The WWE decided earlier this week that this year’s edition of WrestleMania will go on without fans. Now, the wrestling show will be held over two nights at multiple locations with former NFL star Rob Gronkowski hosting.
It was previously announced that WrestleMania 36 would move from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando with no fans in attendance. However, on Wednesday, WWE announced that WrestleMania will be held over two nights for the first time in history with multiple locations on each day. This is similar to their decision to hold WrestleMania 2 in three separate locations – Uniondale, Rosemont, and Los Angeles.
While fans can’t attend the shows, they can watch the event on a livestream on April 4 and 5. Official locations will be announced this Friday by Gronkowski on SmackDown.
“WrestleMania, for the first time ever, will be held as a two-night event streaming on Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5 at 7 p.m. ET on WWE Network and available on pay-per-view,” WWE said in a press release. “The two-night pop culture extravaganza will be hosted by three-time Super Bowl Champion Rob Gronkowski.”
The release went on to note that all locations will be “closed sets with only essential personnel.”
It’s official! I’m hosting @WrestleMania this year…and it’s gonna be too big for just one night. For the 1st time, #WrestleMania will be a 🚨2-NIGHT🚨event: Saturday, April 4 AND Sunday, April 5 on @WWENetwork! Tell you more this Friday night on #SmackDown at 8 ET on @FOXTV.
— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) March 18, 2020
WrestleMania’s change follows multiple suit of multiple live event companies taking precautions during the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Live Nation has postponed all tours throughout the rest of the month, major sporting events like BNP Paribas Open and Masters Tournament have been cancelled, and major sports leagues have suspended operations.
Raw and SmackDown have been held at the empty Performance Center in recent weeks, and replays of matches from Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber pay-per-views have been filling out the running time of both shows. This change will help prevent viewers from feeling burned-out during the long event, as well as limit the number of people in the building at the same time.
Fans can expect to see matches between WWE champion Brock Lesnar and Drew McIntyre, universal champion Goldberg versus Roman Reigns, AJ Styles’ match against The Undertaker, and Becky Lynch v. Shayna Baszler.
