{"id":86205,"date":"2021-03-07T12:30:26","date_gmt":"2021-03-07T17:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=86205"},"modified":"2021-03-07T12:35:04","modified_gmt":"2021-03-07T17:35:04","slug":"wwe-covid-moments-missed-a-crowd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/03\/07\/wwe-covid-moments-missed-a-crowd\/","title":{"rendered":"Big WWE Moments That Missed a Crowd"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Would you believe it has already been one year since WWE fans bustled through arena doors by the tens of thousands to see a live show? It&#8217;s hard to believe that a week that began by seeing over 14,000 fans in a packed Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia for the Elimination Chamber, ended on a much quieter note as that Friday&#8217;s (Friday the 13th no less) SmackDown was the first to be broadcast from the fanless Performance Center.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, March 11th, 2020 for NXT, WWE opened its doors to a live audience for the last time &#8211; thus marking the final time a <strong>WWE<\/strong> show would take place with a crowd in attendance. The COVID-19 pandemic brought the cast-iron, WWE touring schedule &#8211; in place for decades &#8211; to a screeching halt.\u00a0 No more grueling US-wide, house show-included schedules; no more ventures overseas.\u00a0 The WWE Performance Center or the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2020\/08\/19\/wwe-promises-wrestlemania-level-production-value-with-thunderdome\/\" target=\"_self\">Thunderdome<\/a> would become the new home of <strong>RAW<\/strong>, SmackDown, NXT and all Pay Per Views going forward, a tradition which remains in place at the time of this writing. WWE is planning to welcome back fans for the first time in over a year, for WrestleMania 37, however it seems this will be a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/amp\/s\/comicbook.com\/wwe\/amp\/news\/wwe-live-events-after-wrestlemania-37-second-half-2021\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">one-off for the time being, with full arenas not expected weekly anytime soon.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>That means that this, for now, continues to be the new normal.\u00a0 Many big moments have taken place within the WWE over the past year, with the COVID era actually bringing about some fresh and much-needed changes to the company&#8217;s product.\u00a0 Let us now take a look at the top WWE moments which would have most benefited from a live, WWE audience.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It\u2019s been an unprecedented year. We miss you, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWEUniverse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@WWEUniverse<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SAxdXd5Yex\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/SAxdXd5Yex<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWEonFOX\/status\/1368297892159619078?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 6, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Drew McIntyre Becomes WWE Champion (April 5, 2020)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Drew McIntyre\u2019s greatest conquests: WWE Playlist\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/c3vdUx-kvxM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>2020 was really the year of <strong>Drew McIntyre<\/strong>.\u00a0 Upon debuting within the WWE in 2009, he had the &#8220;Chosen One&#8221; moniker given to him by none other than <strong>Vince McMahon<\/strong>.\u00a0 In 2014, of course, Drew &#8211; who had been performing in a bit-part, jobber comedy gimmick as a member of <strong>3MB<\/strong> (with <strong>Jinder Mahal<\/strong> and <strong>Heath Slater<\/strong>) &#8211; would be released from his WWE contract.\u00a0 He was largely viewed as yet another failed project, tossed aside with the likes of <strong>Nathan Jones<\/strong>, <strong>Renee Dupree<\/strong>, <strong>Muhammad Hassan<\/strong> (through no fault of his own) and <strong>Vladimir Kozlov<\/strong>, to name a few.\u00a0 What came, of course, was a remarkable run on the indies, notably with Scottish promotion,<strong> ICW<\/strong>, and a run in <strong>IMPACT Wrestling<\/strong> which saw him capture the world title.\u00a0 His noticeable improvement regained the attention of the WWE and he would quickly become NXT Champion, before moving to the main roster and becoming the heelish &#8220;Scottish Psychopath&#8221; character.\u00a0 Before long, he was winning the Men&#8217;s <strong><em>Royal Rumble<\/em><\/strong> in 2020 and challenging<strong> Brock Lesnar<\/strong> at <em><strong>WrestleMania XXXVI.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>A remarkable turnaround and as witnessed from the <em>Royal Rumble<\/em> to RAW&#8217;s final show in front of an audience on March 2 2020, the crowd were firmly behind Drew.\u00a0 His big moment only missed the hot <em>WrestleMania<\/em> crowd.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Roman Reigns Becomes the Tribal Chief (August 28, 2020)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Roman Reigns turns to Paul Heyman ahead of WWE Payback: SmackDown, August 28, 2020\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mFoQ_H2Pj9U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>If Drew McIntyre was the top babyface of 2020, <strong>Roman Reigns<\/strong> was definitely the top heel.\u00a0 Despite missing a large portion of the year, including <em>WrestleMania<\/em>, Roman would return in a big way towards the tail end of 2020.\u00a0 He initially returned at <em><strong>SummerSlam<\/strong><\/em>, attacking<strong> Braun Strowman<\/strong> and<strong> The Fiend<\/strong> after their WWE Universal Championship match.\u00a0 This didn&#8217;t seem too different from the old Roman Reigns.\u00a0 The big reveal of Roman&#8217;s true intentions would follow on the following SmackDown, August 28, when Roman aligned with<strong> Paul Heyman<\/strong> in a backstage segment which would have received a roar from a WWE audience.\u00a0 The rest, as they say, is history.\u00a0 Roman would become the &#8220;Tribal Chief&#8221;; SmackDown would become his &#8220;island&#8221; and anyone who fails to acknowledge him as their Tribal Chief would be dealt with accordingly (as has <strong>Kevin Owens<\/strong> already).\u00a0 Roman Reigns is on an incredible run right now and it is a damn shame that the WWE Universe has missed out, in a live setting.<\/p>\n<p>[pickup_prop id=&#8221;3956&#8243;]<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Sasha Banks Dethrones Bayley as SmackDown Women&#8217;s Champion (October 25, 2020)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sasha Banks to lead SmackDown to \u201cLand of the Boss\u201d: Hell in a Cell Exclusive, Oct. 25, 2020\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/78ABw1X99Lk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Before dropping the SmackDown Women&#8217;s Champion to <strong>Sasha Banks<\/strong> at <em><strong>Hell in a Cell 2020<\/strong><\/em>, <strong>Bayley<\/strong> was unstoppable.\u00a0 She began her second reign as champion on the October 11 edition of SmackDown in 2019, capturing the title from <strong>Charlotte Flair<\/strong>.\u00a0 What would then occur was a reign longer than the previous five combined, as Bayley would hold the title for a record 380 days.\u00a0 Sasha Banks, for a long time, had arguably been the most underutilized of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2020\/08\/25\/legacy-four-horsewomen\/\" target=\"_self\">Four Horsewomen<\/a>.\u00a0 She was a huge star in NXT, making history for regularly main eventing shows over men at a time when women&#8217;s wrestling wasn&#8217;t what it is now within the WWE.\u00a0 Then on the main roster, she was given a few title reigns where she couldn&#8217;t successfully defend the championship and her momentum was quickly derailed whilst <strong>Becky Lynch<\/strong>, Charlotte, and Bayley each found themselves enjoying lengthy and numerous title reigns.\u00a0 In beating Bayley for the SmackDown Women&#8217;s Championship at <em>Hell in a Cell<\/em>, successfully defending it and presently (at the time of this writing) enjoying a 131 day title reign, Sasha Banks is finally receiving both the push and recognition she deserves.\u00a0 She only needed a live audience to enjoy her reign and journey with her.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Randy Orton Ignites The Fiend (December 20, 2020)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Relive the Firefly Inferno Match between Randy Orton and The Fiend at WWE TLC\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MZytjajiebg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Say what you want about the lengthy and ongoing feud between <strong>Randy Orton<\/strong>, <strong>Alexa Bliss<\/strong> an<strong>d Bray Wyatt,<\/strong> but Randy Orton igniting The Fiend in the Firely Inferno match &#8211; burning him alive &#8211; made for very entertaining, if not overly morbid viewing.\u00a0 The big moment at the culmination of the match may have been more difficult to pull off in front of a live audience; switching Bray out for a wax dummy might potentially prove tricky with watching eyes.\u00a0 But if they could pull it off, it would no doubt be a moment met with a chorus of &#8220;Holy S**t!&#8221; chants.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Royal Rumble Returns (January 31, 2021)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Victoria wreaks havoc in Royal Rumble return: Royal Rumble 2021 (WWE Network Exclusive)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-Hq1zfQjBb4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Every year, arguably the most hotly-anticipated WWE PPV is the<em><strong> Royal Rumble<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 It almost always features an eagerly loud and excitable crowd; the Royal Rumble matches themselves, which are almost always fun and, of course, feature a number of usually one-night-only legend returns and NXT cameos.\u00a0 This year&#8217;s <em>Royal Rumble<\/em>, despite missing an audience, was no different as we witnessed the returns of <strong>Victoria<\/strong>, <strong>Jillian Hall<\/strong>, <strong>Mickie James<\/strong>, <strong>Torrie Wilson<\/strong>, <strong>Alicia Fox<\/strong>,<strong> Carlito<\/strong>, <strong>Kane<\/strong>, <strong>Hurricane Helms<\/strong> and<strong> Christian<\/strong>.\u00a0 Victoria and Jillian Hall would have received big pops, with both having not featured in a WWE ring in many years (Victoria had not worked for the WWE since 2009).\u00a0 Carlito, similarly, would have been met with a big reception, with his noticeable physical transformation already the topic of many online wrestling forums.\u00a0 Christian, too, had a big moment in the match; tearfully and emotionally reuniting <strong>E&amp;C<\/strong> on<strong> Edge<\/strong>&#8216;s run to winning the entire <em>Royal Rumble<\/em> match.\u00a0 Royal Rumble events nearly always require a live audience, not only for the big returns and debuts that take place, but also the star-making moments that occur.<\/p>\n<p>[pickup_prop id=&#8221;4770&#8243;]<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Bianca Belair Wins the WWE Women&#8217;s Royal Rumble Match (January 31, 2021)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bianca Belair on top of the world following Royal Rumble win: Royal Rumble Exclusive, Jan. 31, 2021\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CztpGdDaTbw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>At this year&#8217;s <em>Royal Rumble<\/em>, arguably the biggest talking point of all was <strong>Bianca Belair<\/strong> winning the Women&#8217;s <em>Royal Rumble<\/em> match.\u00a0 Almost everyone is unison in their praise of Bianca, who is undoubtedly one of the most gifted and talented members of the WWE roster.\u00a0 Whereas she is not yet the fully polished article, she has the potential to be one of the greatest women&#8217;s wrestlers of all time.\u00a0 In winning her respective<em> Royal Rumble<\/em> match this year, she has announced herself to the WWE Universe in devastatingly dominant fashion.\u00a0 She has challenged Sasha Banks to a match for the WWE SmackDown Women&#8217;s Championship at <em><strong>WrestleMania XXXVII<\/strong><\/em> on April 10-11.\u00a0 This could potentially be the second women&#8217;s main event of a WrestleMania night, and therefore even more of a star-making moment than her Royal Rumble victory.\u00a0 If the EST pulls off the big win against the BOSS, there is no doubt that moment will have to be added to this article.\u00a0 Bianca Belair is becoming a star before our very eyes and, just like every other moment listed above, we can only dream how much bigger the moment would have been with a hot WWE audience.<\/p>\n<p>[pickup_prop id=&#8221;4756&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p><em>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.\u00a0WWE fan? You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/watch.wwe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WWE Network<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Looking to talk wrestling, pro football, or any number of sports? Head on over to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/boards\/index.php\" target=\"_self\">LWOS Boards<\/a>\u00a0to engage in conversation with fellow fans!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Would you believe it has already been one year since WWE fans bustled through arena doors by the tens of thousands to see a live show? It&#8217;s hard to believe that a week that began by seeing over 14,000 fans in a packed Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia for the Elimination Chamber, ended on a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2482,"featured_media":84132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,25,26,4,3],"tags":[160,1445,686,58,77,159],"class_list":["post-86205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-raw","category-smackdown","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-bayley","tag-bianca-belair","tag-drew-mcintyre","tag-randy-orton","tag-roman-reigns","tag-sasha-banks"],"modified_by":"Alex Richards, LWOF Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2482"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}