WWE Rumors: Company wanted some fans to be at WrestleMania 36
WrestleMania 36 took place from the WWE Performance Center this year in an empty arena due to the coronavirus pandemic that has brought the globe to a standstill. The atmosphere for this year's WrestleMania was therefore impacted as there were no fans in attendance to add to the spectacle put up by the wrestlers in the ring.
WWE realized beforehand that this could be a potential issue, and it has been reported that they wanted to bring some fans down to the PC. However, with the strict orders put in place by state governments including travel restrictions, they couldn't do so.
This was revealed by WWE superfan Chris Adorno aka Ringside Charlie who spoke to Sports Illustrated on the matter. Here's what Adorno had to say:
A couple of people internally wanted me to come. They even said that if some fans were allowed in, I'd be at the top of the list. So there was definitely talk about the possibility, but with all of the strict guidelines, they were already at capacity for the amount of people they could have in the building. It wasn't meant to be. If it was possible, I would have been there.
Adorno has attended every WWE event in Madison Square Garden since 1982 and also attended the first 35 WrestleMania PPV's. However, thanks to the pandemic, WrestleMania 36 was the first one he was not able to attend.
An empty arena wasn't the only way the coronavirus pandemic affected WrestleMania 36. A number of Superstars including Roman Reigns, Rey Mysterio, and Dana Brooke decided to pull out from the show.
WrestleMania 36 was originally set to take place at the Raymond James Stadium in Orlando, Florida. According to reports, at one point, Vince McMahon was even considering hosting WrestleMania inside the empty Raymond James Stadium.
In the end, WrestleMania had to be shifted to the Performance Center. The show was pre-taped last week.