The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many public events being postponed or canceled. WWE decided to combat this issue by relocating March 13ths installment of SmackDown from the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich. to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fl.
For the first time, Friday Night SmackDown took place in front of an empty arena with only essential staff members in attendance. The end product has been divisive, but might be one of the most important episodes of the storied sports entertainment program WWE has produced to date.
It was a different atmosphere on SmackDown before any WWE broadcast before it. The seats in the Performance Center were empty, and there were no reactions during entrances or matches. Triple H opened the show by explaining that the Performance Center is typically used for training future talent and reassured the WWE Universe that they wanted to help them forget about the outside world and put a smile on their faces. Michael Cole and Triple H were on commentary for the show, while stars like SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley, Sasha Banks, John Cena, Bray Wyatt and more spoke live in the middle of the ring in front of empty seats.
The three live matches that took place on this episode had a similar feeling. The competitors went through the motions as usual and competed as if there were fans in the seats. While there was the usual live commentary, it was jarring not to hear any crowd reactions after big moves or during entrances. Driving home the difference in the new format, a full replay of the SmackDown Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber match featured a packed crowd.
This show was unprecedented for WWE, and it was a sight to behold for better or worse. While there was plenty of awkward silence and limited in-ring action, Triple H's commentary has been praised for its laid back and insightful nature. WWE even still continued the build to WrestleMania thanks to an incredibly personal Roman Reigns interview conducted by Michael Cole.
Holding their first empty arena show is significant for WWE. Now the door is open to more shows like it, and it looks like WWE is embracing it, as Monday Night Raw and NXT move to empty arenas for the foreseeable future as well. An empty arena show still offers electric entrances and bombastic action but removes the focus from some of the overused tropes like crowd reactions and eardrum bursting pyro. Promos can now become more of a focus, as the wrestlers no longer have to talk over or pander to screaming fans, allowing for much more personal interactions.
Obviously, WWE won't be considering doing empty arena shows full time, as they rely too heavily on ticket sales and the appearance of a packed arena. However, holding them every now and then, even outside times of crisis, can offer a refreshing experience to the fans. These events would be guaranteed to be different than anything else they're used to seeing on Raw and SmackDown, which can help the product from becoming stale. Hopefully, it's an idea WWE will at least consider in the future.