The WWE has taken another page from the NHL’s playbook and installed plexiglass barriers around its ring. WWE debuted the new look during its Memorial Day episode of Monday Night Raw and reports suggest it will continue into the immediate future for medical reasons.

The plexiglass is intended to keep wrestlers safe from COVID-19 as the company slowly reintroduces crowds to their shows.

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On Monday, WWE had members of their NXT roster, including Dominik Dijakovic, Chelsea Green, Shotzi Blackheart, Jessamyn Duke, and former America Ninja Warrior Kacy Catanzaro, participate as audience members at the WWE Performance Center during Monday Night Raw. They can be seen cheering and interacting during the above match where Apollo Crews wins the United States Championship from Andrade.

According to Fightful, the audience members are medically screened before being driven over to the Orlando, FL based facility.

An internal memo noted that many of the “audience members” will be intentionally kept off camera, but instead used to help create an environment to better fit the WWE brand. The audience members from NXT and the PC were screened by medical offsite this morning and bussed to the WWE Performance Center. The talent were prohibited from driving to the WWE PC themselves, and will instead be taken back to their vehicles.

Having a crowd follows what AEW Dynamite has been doing for weeks during the coronavirus pandemic, using wrestlers from its roster as heel and babyface crowd members on the left and right sides of the ring.

The plexiglass barriers could be a possible solution other sports use later in the year if they try to return with crowds.

While the plexiglass is intended to keep wrestlers safe, I’m hoping it’s only a matter of time before someone gets checked into the glass Alex Ovechkin-style.

Perhaps this is the moment for Tom Wilson to make a career change.

Screenshot courtesy of WWE