WWE: More on Hell in a Cell Match on SmackDown, New Stage Sets Update, Reginald Update

Jun 19, 2021

More on Universal Championship Hell in a Cell Match Held on SmackDown

Friday’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown featured a Hell in a Cell match for the Universal Championship between Rey Mysterio and Roman Reigns. This was the first time in SmackDown history that a Hell in a Cell match was held on a SmackDown show.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources with WWE stated that there was no real reason for why the match was moved off of this Sunday’s Hell in a Cell 2021 event in favor of SmackDown instead. Meltzer reported that WWE officials held talks on Thursday regarding the match and simply came up with the decision to just “do it on SmackDown.”

Meltzer also reported that as of this past Thursday, WWE officials also did not have any plans for Reigns to wrestle at this Sunday’s Hell in a Cell event.

WWE Production Designer Confirms New Sets Being Made for RAW & SmackDown

As noted before, WWE is currently rumored to be working on new sets for their RAW and SmackDown brands as part of their resumption of live touring plans.

Entertainment website Below The Line held a recent interview with WWE Lead Production Designer Jason Robinson. One of the topics discussed included Robinson confirming recent rumors and reports of the company currently working on new stage sets for their RAW and SmackDown brands.

“We’re heading out on the road come July 16. We’re coming out in Houston, Texas on SmackDown, then we’re headed right into our Pay Per View, Money in the Bank, which is one our favorite Pay Per Views of the year. Lots of ladders with a briefcase hanging over the ring, so we have two Money in the Bank briefcases and onto Dallas and then we’re not looking back. We’re headed forward, so we’re looking at new sets, new staging that we’re building. My next phone call is to the graphics department, talking about augmented reality and how AR is going to interface with our set, and how we’re going to make some really cool graphics for set entrances as our superstars enter.
I think it was just announced this past weekend on NBC that we’re having SummerSlam in Las Vegas on August 21, and man, that is going to be huge. It’s going to be our first SummerSlam in a stadium since Wembley, years and years ago [in 1992]. The next phone call after that, we’re going to talk about a roof structure that we’re going to put in at Allegiant Stadium …
We’ve started a little bit, especially during Thunderdome, there has been some AR [augmented reality] brought into it. We’re moving into a lot more AR, where you see the 3D elements that cameras can walk around. We were doing some testing this past week with a Steadicam version of that. The XR world — and I don’t know how much you’re familiar with that — we’ve done some XR stuff, but it’s not been in house. We’ve done some of our promos and stuff in XR environments, but from a touring point of view, I think we’re just going to stay with sets and lights and trucks and AR. We’re moving forward with AR, hopefully, multiple cameras will look at it from multiple different viewings. We’re really excited, and we’ve got a good plan. I don’t want to spill the beans. We’re definitely moving toward an AR environment for our television show.”

Vince McMahon Reportedly Key Supporter of Reginald Character

Fighful Select reported that Vince McMahon has been a major supporter of Reginald backstage in WWE.

It was reported that McMahon has been a big fan of Reginald’s presentation, delivery, and in-ring skill sets since his debut on the main roster.

It was also reported that Reginald, real name Sidney Bateman, has gotten praise within the company for being very easy to work with backstage and being open to all creative ideas given to him.