{"id":102850,"date":"2020-08-17T15:18:54","date_gmt":"2020-08-17T20:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=102850"},"modified":"2020-08-17T15:21:10","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T20:21:10","slug":"kevin-dunn-reveals-more-details-on-new-wwe-tv-set-debuting-friday-thanks-for-sticking-around-during-below-par-production-in-recent-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/08\/17\/kevin-dunn-reveals-more-details-on-new-wwe-tv-set-debuting-friday-thanks-for-sticking-around-during-below-par-production-in-recent-months\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Dunn reveals more details on new WWE TV set debuting Friday, thanks fans for sticking around during below par production in recent months"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-4232514208\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>The following are key highlights of WWE\u2019s executive vice president of television production Kevin Dunn&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/wrestling\/2020\/08\/17\/wwe-summerslam-location-amway-center-orlando\">interview with Sports Illustrated<\/a> today regarding WWE&#8217;s new production set-up at Amway Center on this Friday&#8217;s episode of WWE Smackdown on Fox. Like the Global Wrestling Federation in the early 1990s running its TV at the Sportatorium in Dallas, Tex., but dubbing it the &#8220;Global Dome,&#8221; WWE has christened the new set-up at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. the &#8220;WWE ThunderDome.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u2022\u201cWhen people think of WWE, most think of the spectacle that we are, but it was just impossible to put on a spectacle in the Performance Center,\u201d said Dunn. \u201cMoving to Amway, and unveiling the ThunderDome, the opportunities are limitless.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2022\u201cWe can now do things production-wise that we could never otherwise do. We\u2019re flying drones in the arena, we are putting a roof inside the Amway Center, and we\u2019ll be able to project content onto the roof. So when a big star like Drew McIntyre comes down to the ring, the whole arena will turn into his content with lasers, pyro, smoke, projections on the top of the building and on the floor. It will be a big, beautiful entrance, better than WrestleMania.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2022\u201cLike the NBA, we\u2019re doing virtual fans, but we\u2019re also creating an arena-type atmosphere. We won\u2019t have a flat board; we\u2019ll have rows and rows and rows of fans. We\u2019ll have almost a thousand LED boards, and it will recreate the arena experience you\u2019re used to seeing with WWE. The atmosphere will be night and day from the Performance Center. This is going to let us have a WrestleMania-level production value, and that\u2019s what our audience expects from us. We are also going to put arena audio into the broadcast, similar to baseball, but our audio will be mixed with the virtual fans. So when fans start chants, we\u2019ll hear them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u2022\u201cWe start on Friday on Smackdown, and it will be a learning experience. We have two days of testing, and we\u2019re going to practice like hell, then we\u2019re off to the races. We may have fans for certain entrances, standing up and cheering for the typical babyfaces. But someone like Bray Wyatt, who is so character-driven, the entire Amway Arena will be one big Fiend-dom. That\u2019s our opportunity to be different from sports, where we can present these larger-than-life characters uniquely. This will be great for people watching at home across the globe, as well as the ones participating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2022\u201cWe\u2019re going to have a very tight set that is focused on safety for our performers. Everyone is going to be tested all the time. It\u2019s really important that our performers feel safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2022\u201cIf you asked me a year ago, I\u2019d have said we\u2019ve done everything. But this is going to be an interactive experience, and it\u2019s something like I\u2019ve never produced before. Producing the show is the best part of my job, and this is going to be a historic challenge for our team to pull off. We\u2019re excited to pull it off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2022\u201cWe\u2019re grateful and so appreciate the fans are hanging with us. It\u2019s been tough. The shows haven\u2019t been what we\u2019d like them to be, and we\u2019d be dishonest saying anything else. We miss our fans. Our fans make our shows. Without them, it\u2019s been really challenging. I can\u2019t wait to see the ThunderDome full of 1,000 people, giving us the energy we need to make this as entertaining as possible. I think people watching and participating are really going to enjoy this, and it\u2019s going to make people say, \u2018Wow, WWE, it\u2019s back.\u2019\u201d<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-537698349\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Dunn also said the setting without the general public in attendance could last until the end of the year. The current deal with Amway Center is through the end of October, though.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE AT SI: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/wrestling\/2020\/08\/17\/wwe-summerslam-location-amway-center-orlando\">WWE Turning Orlando\u2019s Amway Center Into \u2018WWE ThunderDome\u2019 for TV Production Going Forward<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>RECOMMENDED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/08\/17\/wwe-announces-new-thunderdome-tv-set-for-raw-smackdown-ppvs-details-inclusion-of-fans-at-events-virtually-partners-with-new-live-event-production-company\/\">WWE announces new ThunderDome TV set for Raw, Smackdown, PPVs, details inclusion of fans at events virtually, partners with new live event production company<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1143773419\"><div id=\"pwtor-2092501228\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>The following are key highlights of WWE\u2019s executive vice president of television production Kevin Dunn&#8217;s interview with Sports Illustrated today regarding WWE&#8217;s new production set-up at Amway Center on this Friday&#8217;s episode of WWE Smackdown <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/08\/17\/kevin-dunn-reveals-more-details-on-new-wwe-tv-set-debuting-friday-thanks-for-sticking-around-during-below-par-production-in-recent-months\/\" title=\"Kevin Dunn reveals more details on new WWE TV set debuting Friday, thanks fans for sticking around during below par production in recent months\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":73588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prowrestlingnews","category-news_wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2019\/01\/SmackdownRingStepsWoodGreg_3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102850"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102852,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102850\/revisions\/102852"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}