ICYMI: The WWE via several publications like Variety & Fox Sports confirmed what reporters like Jon Alba and Wrestlevotes have been saying for weeks, that the Thunderdome will be moving to Tampa, Florida (St. Petersburg) inside Tropicana Field. The new venue typically houses the Tampa Rays MLB Team but baseball season is over until late Marcg. The move comes as the NBA’s Orlando Magic is set to take back over the Amway Arena, which is their home venue. The last show at Amway will be the 12/7 Raw.
Whether or not fans will be allowed inside remains to be seen. Currently NXT allows limited fans inside the Capitol Wrestling Center. This arena could hold up to 60K people (42,735 for Baseball) and the WWE has been itching to get fans back. Florida, like every other state has seen a major spike in COVID cases but their leadership does not give a fuck, so its conceivable that fans could return soon.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reports that the move was not much of a shock to talent as they had been specifically told that the venue would be in St Petersburg. H/T Chuck Obi
Dave Meltzer is reporting that Tropicana Field “will likely be the home of the Royal Rumble, while plans at this point are still for Raymond James Field in Tampa to host WrestleMania on 3/28”. Tampa is the place to be.
