WWE moves WrestleMania 36 from Tampa to Performance Center in Orlando

Tom Gatto

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WWE moves WrestleMania 36 from Tampa to Performance Center in Orlando image

WWE on Monday announced that it was moving its premier event, WrestleMania on April 5, from Tampa, Fla., to its Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., and closing the card to the public.

The company said the decision was made "(i)n coordination with local partners and government officials." Only "essential personnel" will be permitted inside the Performance Center for the pay-per-view.

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Mass gatherings across the country are being scrapped as the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic continues. This year's WrestleMania was to take place in the nearly 66,000-seat Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, the home stadium for the NFL's Buccaneers.

WWE saw how a production in an empty studio arena could work and look when it held "SmackDown Live" on Friday at an almost-empty Performance Center. It got another glimpse into its immediate future with its "Monday' Night Raw" production: same facility, same awkward silence,

Take, for example, this entrance by the Undertaker:

Or this spot by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin on 3:16 Day:

Austin acknowledged the unusual setting afterward:

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.