WWE ThunderDome

The original WWE ThunderDome arena setup that was used at both the Amway Center and Tropicana Field; the setup at Yuengling Center was tighter with the LED screens closer to the ring with additional ones placed on the left side of the entrance stage

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March 2020, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE moved the majority of its programming for their Raw and SmackDown brands to their WWE Performance Center training facility in Orlando, Florida with no fans in attendance;[1] in late May, the promotion began using Performance Center trainees to serve as the live audience,[2] which was further expanded to friends and family members of the wrestlers in mid-June.[3] On August 17, 2020, WWE announced that they would be relocating to Orlando's Amway Center, where their episodes of Monday Night Raw (and sub-show Main Event), Friday Night SmackDown, 205 Live, and pay-per-view (PPV) events would be broadcast for a long-term period, beginning with the August 21 episode of SmackDown. As with the broadcasts from the Performance Center, these programs were produced behind closed doors but with no in-person spectators. They also featured a larger-scale in-arena production, a bio-secure bubble billed as the WWE ThunderDome, with screens surrounding the ring displaying virtual spectators via videoconferencing (similar to the NBA bubble).[4] While the August 21 episode of SmackDown was their first television episode produced in this manner, SummerSlam just two days later was their first pay-per-view to be broadcast from the ThunderDome.[5][6]

WWE's initial residency agreement with the Amway Center expired on October 31, but with the option to extend the contract with a two weeks notice.[7] The contract was extended to November 24.[8][9] On November 19, WWE announced that the ThunderDome would remain in Florida, but would be relocated to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, beginning with the December 11 episode of SmackDown. (Coincidentally, Tropicana Field also used to be called the ThunderDome when it was the home arena of the Tampa Bay Lightning from 1993 to 1996.[10]) This move was also done due to the start of the 2020–21 ECHL and NBA seasons as the Amway Center is the shared home of the Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL) and the Orlando Magic (NBA), with WWE delays leading to the Solar Bears to play their first three weekends of the season on the road.[11][12] The final ThunderDome show produced from the Amway Center was the December 7 episode of Raw.[13]

The promotion did not announce the length of their residency at Tropicana Field, but it was expected that they would eventually have to leave around March due to the start of the 2021 Tampa Bay Rays season.[14] On March 24, WWE announced that they would relocate to the Yuengling Center, located on the campus of the University of South Florida in Tampa, beginning with the post-WrestleMania 37 episode of Raw on April 12.[15][16] WWE taped the April 5 and 9 episodes of Raw and SmackDown, respectively, as well as the 2021 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, the week prior to allow time to move the ThunderDome from Tropicana Field to Yuengling Center before the April 12 broadcast. The April 9 episode of SmackDown, which was taped on April 2, was the final show produced at Tropicana Field.[17] WWE remained at the Yuengling Center until July 9, as the company announced that they would be returning to live touring, starting with the July 16 episode of SmackDown in Houston, Texas, thus ending production of the ThunderDome broadcasts. The final ThunderDome show produced live was the July 9 episode of SmackDown with the final ThunderDome-based broadcast airing as the July 15 episode of Main Event, which was taped on July 6. Additionally, June's Hell in a Cell event was the final PPV held in the ThunderDome, which also made Hell in a Cell the only PPV to be produced twice from the ThunderDome.[18][19][20] The period of time that WWE produced shows from the ThunderDome has been referred to as the "ThunderDome Era".[21][22][23]

On October 4, 2020, at NXT TakeOver 31, WWE debuted a similar setup dubbed the Capitol Wrestling Center for their NXT brand's events—since mid-March, NXT's shows were held behind closed doors at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. The Capitol Wrestling Center was hosted at the WWE Performance Center and had many of the same features as the ThunderDome.[24] The main difference was that the Capitol Wrestling Center included a small crowd of select live fans, who were originally required to wear masks and divided by plexiglass walls, in addition to the virtual fans.[25] The name was also an homage to WWE's predecessor, the Capitol Wrestling Corporation. 205 Live's shows were also moved to the Performance Center following TakeOver 31.[26][27] The Performance Center would become NXT's permanent home base and by June 2021, nearly all COVID restrictions were lifted with audience capacity expanded and no longer featuring virtual fans.[28] On September 14, 2021, the Capitol Wrestling Center name was discontinued when NXT was relaunched as NXT 2.0, complete with a fully redesigned Performance Center.[29]

Early reviews of the ThunderDome were largely positive. Pro Wrestling Torch ran a poll on their website, and over 50% of respondents indicated that the ThunderDome was "way better" than the shows produced at the WWE Performance Center, while 23% said it was "a little better." Two-thirds of the respondents also said the ThunderDome exceeded their expectations. Nearly half of the respondents said they were more likely to watch WWE's programming due to the ThunderDome setup.[42] In an early review by John Clark of Wrestle Zone, he said the experience of attending as a virtual fan was "cool" but "forgettable."[43]

In November 2020, WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon said that while ratings had dropped during the company's time at the Performance Center, the ratings did increase with the move to the ThunderDome, although the exact numbers were not revealed. She did note that each ThunderDome show up to that point had 1,000 virtual fans in attendance and that there had been over 100,000 entry requests since launch.[44] During the first three months, there were over 130,000 entry requests to access the ThunderDome website.[45] By January 2021, there were 500,000 registered users. Additionally, 226 countries and territories had been represented, 70% of the virtual spectators had returned multiple times, and each show had 100% full capacity of virtual fans.[46] By March 2021, there had been over 650,000 entry requests.[16]

• 2020 NBA Bubble, a similar mechanism used by the National Basketball Association

• WWE ThunderDome Frequently Asked Questions