Edge Says WWE Is 'Flying Blind' Heading Into WrestleMania 37 Regarding Crowd Reactions
WWE has been unable to tour and host events in front of live crowds for over a year now due to the [...]
WWE has been unable to tour and host events in front of live crowds for over a year now due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has managed to create a few ways to work around the problem, first by putting Performance Center trainees in the crowd when Raw, SmackDown and pay-per-views were being filmed at the PC and later by integrating virtual fans and piped-in crowd noise via the WWE ThunderDome. The promotion still isn't expecting to tour in front of live audiences again until the second half of the year, but WrestleMania 37 will buck that trend by having up to 25,000 live fans each night later this month.
In a new interview with App.com, Edge talked about what a lack of crowd has meant for the wrestlers and WWE's product overall. He also pointed out that nobody in WWE knows for certain how the Mania crowd will react to certain wrestlers, particularly Roman Reigns' heel persona and his own role as a "tweener."
"Our audience, it's our phantom limb," Edge said. "Without them there, it doesn't feel quite the same yet. It's not going to feel the way it's supposed to until we get there that night and you actually hear a rumble and a roar out there from an audience. Then it will become fully real to me, I think."
"Right now, as a company, we're all kind of flying blind because we have these stories and we have this creative but we don't know what the actual reaction is going to be," he later added. "When we walk out there, who knows how they're going to react? An audience has never seen this (version of) Roman Reigns, and I think this is the Roman Reigns they've wanted to see for a long time. So how are they going to react? We don't know. How are they going to react to me at this stage and kind of flipping the switch on finding the old Rated-R Superstar? Who knows. I think the bottom line is you've just got to hope they react. And I'd like to think, as starved as we all are just for entertainment and a walk back into whatever our new normal is, I'd like to think that's going to be a pretty ravenous crowd, reaction-wise."
How do you think fans will react to Reigns and Edge on April 11? Tell us your predictions down in the comments!
