By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE has officially made the call to move Friday’s edition of Friday Night Smackdown to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. The show will not have a live audience.
WWE issued a statement to ProWrestling.net today to confirm the move: “Friday Night SmackDown on March 13 will air live as regularly scheduled and emanate from WWE’s training facility in Orlando, Florida with only essential personnel in attendance. The event was originally scheduled in Detroit, Michigan.”
Powell’s POV: Friday’s show was previously scheduled to be held in Detroit, Michigan at Little Caesars Arena. After some back and forth, the decision has officially been made to move the show due to concerns regarding the coronavirus. It will obviously be a unique environment without a live crowd present.
What’s the point? The crowd reaction is a big part of wrestling. They should just cancel the shows and rerun old PPVs to keep people thinking about wrestling. You really could hook a bunch of new viewers with all the others on the shelf. But I doubt new viewers will be interested in watching matches with no crowd or watching people deliver promos with silence in the background.
The empty arena match was a rare gem of entertainment that cannot be recreated, especially over the span of a two hour show.
Stardom’s empty arena show was fun so there’s no reason WWE can’t make this work.