WWE will be making a change to their presentation for the foreseeable future.
The company continues to celebrate their most successful period in history as WrestleMania 40 was the most successful show ever for WWE and arenas have been sold out for every Raw and SmackDown taping for weeks.
To cope with demand for tickets for the final SmackDown before Mania and the legendary Raw after Mania, WWE scaled back the staging to allow for more sets to be available in the Wells Fargo Center. Changes included much smaller screens in the venue at the top of the entrance ramp and minimal staging. According to a new report, this is set to continue.
As reported by PWInsider, the minimal staging is set to be “the norm going forward” as it allows the company to get more fans into arenas. It is also stated that the Madison Square Garden show on June 28th will also see this setup. While there may be exceptions, this is one of the permanent changes of the Endeavor era.
The limited staging was also used at Survivor Series 2023 at The Allstate Arena in Chicago. With the show seeing an unprecedented demand for tickets as many anticipated a CM Punk return, WWE made multiple changes to maximise the amount of tickets that could be sold for the event.
WWE Changes In Production Continue To Be Praised
Following the exit of long-time Head of Production Kevin Dunn at the end of 2023, fans were optimistic that Dunn’s replacement Lee Fitting would be able to eliminate a lot of gripes fans had with Dunn’s production style and give the weekly product a much-needed refresh. With the use of long, singular camera shots and more sports-centric aspects like timings in the Royal Rumble, many are in agreement that the changes have vastly improved the weekly TV presentation.