Bryan Danielson isn’t holding back when it comes to the strange creative tactics used in WWE during the pandemic era—and Vince McMahon’s name is right in the middle of it.
In a recent interview with DownUnderTheRing’s Phid McAwesome, Danielson opened up about his time helping on WWE creative while the company operated under strict COVID restrictions with no live audience. According to Danielson, Vince McMahon deliberately manipulated the crowd noise piped into the empty arena shows to fit his personal preferences.
McMahon reportedly instructed producers to raise the fake crowd volume for certain stars he favored and intentionally lower it for others he wasn’t high on. Danielson admitted the approach didn’t make sense to him and questioned the logic behind it, especially when trying to present new talent as credible.
Danielson also revealed that he pitched the idea of introducing Damian Priest as a major opponent for Roman Reigns during that period. While the idea never materialized, it’s now clear there was consideration for Priest to make a splashy entrance into the main event scene.
WWE continued using artificial crowd noise even after fans returned, though the reliance on it has drastically dropped since the company’s move to Netflix.
This look behind the curtain offers another reminder of how heavily Vince McMahon once controlled every aspect of presentation—including how loudly the “fans” reacted.
Do you think Damian Priest could’ve handled a Roman Reigns-level feud back then? And how do you feel about WWE using fake crowd reactions to influence perception? Drop your thoughts in the comments.
September 12, 2025 12:44 pm
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