PHILADELPHIA (AP) 鈥� Triple H walked with his arms crossed like an X -- his signature Degeneration X symbol -- with his 7-foot tag-team partner to ring a ceremonial bell last month before a Philadelphia 76ers playoff game.
His theme music blared through the arena and nearly 19,000 fans hanging from the rafters roared when the wrestler hoisted his bad guy weapon-of-choice sledgehammer and
Sure, the setting wasn鈥檛 WrestleMania -- though Triple H lost a match in the same building when the event was held there in 1999 -- but for the superstar-turned-executive, the frenzied atmosphere was a reminder of what WWE lost during the 16 months it ran without live events and raucous crowds.
鈥淚t was a fun opportunity to get back into an arena and have them go nuts,鈥� said Triple H, known these days as WWE executive Paul Levesque. 鈥淭hat adrenaline rush, there鈥檚 nothing like it.鈥�
WWE hasn鈥檛 been the same without its or 鈥淭his is Awe-some!鈥� singsongs once the every week with a piped-in soundtrack and virtual fans.
No more.
Much like the intro to the DX theme, WWE has one question for its fans: Are you ready?
With most American sports leagues settled in to their old routines, WWE is finally set to ditch its stopgap home in Florida and starting Friday night with 鈥淪mackdown鈥� from Houston, a pay-per-view Sunday in Texas and a return Monday to Dallas for the flagship 鈥淩aw鈥� TV show on USA. WWE is set to spruce up sets, bring back old stars and hit the reset button on TV programming and a strong need for new stars.
WWE Universal champion Roman Reigns stared down each opponent in the ring -- from Sunday鈥檚 main event foe Edge to WrestleMania victim Daniel Bryan -- and demanded they 鈥� 鈥� as best in the game.
It might have been nice to hear what the fans had to say -- or jeer -- to the ultimatum.
鈥淚 do think if we were doing this in front of the live crowd, it would have been a situation that would have made me an even better performer,鈥� Reigns said. 鈥淎s a live performer, that simultaneous response keeps you sharp. We had to adjust and adapt to the times that were in front of us.鈥�
With Hulk Hogan in the house, WWE held only WrestleMania this past April 10th and 11th at Raymond James Stadium with fans. WWE last ran a weeknight televised event with a paid crowd on March 9, 2020, in Washington. WWE then moved to its in-house performance center in Florida on March 13, before setting up what it dubbed The ThunderDome -- where fans registered for spots on LED digital videoboards -- for stretches in Florida at the Amway Center, Tropicana Field and the Yuengling Center.
WWE tinkered with its formula during the pandemic and taped cinematic matches, used more augmented reality and dabbled with an 鈥渦nderground鈥� concept that never reached its potential. With WWE pushing the reaction buttons, it guaranteed fans wouldn鈥檛 veer from the hopeful creative direction and boo fan-favorites for sport like they have in the past with Reigns and current Hollywood heavyweight John Cena.
鈥淧eople like Roman have been able to emotionally bring a performance that, maybe with people cheering over him, or booing over him or going into different directions over him,鈥� have benefited, Levesque said. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 the beauty of what we do, to go be entertained, however you want to be entertained. As a performer, sometimes that鈥檚 difficult. But if you鈥檙e not entertaining, sometimes they鈥檒l entertain themselves.鈥�
WWE鈥檚 fan shutout didn鈥檛 completely lay the smack down on the bottom line, with the company reporting in 2020.
Even without ticket revenue, venue merchandise and the loss of a , WWE鈥檚 billion dollar TV deals with Fox and USA Network and a move of its standalone streaming network to Peacock -- home of Sunday鈥檚 Money in the Bank event 鈥� will keep the company profitable for years.
WWE鈥檚 July 5 鈥淩AW鈥� on USA Network hit 1.472 million viewers, the lowest in the 28-plus year history of the show. Off the holiday weekend, 鈥淩aw鈥� rebounded to 1.609 million this week. Last Friday鈥檚 鈥淪mackdown鈥� had 1.986 million viewers on Fox. WWE never missed a TV event during the pandemic.
Levesque, WWE EVP of global talent strategy and development, said the company would 鈥渢ake a hard look鈥� at how it can attract more fans to the product each week. WWE can only hope the combination of live crowds and the return of box office attractions such as Becky Lynch, Goldberg, and Cena can ignite interest and grow ratings during the build to the marquee Aug. 21 SummerSlam at the home of the Las Vegas Raiders.
鈥淚t never is one thing,鈥� Levesque said. 鈥淲e see this as a moment in time to shift everything. I think you鈥檒l see it in just the layout of everything, the set designs, the way it鈥檚 presented. There鈥檚 a greater emphasis on utilizing the spaces that we have and the TV aspect of it while still engaging the fans. A lot of that comes from the time we had to experiment inside the ThunderDome.鈥�
The first start is putting fans -- holding their homemade signs and wearing their catchphrase T-shirts -- back in the seats.
鈥淲hen we have that live crowd, sometimes they almost become the cameras for a lot of the performers,鈥� Reigns said. 鈥淏ut when you don鈥檛 have that real-time, flesh interaction, the red light becomes the focal point for the performer.鈥�
Reigns is ready to add some more of his own to the highlight reel.
鈥淥ur production, our display of the show is so much greater with a live crowd,鈥� Reigns said. 鈥淏eing able to visit different markets, different towns and cities and incorporate a group of fans that haven't seen us in a while, there's nothing that's ever going to be able to replace that.鈥�
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Dan Gelston, The Associated Press
