed out the venue will still serve as a polling station for November’s elections.
What’s worth noting about Amway Center is it will be serving as a polling place for the upcoming election. The #Magic were very big on this.
— Jon Alba (@JonAlba) October 12, 2020
This week’s Monday Night Raw will serve as the final night for the 2020 WWE Draft. Here’s the official list of wrestlers who can be selected tonight:
Andrade, Bayley, Aleister Black, Alexa Bliss, Daniel Bryan, Carmella, King Corbin, Apollo Crews, Nikki Cross, Dabba-Kato, Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode, Erik (of The Viking Raiders), Lacey Evans, Charlotte Flair, Jeff Hardy, Billie Kay,
Lana, Keith Lee, The Miz & John Morrison, Riddick Moss, Natalya, Titus O’Neil, Randy Orton, Kevin Owens, R-Truth, RETRIBUTION (Mustafa Ali, T-BAR, MACE, SLAPJACK, RECKONING & RETALIATION), Matt Riddle, The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan), Peyton Royce, Arturo Ruas, Sheamus, Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro, The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford), Braun Strowman, Tamina, Akira Tozawa, Zelina Vega, Bray Wyatt, Sami Zayn
WWE’s next pay-per-view, Hell in a Cell, takes place on Oct. 25. Here’s the card for the show so far:
- WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso (Hell in a Cell I Quit Match)
- WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton (Hell in a Cell Match)
- SmackDown Women’s Championship: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks (Hell in a Cell Match)
