Leaked Footage Shows WWE Stars Stop Wrestling During Ad Breaks

Footage that was accidentally leaked show wrestlers stop fighting during the commercial breaks at Friday's SmackDown event.

The popular show was initially scheduled for its Detroit venue but was moved to an empty WWE Performance Centre amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen countries around the globe go into total lock-down.

The event had an eerie atmosphere, with the usual raucous crown nowhere to be seen in an attempt to try and control the outbreak.

And with nobody there to see in the arena, instead of carrying on the matches, as they usually do in the TV ad breaks, the embarrassing leaked footage shows wrestlers just completely stop.

Wrestling writer Sean Ross Sapp posted the video on Twitter, with the caption: "They really did stop wrestling during the commercials!"

In the clip, Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross and Bayley can be seen just awkwardly chilling in the ring, having a little walk around with no confrontation whatsoever.

Sean added afterwards "I don't blame them. Why fill up the bump card?"

He commented again, saying: "Them not wrestling during commercials is more valuable documentary footage than any move they would have done during the commercials."

But despite how weird it looked, fans didn't really seem to mind that the wrestlers didnt carry on fighting when there was no crowd.

One fan replied: "There's no live crowd so why bother? That's like having dark matches still. If no one is there then it's just a practice session, you seem sorta dumb for posting this."

Another said: "If there's no live crowd whats the point? Gonna put on a show for Michael Cole?"

Someone else posted: "I mean, work smarter, not harder. I don't have a problem with this."

Twitter/@SeanRossSapp

Others were a bit confused as to why it was posted, with many simply calling out the writer for sharing the footage, with one saying it will get him into WWE's bad books, and another simply saying: "Who cares?"

Paige was initially set to return but instead the tag-team match between the four fighters was shown.

With the Brit set to confront Women's champion Bayley - the coronavirus had other ideas, with Paige, 27, unable to travel because of concerns around the pandemic.

Triple H still hosted though, and the show went on with the new billing. The 50-year-old still gave an enthusiastic commentary, enjoying himself despite the odd circumstances.

Topics: WWE

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. After a few years working on festivals and events, she went back to her roots. In her spare time, Amelia likes music, Liverpool FC, and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

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