This morning, WWE announced that starting with this Friday’s SmackDown all their main roster shows will be taking place at Orlando’s Amway Center. That’s not the the part of the announcement that piqued wrestling fans’ interest, though. No, the really intriguing bit is that they’ll be transforming the arena for an interactive fan experience they’re calling WWE Thunderdome.
From the Mad Max name to the promise of indoor drones, our imaginations are running wild. These first looks probably won’t inspire you to Hulkamania levels of running wild, but they are kind of cool after months or only looking at the Performance Center, Full Sail Live, and Daily’s Place sets.
My main takeaway from these Instagram shots shared by a couple local crew members brought in for the gig is that it’s really nice these folks are getting some work, what with the live event business in hibernation during the pandemic.
Pro Wrestling Sheet shared some video which gives some scope to the operation:
This does look more along the lines of a WrestleMania set-up than the average Raw or SmackDown. I still don’t see the 1000s of LED board Kevin Dunn says will put virtual fans in the seats, which is probably what I’m most curious about. But still, it’s enough to assure us we’re in for a substantially different viewing experience this weekend.
Your thoughts? You more or less excited for WWE’s version of Bartertown’s dueling grounds?