WWE debuted the ThunderDome on August 21, showing off a state of the art facility inside Amway Arena.
The facility was an upgrade from the Performance Center and allowed WWE to bring out the over the top production that they have come known for. However, one thing was missing in a big way; The crowd. While fans appeared virtually on screens, there was no noise in the arena.
Since the initial show, WWE has used fake crowd noise that fans at home can hear and wrestlers in the ring can hear as well. The suggestion came from Tyson Kidd (TJ Wilson) after conversations with Bayley and other wrestlers.
"The first day at Amway [audio] was not [piped in]," Kidd told Chris Van Vliet. "Bayley was like, 'TJ, it's so awkward.' We had gotten used to the NXT audience, so it was a little something. In the meeting, they were like, 'What did everyone think?' I said, 'The ThunderDome looks awesome. Is there any way to pipe the noise into the arena because it will help the talent. I spoke with a lot of talent from the week before and they said that was what was missing.' Kevin [Dunn] said 'no problem.' So, they pump it in and it helps a lot. It at least helps you lose yourself a bit and letting go I like to think I have my pulse on the talent and I ask them questions. Bayley was the one who told me. Then I asked the locker room and they all said the same."
Kidd said that he made the suggestion to WWE Executive Producer Kevin Dunn on Monday after SmackDown and SummerSlam had taken place inside the ThunderDome. At the Performance Center, WWE used NXT and extra talent to fill out the crowd.
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