WWE Rumors: Reason for Raw, SmackDown and NXT Airing Live Next Week

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, WWE is reportedly planning to air the upcoming episodes of Raw, SmackDown and NXT live from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

According to Pro Wrestling Sheet's Ryan Satin, the decision to return to live programming was made following Friday's filming of SmackDown and 205 Live.

F4WOnline (WrestlingInc.com's Joshua Gagnon) reported that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon made the call and determined that he wanted the shows to be "as close to live as soon as possible."

That is in contrast to the reported original plan, which was to tape all television shows up until the May 10 Money in the Bank pay-per-view.

F4WOnline noted that the decision may have to do with WWE's television contracts with NBC Universal and Fox, as they only allow for a certain amount of taped shows to air per year.

SmackDown airs on Fox, while both Raw and NXT air on USA Network.

WWE is reportedly only permitted to air three taped episodes of Raw per year, which means exceeding that amount could result in the television contract getting changed in some way.

The money WWE earns through television contracts is vital right now since there are no house shows and no gate revenue for Raw, SmackDown, NXT or pay-per-views, as no fans are allowed to attend events because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the fact that there is a stay-at-home order in place in the state of Florida, WWE has continued to tape television shows and even air them live on occasion.

WrestleMania 36, which was originally scheduled to take place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, was moved to the Performance Center, turned into a two-night event and taped ahead of time.

The taped element allowed WWE to produce two of the most memorable and entertaining things in WrestleMania history in the form of the AJ Styles vs. The Undertaker Boneyard Match and the John Cena vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt Firefly Fun House Match.

WWE is focused on building to the May 10 Money in the Bank pay-per-view, which was originally scheduled for Baltimore but will now likely emanate from the Performance Center without fans.

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