WrestleMania is the biggest event on the wrestling calendar, and WWE typically packs football stadiums with more than 70,000 people to watch an epic 7-hour pay-per-view featuring nearly every star on the roster. The coronavirus outbreak has forced WWE to drastically alter its plans and move WrestleMania 36 out of Raymond James Stadium in Tampa and into its Performance Center in Orlando, where the show will proceed with zero fans in attendance.
On Wednesday, WWE made a few more major announcements. For the first time ever, WrestleMania will be split into a two-day event, with matches being held on both Saturday, April 4th, and Sunday, April 5th. The event will be hosted by former Patriots star Rob Gronkowski, who was reportedly close to finalizing a deal with WWE earlier this month. Gronkowski will make his first appearance since his cameo at WrestleMania 33 on Friday night’s episode of SmackDown, which is also being held at the Performance Center.
The move to a two-night WrestleMania makes sense for multiple reasons. One of the biggest criticisms of WWE’s signature event is that it’s simply too long. WrestleMania kickoff shows typically start in the afternoon, and it’s not uncommon for the entire show to take well over six hours. That’s a lot of time to ask even a hardcore fan to sit through uninterrupted – but even with the extended run time, some matches still manage to feel rushed.
By splitting WrestleMania into what will likely be a pair of 3+ hour shows, WWE makes the event a bit more approachable, and should, in theory, be able to allow for each matchup on the card to run for as long as it truly needs. With no other sports going on for the next few weeks, WWE is also able to own an entire weekend by moving half of WrestleMania to Saturday.
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