WWE reportedly taped most of its major matches for WrestleMania 36 on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Now it turns out that isn’t all they taped.
Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet works for WWE as a news correspondent on WWE Backstage, so he knows more about what is happening in WWE than most wrestling reporters.
With that in mind, Satin revealed that WWE has also already taped their post-WrestleMania 36 episode of Monday Night Raw as well.
WWE pre-taping shows
WWE had no choice if they wanted to keep producing new shows during the coronavirus pandemic.
After WWE had to cancel their live touring of Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown, they started taping episodes with no fans at the WWE Performance Center.
However, WWE had to stop when Orange County, where the Performance Center is located, issued a “stay-at-home” order to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
WWE had to tape most of its WrestleMania 36 matches over two days to get the show ready to air next weekend. Now, Satin says they also filmed the April 6 episode of Monday Night Raw as well.
The stay-at-home order in Orange Country – where the PC is located – is scheduled to last until April 9.
From what I'm hearing, WWE has already filmed the April 6 Raw after Mania matches and it sounds like they're planning to continue filming at the PC once the order is lifted.
— Ryan Satin (@ryansatin) March 26, 2020
The stay-at-home order ends, right now, on April 9. This means they could have the post-WrestleMania Friday Night SmackDown at the WWE Performance Center after that unless Orange County extends the order.
However, life is not going back to normal anytime soon in the United States. While the death rate here is not as high as in other countries, the number of infected individuals is larger than any other country.
Until the virus is slowed and plateaus, Americans likely won’t be allowed to have any entertainment outside of their own homes. Some experts predict that businesses like WWE won’t start entertaining fans live again until May — at the earliest.
However, WWE could still put on “no-fan shows” at the WWE Performance Center as long as the stay-at-home order is lifted.
What happens if it isn’t lifted?
If the stay-at-home order is extended, WWE won’t be able to hold Friday Night SmackDown that week nor will they be able to have any more “live” shows until it is.
In that case, the one advantage WWE has over other companies is that they have a massive library.
While it is not optimal, WWE could reair past PPV events, they could show some of their top-line documentaries, and they could bring out any number of past shows to entertain fans.
Until the first week of April, anything could happen in WWE.
WWE Monday Night Raw airs on Mondays at 8/7c on USA Network.