How WWE Can Get Live Crowds Excited Upon Return to Arenas

WWE will return to live touring July 16, with fans in attendance on a regular basis for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic forced the company to stage shows in empty arenas in March 2020.

Even with the booking flaws and the weather delay, there's no denying having a live crowd made a huge difference at WrestleMania 37 in April. To say it will be nice to hear legitimate fan chants instead of the piped-in ThunderDome noise is a huge understatement.

However, WWE has to make every effort to ensure the fans remain enthused for Raw, SmackDown and the pay-per-views.

Let's break down some ways the company can keep the returning WWE Universe happy.

Quality in-Ring Content

One of the most obvious answers to this that often—somehow—gets overlooked is that the matches need to be good.

As much as WWE tries to patent itself as an all-purpose media juggernaut and shies away from its roots, the second W in its name still stands for wrestling.

Fans go to professional wrestling shows expecting all the pageantry and spectacle to be supplemental to the fights. If it's a show that has virtually no in-ring action or matches are subpar, the audience feels cheated.

Nothing turns an audience off more than bad material. If a match is boring, the fans will start booing or even entertaining themselves by paying attention to something else.

The last thing WWE needs is to give the returning crowds bad matches and hear their disapproval of the product.

Gripping Storylines with Entertaining Characters

Half of the in-ring equation is the athleticism and the maneuvers the wrestlers perform; the other half is the psychology and the story being told within the match.

A bout can reach an entirely new level when the audience is properly invested in who wins.

WWE needs to ensure storylines for matches are better than they've been in the past two years so fans aren't silent between the big moves. If someone is stuck in a headlock, the crowd needs to care about them breaking out of it and cheer them on.

It doesn't seem as though WWE has invested much effort into this as of late, with feuds being stretched out for months without any twists in the stories. They're simply copy-and-paste rematches.

The latter half of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's career was mostly kicks and punches, but the WWE Universe was always invested in his matches because he had an interesting character and the right storylines.

Fans weren't loud for The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan in the video above because they thought it was going to be the best match ever. They were reacting purely because of the star power involved, which only comes from great characters and interesting feuds.

Engage with the Audience

Boos and cheers can help dictate the flow of a match if the wrestlers can properly read the audience and make adjustments. But if they choose not to listen, the crowd might as well not even be there.

Thankfully, there are ways to remind live fans they are part of the program and not just as distanced as when they're sitting at home.

The New Day are amazing at this, prompting crowds to chant along "Who?" and repeat catchphrases like "New Day rocks." Any heel can get easy heat by insulting the fans or the local sports teams, triggering them for a specific response.

The more engaged with the crowd a wrestler is, the more energetic those fans will become. WWE needs to let heels cut promos that will garner genuine boos and give babyfaces moments when people will want to stand up and cheer.

Keep the Fans on Their Toes with Surprises

If there are great matches with amazing moves, intriguing storylines and crowd interactivity, the cherry on top is when an audience is taken by surprise.

Look at how many examples in the video above revolve around the WWE Universe simply being surprised about something like a return or a title change.

WWE can't book hollow shocks at the expense of telling a coherent story, though. The trick is to have a legitimately stunning moment that still makes sense in the context of a story.

Unpredictability is a great tool to wake up a sleeping audience, but it's also important to remember that if the surprise is a bad one, that momentary pop will quickly be replaced with expressions of disapproval.

For example, John Cena's return as the final entrant in the 2008 Royal Rumble was one of the most shocking moments ever, and the roof came off Madison Square Garden. A few moments later, though, the audience was back to being frustrated as the company's golden boy was about to win the match.

Ditch the Safety-Net Excuses and Listen

Ever since John Cena started getting equal boos to cheers, WWE has been spitting out the idea that, "It doesn't matter if people boo or cheer, so long as they're making noise."

However, this is nothing but a self-comforting excuse.

This is how WWE tells itself that a dismissive crowd is going along with the show, rather than hating what it sees.

What these fans are doing is expressing their disapproval in the hopes the company will listen. Once WWE shows it will not budge, the crowd reaches a point where it can't yell any louder, so the fans just stop showing up. That is why the ratings have fallen as much as they have.

WWE has to earn back the trust of the fans in attendance and prove that their voices matter.

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.