WrestleMania To Change Venue, Air Live Without Fans

Over the past two weeks, WWE has tried to save WrestleMania 36, citing that it would not shut down. While the event will still go on as planned, organizers have moved the event to a new venue and are not allowing any fans in the audience.

The event was originally supposed to take place on April 5 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Now, although the date will remain the same, WrestleMania will air live from the WWE training facility in Orlando, Florida and no fans will be allowed into the event due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Other events surrounding WrestleMania, including NXT TakeOver, the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, and Axxess fan expo, will not go on as planned.

“In coordination with local partners and government officials, WrestleMania and all related events in Tampa Bay will not take place,” WWE said in a statement. “However, WrestleMania will still stream live on Sunday, April 5 at 7 p.m. ET on WWE Network and be available on pay-per-view.Only essential personnel will be on the closed set at WWE’s training facility in Orlando, Florida to produce WrestleMania.”

The 36th annual event, which would have drawn upwards 70,000 fans, is the longest-running professional wrestling event in history. It will include matches like Brock Lesner v. Drew McIntyre and Becky Lynch v. Shayna Baszler.

All WWE television shows going forward will now take place at the WWE Performance Center facility, which includes Monday night’s Raw and SmackDown. No audience members will be allowed for either event.