How surreal was it to see Triple H welcome viewers to an empty Performance Center edition of SmackDown on March 13, 2020? When the pandemic disrupted our very way of everyday living, our favorite pastimes were forced to adapt in order to survive. WWE chose to honor its TV contracts by presenting its shows from its Orlando, FL training hub. And that aforementioned episode of SmackDown kicked off what will forever be known to wrestling fans as the “Pandemic Era.”
While the world sat in worry and lamented over having to stay indoors for an uncomfortably long period of time, wrestling fans found some sort of solace in the fact that their favorite sport still produced content on a weekly basis. Over the course of the past 16 months and some change, WWE, AEW, Impact Wrestling, NJPW, ROH, AAA, and a few other feds found ways to present its product within a main location without any live fans in attendance. Thanks to those wrestling companies’ ongoing efforts to keep their fanbases entertained, we bore witness to some great matches and moments that will be looked back on fondly in the years to come.