Report: Why WWE Were Reluctant To Have NXT Superstars In The Crowd For Raw And SmackDown Revealed

On last night's episode of Monday Night Raw, NXT Superstars like Shotzi Blackheart and Jessamyn Duke were in the crowd, similar to what AEW has done for the past couple of months. WWE's decision has been widely praised for making the show more watchable and making events like Apollo Crews' US title win feel more important.

Many questioned why WWE hadn't used wrestlers in the crowd until now. Paul Davis at WrestlingNews.co reached out to the wrestling behemoth and was told Vince McMahon thought it would reflect badly on the company if they had people seated in the Performance Center at a time when health experts were advocating for social distancing while indoors.

Davis also noted that Superstars will be used in the crowd until the company is allowed to have fans attend shows again. Plexiglass will also continue to be used for the foreseeable future. 

For the 33 Superstars in the crowd, it was a long day as they were standing for upwards of nine hours as WWE hosted another mammoth day of tapings yesterday. Last night's edition of Raw was taped earlier in the day while Friday's episode of SmackDown was filmed last night.