WWE prides itself on having the longest-running episodic television show in the United States with "WWE Raw," and over the years, the company has become so successful, it has added numerous other shows to its lineup. From "WWE SmackDown," which has changed days of the week on which it airs throughout the years, to "Raw" moving to Netflix in a massive, historic deal, to shows like "WWE LFG: Legends & Future Greats" on A&E, to even "TotalDivas," there is always some kind of new WWE content to watch.
The bread and butter of WWE programming is of course "Raw," "SmackDown," and "WWE NXT" live from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday nights. Monthly premium live events are also extremely important to WWE's business model. With rising prices for WWE events, however, many fans are choosing to strictly watch from home, even if WWE stops by their city. When a fan is watching from their couch, no matter how cozy, there are some strange things that they'll miss, as WWE's cameras don't capture everything in and around the ring and especially not backstage.
WWE cameras don't show us quite a few things about WWE overall, from the early call times for wrestlers and what they're meant to do backstage prior to wrestling their matches for the night, to empty, sometimes roped-off, areas of arenas if an event doesn't sell out.There are also other, stranger aspects to WWE and its production that fans don't get to see, including crew members hidden right underneath the ring for the duration of a show, and there are even aspects added to the broadcast in the production truck that aren't captured directly on camera, including audio additions like piped-in crowd noise.
Commercial breaks in the United States, especially, are often unavoidable no matter what streaming service you're watching a WWE program on. Even on Netflix, the company gets its ad breaks in throughout the program. More often than not, these breaks will take place during a match. If a match is still going while viewers at home can't see it during a commercial break, does the action just stop and the wrestlers take a rest in their respective corners?Not exactly. Instead of stopping, the talent in the ring will slow the match way down.
Those in attendance will often see the heel wrestler in the ring put their opponent in a rest hold that the babyface needs to battle back from, and they usually do by the time the show comes back on for those at home. In other instances, including multi-person matches, the action itself will slow down and the stars will save the big spots for when they're back live on television. Former WWE talent and current successful YouTube star Maven spoke about working during commercial breaks on his channel.Maven explained that during those rest holds, wrestlers can subtly talk over the rest of the match and referees might tell them how much time they have left. He described it as a time for everyone in the ring to get their bearings.
"Now, they're not going to hit any big high spots. They're not going to do anything that's going to tell too much of a story," he explained. "But, they're not just going to stop wrestling. Why? Because... it would be on every social media platform if they did just stop wrestling."
It may seem like it doesn't need mention, but for fans going to their first-ever live WWE event, it's often jarring to find out that commentary isn't played throughout the arena and you don't hear the voices of Michael Cole, Pat McAfee, Joe Tessitore, or Wade Barrett reverberating around the venue calling the action in the ring. Despite WWE cameras capturing the commentary team sat at their desks at ringside, you don't actually hear them live when you're there. Fans are introduced to the team for the night, however, with each commentator receiving a special entrance, complete with music and graphics on the jumbotron, as they walk down the ramp to call the action for those at home.
It's due in part to the audio feedback it would cause on the live broadcast, but it makes for a unique experience in the arena. Hot crowds will make up their own chants for the wrestlers in the ring and continuously cheer and gasp throughout a match. If a crowd isn't feeling a match, however, the silence in the arena is noticeable and fans will be able to hear every move hit on the mat.
The crowd always appears full, and very loud, at the Performance Center for "WWE NXT" on Tuesdays, but the company doesn't show the process for fans to actually get there, nor do they ever confirmhowfans can attend "NXT" tapings. Sometimes, "NXT" is on the road, like during WrestleMania and Stand & Deliver weekend, but the weekly crowd is usually made up of local Florida residents who don't even have to pay to get in to see WWE's developmental talent. Fans can get on a wait list through WWE via a Facebook groupand once they've applied, they'll be notified via email if they've been chosen to attend the next week's episode of "NXT."
While that doesn't sound too difficult for the more patient fans, once someone is chosen to be able to attend, they can't drive directly to the venue and park there. Fans are told to arrive at a location outside of the PC to wait for a shuttle service to make the journey to the show. Fans have noted that there are no concessions available for purchase at the event, though there is a merchandise stand outside of the PC before "NXT" goes live. Following the show, fans are bussed back to the parking lot.
While the WWE cameras love to show off a rowdy "NXT" crowd every Tuesday, they don't ever mention how much of a hassle it could be to get there, and the true commitment of fans to the "NXT" brand is rarely acknowledged when it comes to the travel logistics.
WWE does a fantastic job of filming talent arriving to the arena and posting the videos to social media before airing them on either "Raw" or "SmackDown," but the cameras don't show fans just how early the stars have to be at the arenas. They're not just rolling up with their suitcases full of gear when the show goes on the air for fans at home. It was something brought up in professional wrestling discourse earlier this year ahead of "NXT's" Stand & Deliver, where online rumors stated how the developmental stars weren't happy about their very early call time following the late Hall of Fame ceremony in Las Vegas the night before their major premium live event.
Stars have to arrive to the venue hours before the event actually begins. Wrestlers meet with their match agents and producers backstage and will oftentimes practice their bout in the ring before the doors open for fans to pile in.They'll go over spots and segments, as well as promo scripts and even timing cues throughout the match to make sure they're hitting everything around commercial breaks. Stars can also see trainers and other medical officials backstage, if necessary, to be cleared before an event if they're recovering from injury, or to just get checked up on if something's bothering them.
There are often other things stars will need to do backstage. Cody Rhodes does a good job of showcasing on his Instagram account just how many things he needs to autograph to sell at merchandise stands ahead of a show.
Another thing WWE cameras don't, and really can't, show is the fact that the company oftentimes pipes in crowd reaction noises for its wrestlers when the live audience isn't giving the reaction that those in gorilla position want for a star. Crowd reaction noises can be piped in during backstage segments and promos in addition to matches and entrances. The company's practice of adding in their own noise served them well during the ThunderDome era during the pandemic, where they broadcast shows from the PerformanceCenter without a real crowd in attendance.
WWE notably piped in crowd noise for Roman Reigns when they were attempting to push him as a babyface from 2015 to 2019, as live crowds weren't having it, and they attempted to cover up the boos. In a more recent example, fans who knew about WWE's piped-in noise practices accused the company of over-exaggerating boos for Dominik Mysterio after he turned heel and aligned himself with the Judgment Day. However, the boos were legitimately loud enough from the live crowd that it wasn't needed. Mysterio confirmed on Konnan's podcast in February 2024 that the reactions he was getting were all real.
In addition to the lack of artificial noise, those in the venue also don't have to deal with WWE's censoring of curse words or the company turning down the crowd volume during chants that WWE may not want the fans at home to hear.
WWE cameras of course don't usually capture what goes on at house shows, because no matter how fun the shows may be for those in attendance, they usually don't mean anything in regards to storyline for the main shows.WWE has massively scaled back on what fans know as its house, or live, shows, due to cost-cutting measures put in place by TKO, but they do still exist mostly when WWE travels overseas and during the holidays.
House shows give wrestlers an opportunity to try new moves or other things in the ring to see how it works in front of a live audience. WWE often runs matches you wouldn't expect on TV, due to things not having an impact on stories. Wrestlers who don't usually team together might take on an established tag team or babyfaces may face another good guy in the ring just to play to the crowd and try new things.
WWE doesn't often run championship matches at live shows for this reason, as fans know that titles aren't likely to change hands. The last time this happened was in July 2017 at Madison Square Garden inNew York City. AJ Styles toppled Kevin Owens to win the United States Championship, in what Styles later said was a Vince McMahon call to "do something different" at a house show. Even then, Styles only held the title for just over two weeks before dropping it back to Owens at Battleground.
Another thing that WWE cameras don't show the audience at home that's common across all forms of entertainment is the fact sometimes arenas don't sell out, so areas of the venue are blocked or curtained off. This happens sometimes at arenas with upper bowls that can be closed off, and sometimes, fans luck out and are moved to even better seats for the show. Fans are also sometimes moved to the "hard cam" section of the audience. That's the area toward which the camera that shows most of the action, the one that wrestlers look at in the ring during their entrances, is pointed, so the arena looks more full than it actually is, as the empty sections are where the hard cam doesn't face, usually behind it. WWE may always tout a sell out, but sometimes that's not the case.
The issue of arenas not being packed to full capacity is something that happens in both WWE and AEW. Tribal fans taking and spreading photos of blocked off areas in venues on social media is now a common practice in the online community.
It's always a fun surprise when a star pops out from underneath the ring to interfere in a match and cause chaos, but WWE cameras always avoid capturing the talent actually getting under there. Sometimes, a star will start the show from underneath the ring and wait until their spot, but other times they may run in during a commercial or another time where the arena is darkened, wearing black clothes, to slide underneath the ring unnoticed. Former WWE talentJinder Mahal, now known as Raj Dhesi on the independent scene, talked about hiding under the ring on fellow former star Maven Huffman's YouTube channelin November 2024,when he explained it's easy to hide under there, as the ring crew is constantly changing things throughout the night, so a star can pretend they're part of the crew, then dip below to hide.
Stars are able to wait underneath the ring for long periods of time because there is usually a producer or official under there, as well.In 2024, a crew member named Nick Daw was the man positioned underneath the ring and he shared his story on TikTok. Daw described being posted up underneath the ring with a headset to communicate with gorilla position and others, as well as monitor to see what's happening on television. With that monitor, wrestlers can be sure they don't miss their cue to interfere in the ring.
Those who don't often frequent WWE events live in-person may be surprised to know they could be treated to more matches than what they initially expected for a TV taping. WWE will often tape matches for other programs, like "Main Event" or "WWE Speed," which airs only on X (formerly Twitter) and even has its own championships, but they don't air live on the same night. These shows tape before events, like "SmackDown," start for the television audience, as fans are still trickling in to the arena. If something goes wrong during one of those matches, like a recent injury to Joaquin Wilde during a "Speed" taping, WWE can re-do the match at another event.
WWE also puts on what are called "dark matches," usually after the show, only for fans in attendance that don't make it to any other broadcast and aren't captured by the company's cameras to be aired later. The talent that compete in dark matches are usually from the brand of the show that's airing live, but sometimes, stars from the opposing brand make appearances. Cody Rhodes has been known to pop up for dark matches on different shows and often did so when he was Undisputed WWE Champion to surprise the live crowd.
Other in-ring realities and happenings during matches are also usually not captured by WWE cameras for the audience at home, due in part to their nature and oftentimes to protect kayfabe. Wrestlers will often roll out of the ring to take a break following a big spot and will sometimes be checked on by medical officials, just in case, if the spot looked particularly nasty, or they'll sometimes speak to another official at ringside about the match. While not always successful, WWE cameras attempt to avoid a wrestler setting up to get back in the ring to break up something like a pin or submission to make things look more exciting on television.
WWE also tries to avoid getting other things on camera, like a referee communicating to a talent about something they may have heard on their earpiece from gorilla position backstage, be it a change in the match or even just how much time there is until a commercial break. Match producers, or even Paul "Triple H" Levesque himself, will communicate things to referees in the ring, and the piece in a referee's ear is subtle enough to not be so blatantly obvious on camera.
