WWE Thunderdome Sneak Peak Matches, News And Photos (Updated)
The special invite-only sneak peek of WWE ThunderDome at the Amway Center in Orlando was held this evening, starting 1 hour late from the advertised start time of 5:15pm ET.
A video played over & over with Flo-Rida's "Welcome to My House" song playing, featuring various WWE Superstars on talk shows and celebrities on WWE TV. Two production assistants then came out, both wearing masks. The female assistant came out to Sheamus' music while the male assistant came out to the music of WWE Intercontinental Champion AJ Styles.
The first match saw Jake Atlas defeat Tehuti Miles. Atlas used the music of WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman, while Miles used Gran Metalik's theme.
After the first match, viewers were logged out and told to log back in after 10 minutes. The second match featured women's tag team action as Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter defeated Indi Hartwell and Jessi Kamea.
The third and final match saw Mansoor defeat Ridge Holland. Mansoor used the theme of SmackDown Tag Team Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, but The New Day's music played after he won. Holland used Strowman's theme. This match also finished a bit awkward as it seemed like Holland won with a bearhug and Strowman's music started playing, but then the match continued and Mansoor won.
The Mansoor vs. Holland match featured commentary, apparently done by the two production assistants who came out earlier. One of them kept confusing Mansoor with Holland.
WWE ThunderDome will officially debut this Friday night with the SummerSlam go-home edition of SmackDown on FOX. WWE will use the state-of-the-art viewing experience for upcoming RAW, SmackDown and pay-per-view events while under the residency at the Amway Center. The ThunderDome setup includes a new set, video boards, pyrotechnics, lasers, graphics and drone cameras, plus rows of virtual fans on almost 1,000 LED boards. Sign-ups for the SmackDown crowd quickly hit capacity when registration opened late on Tuesday night, but registration for SummerSlam should be announced soon. Registration for Monday's RAW will likely be opened this weekend some time.
Stay tuned for more updates on WWE ThunderDome. Below are several photos and videos from today's sneak peek:
#Thunderdome is about as close to the real thing as you can get, although it does take a little getting used to it. @WrestlingInc pic.twitter.com/hB7ZDgshE3
? Daily Wrestling News (@DailyWWENews) August 20, 2020
Thoughts on the #Thunderdome? Sneak peak is underway. @WrestlingINC pic.twitter.com/W8OyitxQ7x
? Daily Wrestling News (@DailyWWENews) August 20, 2020
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? Cory Chavez (@corybchavez) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020
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? KINGBLINGBLA (@kingblingbla) August 20, 2020