WWE debuted its ThunderDome concept on last week’s (Aug. 21) episode of SmackDown. They have now run three total ThunderDome shows at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, including SummerSlam 2020.
Stephanie McMahon released a statement to the media expressing excitement for WWE’s newest feature:
“Last week we debuted “WWE ThunderDome” to the world, as we took residency at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida with a state-of-the-art set, lasers, drone cameras, pyrotechnics, smoke effects, virtual reality, and most importantly, 1,000+ virtual fans in attendance at any given time via proprietary technology provided from The Famous Group. The spectacle and energy have returned to WWE, and it feels great to watch.
Thank you to our media partners at FOX, NBCUniversal, BT, and all around the world, for your support over the past five months as we produced seven hours of weekly, in-ring content from our WWE Performance Center. I’d also like to thank our brand partners including Cricket Wireless, World of Tanks, Hyundai, 2K, Good Humor, Applebee’s, Nissin Cup Noodles, Welch’s and Hulu, for your support of SummerSlam and NXT TakeOver 30 this past weekend.
We are very excited to share this most recent evolution in our in-ring product with you and offer new and exciting ways to engage with you and our global fan base.”
The statement is largely filled with corporate jargon, but considering the significant ratings increase for this week’s Raw, I don’t doubt for a second that WWE is thrilled with how the ThunderDome concept has played out so far.
Do you agree that ThunderDome has brought back the right energy to WWE’s product, or is it too early to tell?