Because of coronavirus-related restrictions on large events, tonight’s episode of WWE Smackdown will air live from the Performance Center with no fans in attendance, and it looks more WWE shows will do the same in the coming weeks.
According to a report from PWInsider, Monday’s episode of Raw, which was due to broadcast from Pittsburgh, will also take place in the PC. WWE has yet to address whether next week’s Raw will be moved, but since schools are closed in Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh has already banned city-hosted gatherings of fifty or more people, it’s safe to assume that the show won’t go on as originally planned.
NXT aired from the Performance Center for the first time last week for reasons unrelated to COVID-19 and now it looks like the virus will cause the next several episodes to broadcast from the PC as well. Full Sail University suspended classes through April today and a statement from the university president says that “all group events on campus will be suspended through the end of April” as well.
Along with changes to WWE’s in-ring shows, the immediate future of FS1 talk show WWE Backstage is also unclear. Fox Sports suspended FS1 studio shows through “at least Friday, March 20” earlier today, and @WWEonFOX Twitter account confirmed that includes Backstage. Whether that show continues to broadcast from another location or just goes on hiatus for a few weeks remains to be seen.
Update: WWE has confirmed that this Monday’s Raw will take place in the PC with no fans in attendance.
