WWE was hoping to get live fans back in venues. It's not happening any time soon, though.
Per a report from our Fightful Select service last week, WWE was hoping that they'd be able to move forward. But not so fast.
WWE has been planning for weeks to make moves outside of the WWE Performance Center and Full Sail University.
The plans that Fightful Select had been made aware that WWE planned to run venues involving real fans, with social distancing rules implemented. Lakeland was listed as a likely landing spot in the RP Funding Center. Ring Of Honor has been to the venue several times over the past few years. A few members of the roster had heard of the plans when we inquired.
The plans we'd heard about call for a weekend taping in July, but as has been the case with WWE of late, those dates can change, and there have been rumors of delays backstage. Fightful learned days later that several within WWE were notified that the planned shows with audiences -- specifically Lakeland, which we reported -- had been delayed. No further details were provided. WWE had told us initially the information wasn't correct, but was corroborated by several other outlets before the shows were delayed.
Fightful had previously discussed with with Mat Men Radio's Andrew Zarian, who noted WWE had been looking at potential venues with fans involved. Lakeland is about an hour away from Orlando, heading towards Tampa.
We've reached out to WWE for comment, who said that the information isn't accurate, but did not clarify beyond that.
For now, it's Performance Center recruits in the crowd.
