WWE SVP Of Event Technical Operations Talks ThunderDome Changes, AR At WrestleMania

In an interview with Sports Video, WWE's SVP of Technical Operations Duncan Leslie described the process of bringing WrestleMania 37 to life. One of the keys this year, for those in the stadium and watching at home, was the usage of AR systems on three cameras.

"This year, instead of adding a lot of extra cameras the way we normally do, we decided to lean more heavily on upgrading our AR presence," Leslie said. "AR has such a great pop to it creatively, so that really helped us brand the arena (Raymond James Stadium) in a new and very potent way.

"With socially distanced fans, we wanted to ensure that there weren't spots that didn't look full. With AR, we could bring the whole bowl alive with our messaging, on top of all the fans that were in attendance in person."

Now that WrestleMania 37 is over, Leslie's focus now turns to WWE's new ThunderDome set up. The promotion had been running out of Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay but has since relocated to Yuengling Center, also in Tampa. The move also resulted in some changes to the Thunderdome and the set.

"It's really impressive and fairly analogous to what you've seen in past Thunderdomes," Leslie said. "We've made a few creative changes and needed to shift a few things around due to the different sizes of the buildings. Att this point, that workflow is pretty seamless and we're really comfortable with it."

"Like everyone else though, Leslie is waiting for the moment where things can return to normal. "We're looking forward to when the world opens up and we can start touring again because that's what we're truly built for here."