{"id":219415,"date":"2026-07-16T23:00:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T04:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=219415"},"modified":"2026-07-16T20:55:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T01:55:25","slug":"free-podcast-7-16-wkpwp-wwe-smackdown-post-show-5-yrs-ago-the-return-of-fans-to-the-arenas-after-covid-on-site-report-balor-returns-belair-carmella-164-min","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/07\/16\/free-podcast-7-16-wkpwp-wwe-smackdown-post-show-5-yrs-ago-the-return-of-fans-to-the-arenas-after-covid-on-site-report-balor-returns-belair-carmella-164-min\/","title":{"rendered":"FREE PODCAST 7\/16 \u2013 WKPWP WWE Smackdown Post-Show \u2013 5 Yrs Ago: The return of fans to the arenas after COVID, on-site report, Balor returns, Belair-Carmella (164 min.)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3271083049\" 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><strong>SHOW SUMMARY: <\/strong>In this week&#8217;s episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show from five years ago (7-16-2021), PWTorch editor Wade Keller and PWTorch contributor Brandon LeClair from PWTorch discussed WWE Friday Night Smackdown with live callers and emails with a focus on the return of fans in the stands and thoughts on how they were received. Also, final Money in the Bank, the return of Finn Balor, Bianca Belair defending against Carmella, and more. They were joined by former PWTorch assistant editor James Caldwell who talked about what it was like in the arena in Houston as the first on-site correspondent of the post-ThunderDome era.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FREE VERSION: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/5-yrs-ago-smackdown-post-show-the-return-of-fans-to-the-arenas-after-covid-on-site-report-balor-returns-belair-carmella--73020125\">AUDIO LINK<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>AD-FREE VIP VERSION:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/android\/legacyuploads\/wp-media\/2026\/07\/20260716WKPWP-5YrsAgo-SD-VIP.mp3\">VIP AUDIO LINK<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>NOT VIP? NO PROBLEM\u2026<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorchvipinfo.com\">CLICK HERE FOR VIP SIGN UP INFO<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>OTHER LINKS&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Or support us on Patreon&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/pwtorchvip\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/pwtorchvip&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1751173881549000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2Q7ZrxqjTjmliv0ww4ly6q\">https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/<wbr \/>pwtorchvip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to our YouTube Channel&#8230;<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-246006801\" 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>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/pwtorch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/pwtorch&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1751173881549000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0UdLztcgHotVkox8U_nu8E\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/<wbr \/>pwtorch<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow us on Blue Sky&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/pwtorch.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/pwtorch.bsky.social&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1751173881549000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0srWkoArAQ4Gwtief8lXhc\">https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/<wbr \/>pwtorch.bsky.social<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Emails&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"mailto:wadekellerpodcast@gmail.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wadekellerpodcast@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"mailto:kellerwade@gmail.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">kellerwade@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"mailto:pwtorch@gmail.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pwtorch@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1356657966\"><div id=\"pwtor-1483349952\"><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>SHOW SUMMARY: In this week&#8217;s episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show from five years ago (7-16-2021), PWTorch editor Wade Keller and PWTorch contributor Brandon LeClair from PWTorch discussed WWE Friday Night Smackdown with <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/07\/16\/free-podcast-7-16-wkpwp-wwe-smackdown-post-show-5-yrs-ago-the-return-of-fans-to-the-arenas-after-covid-on-site-report-balor-returns-belair-carmella-164-min\/\" title=\"FREE PODCAST 7\/16 \u2013 WKPWP WWE Smackdown Post-Show \u2013 5 Yrs Ago: The return of fans to the arenas after COVID, on-site report, Balor returns, Belair-Carmella (164 min.)\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":135873,"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_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,5655],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-219415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcasts","category-wade-keller-pro-wrestling-podcast"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2022\/03\/WKPWPPostShow2022_FREE.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219415","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=219415"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219418,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219415\/revisions\/219418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}