WWE To Have NXT And Developmental Talent In The Crowd For RAW And SmackDown

WWE will reportedly start having some crowd noise on RAW and SmackDown.

Twitter account @SoDuTw first reported this morning that WWE was going to add crowd members to their shows starting with RAW tonight. According to Fightful, via F4WOnline, NXT stars and developmental talent will be in the crowd acting as fans for both Raw and SmackDown, but will not be shown on camera. Dominik Dijakovic, Chelsea Green, Shotzi Blackheart, and Jessamyn Duke are some of talents that will be used in the crowd. They were screened for COVID-19 at an offsite location this morning before going to the Performance Center.

Since WWE moved to empty arena shows in March, they have had no people in the audience whatsoever. AEW first started using talent in the crowd, which many feel has provided for a livelier atmosphere. Earlier this month WWE surveyed fans and asked about using wrestlers in the crowd.

Tonight's RAW is being taped this afternoon. According to PWInsider, they were told weeks ago that WWE hasn't been happy with the sterile environment of their shows, but felt it was needed to be done to keep airing television.

Since moving to empty arena shows, ratings for RAW and SmackDown have dropped considerably. RAW scored two of their lowest ratings in history this month. NXT and AEW Dynamite have also suffered big drops due to the pandemic.

Join us later this evening for our live coverage of RAW.