The COVID-19 pandemic led WWE to make one of the toughest decisions in its history: it did not cancel WrestleMania 36, its biggest annual event, but it will be broadcasted for two consecutive nights (April 4th and 5th) without an audience and with pre-recorded fights. This is a unique event in its decades of existence and has divided fans.
According to Dave Meltzer from Wrestling Observer and Bryan Alvarez from PwInsiders, most of the event has already been recorded at the Perfomance Center in Orlando, Florida. During the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, both stated that the most important fights have already been recorded.
"WrestleMania is currently being recorded and many of the big matches have already been taped," Alvarez said. "I'm pretty sure everything will be ready before the lockdown begins. They will have everything ready until the RAW after WrestleMania."
And it's not far-fetched. After a report a few days ago, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer announced a two-week stay-at-home order for all residents. Therefore, recording the event was the perfect solution.
However, having results before the broadcast date puts people at risk of spoilers. Although the recordings have been done only by authorized personnel, the information may leak. Fortunately, the major wrestling news pages have agreed not to mention them until they take place.
Not everything is bad
The recordings and subsequent editing open new doors for live wrestling. For example, in the case of the Undertaker vs AJ Styles fight, it is rumored that they will fight in a real cemetery for the "buried alive" theme. On the other hand, the John Cena vs The Fiend match can have a large number of special effects that enhance the terror caused by Daniel Bryan's character.
WrestleMania 36 will be exclusively streamed on WWE Network on April 4th and 5th.
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