A WWE producer has revealed the reason why it was suggested to pump crowd noise into the ThunderDome arena itself, not just TV feeds.
The WWE ThunderDome made its debut during Smackdown on August 21. This state of the art facility inside the Amway Center (since moved to Tropicana Field) was a step up from the Performance Center arena, with screens featuring faces of the WWE Universe.
From early on, fake crowd noises have been pumped into the arena to provide a much needed sense of atmosphere for wrestlers.
WWE producer Tyson Kidd has revealed it was him who suggested to use the fake crowd effect. Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Kidd revealed that conversations with Bayley indicated that fake crowd sounds would help wrestlers during their matches.
Here is the full quote, courtesy of Fightful:
“The first day at Amway was not [piped in]. Bayley was like, ‘TJ, it’s so awkward.’ We had gotten used to the NXT audience, so it was a little something. In the meeting, they were like, ‘What did everyone think?’ I said, ‘The ThunderDome looks awesome. Is there any way to pipe the noise into the arena because it will help the talent.
I spoke with a lot of talent from the week before and they said that was what was missing.’ Kevin [Dunn] said ‘no problem.’ So, they pump it in and it helps a lot. It at least helps you lose yourself a bit and letting go I like to think I have my pulse on the talent and I ask them questions. Bayley was the one who told me. Then I asked the locker room and they all said the same.”
While stars like Mustafa Ali have voiced issues with the fake crowd noise, the addition of cheers and boos definitely makes matches feel more authentic.
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