WWE recently moved all of their TV tapings to the Performance Center in Orlando, and the company pre-taped several shows including WrestleMania 36, which aired over two nights this year.
However, WWE recently issued a statement confirming that Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown are going live again.
Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE returning to live TV has to do with their contracts with NBCUniversal and FOX.
WWE TV contracts state that their shows must be live 49 out of 52 weeks of the year, and it’s being said that the company doesn’t want any issues as far as that aspect is concerned.
Meltzer went on to speculate that FOX and NBCUniversal would likely deny that they told WWE they had to go live under current circumstances, and he also speculated that the networks didn’t tell the company the shows had to be live, but that Vince McMahon is concerned with them cutting money due to a contract violation.
It’s also worth noting that there is no word on FOX or NBCUniversal possibly threatening WWE with a contract violation.
It’s also being reported that there were plans to tape 5 weeks of all their TV shows including 205 Live and Main Event, beginning on Friday, but changes were made when Vince McMahon made the call.
Talents were reportedly prepared to tape enough content to hold the company over until early May, but they were told on Friday that TV would once again be going live this week.
[…] It was recently reported that WWE planned to tape 5 weeks of television starting last Friday, but that Vince McMahon made the call to go live again for fear of violating WWE’s contracts with NBCUniversal and FOX. […]