WWE speaks out on rumors of changing the WrestleMania 37 venue
There were various reports, primarily from WrestleVotes, stating that WWE is planning to potentially shift venues for WrestleMania 37. While the event was scheduled to take place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have once again caused a major shift in plans.
With no idea as to when the pandemic will end or when things will resume as they did before, the company is now looking ahead and is reportedly locking down several venues at Tampa Bay - where WrestleMania 36 was supposed to happen.
WWE issued a statement on the rumors about potentially shifting venues for WrestleMania 37. While WWE claimed that there was nothing to report, they didn't outright deny the rumor:
"We have nothing to report and given the current environment, we continue to monitor locations for all of our potential events."
This would mark the second year in a row where WrestleMania has had to change venues. The only difference is that this time around, WWE has a lot more time to prepare for it. There's no word on whether fans will be allowed in yet, but given the current climate and the number of COVID-19 cases in the United States, it's unlikely that we'll get a gathering of over 70,000-80,000 people like we normally do.
WrestleMania 36 was perhaps the most unique in the 36-year history of the PPV, being the only one to ever take place in an empty arena. It was also the second WrestleMania to happen over the course of a few days and the first WrestleMania in the modern era to be entirely pre-taped.
It should be noted that WWE still lists the event in Inglewood.
How long will WWE have to deal with empty arena shows before WrestleMania?
Given that the ThunderDome in the Amway Center was meant to create a change after nearly five months in the WWE Performance Center, it looks like WWE has no idea as to when fans will be let back into shows.
Perhaps they could have an arrangement where 10-15% of the venue capacity has fans while they follow strict social distancing and safety protocols. Until then, it's going to be more empty arena shows for WWE.