WWE Seems To Have A New Home For The Thunderdome

Home rented home? The Coronavirus has changed the wrestling landscape in a huge way with one of the biggest shifts being the lack of live fans in attendance. This has been quite the problem as there is little way to keep the energy up at shows without people there. WWE has done what they can in the meantime, and that might be extended a bit further going forward.

Since August, WWE’s main television shows have been run out of the Thunderdone, a concept built around a bunch of digital screens with fans watching from home. The setup has been held in both the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida and Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Now though the company is going to have to move again, and we know where they are heading next.

According to Jon Alba of Spectrum Sports, WWE will likely be moving the Thunderdome to the Yuengling Center, formerly known as the Sun Dome, in Tampa, Florida. The building is on the campus of the University of South Florida and holds about 10,400 people. There is no word on if fans will be able to attend. WWE will be forced to leave Tropicana Field as the Tampa Bay Rays baseball season is beginning in early April. There is no word on how long WWE would be at the Yuengling Center.

The expectation among multiple people I have spoken to in #WWE is they will remain in the Tampa area after the Tropicana Field ThunderDome ends ahead of the #Rays season. They all believe they are headed to #USF’s Yuengling Center (fka the Sun Dome) for at least a period of time.

— Jon Alba (@JonAlba) March 15, 2021

The Yuengling Center is on the University of South Florida campus and hosts several of the school’s teams (Omos used to play basketball there). A few days ago a #USF said they wouldn’t be surprised to see the move happen and believed the schedule was open. #WWE

— Jon Alba (@JonAlba) March 15, 2021

I do not know the status of fans present, or if it would be the ThunderDome setup. The Yuengling Center is smaller than Amway Center or Tropicana Field, capacity is about 10,400. #WWE

— Jon Alba (@JonAlba) March 15, 2021

The arena has held a variety of WWE events over the years. Check out the Thunderdome and what the venue has seen before:

Superstars’ entrances light up WWE ThunderDome: SmackDown, August 21, 2020

FULL MATCH - 1995 Royal Rumble Match: Royal Rumble 1995

The Million Dollar Corporation steals The Undertaker's urn: Royal Rumble 1995

Opinion: This is one of the most logical things that WWE can do as they need a new home. Keeping things in Tampa is a smart idea and hopefully this is the kind of thing that can give them a bit more security. Things are starting to turn around in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic so this very well may be the final stop for WWE before things are a lot closer to normal. Maybe this is the place where they can bring back some fans too, which would be rather nice.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books.

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