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“They Are Going To Love What They See”
Longtime WWE set designer Jason Robinson recently spoke to METRO UK ahead of this year’s WrestleMania 37, where the 20-plus year veteran discusses the amount of work that goes into setting up the company’s biggest show of the year, WrestleMania.
Robinson begins by saying how some of his favorite color schemes that he’s used in the past were inspired by the Star Wars franchise.
One of my favourite colour schemes that I use was inspired by Empire Strikes Back, the deep blues, purples and orange backgrounds during the lightsaber duel between Luke and Darth.
He later adds that the set for SmackDown was even based on a spaceship.
That’s one of my favourite colour combinations. I bet we get fans looking out for the colour combination in WWE now that they know! ‘Even now, sci-fi is an influence. ‘The curves on the SmackDown! set that create the forced perspective were inspired by a sci-fi spaceship drawing found during some creative research.
Robinson explains how he enjoys carrying Post-It notes around and sketching ideas at all hours of the day.
My favourite thing is carrying Post-It notes around with me and sketching ideas. And those ideas sometimes come at three in the morning or in the show,’ Jason admitted, adding that once he has an idea, it’s up to Kevin Dunn to greenlight it. ‘As soon as i know that I’m in the right direction, that’s where the work because really fun.
Jason Robinson’s Favorite Wrestlemania Sets
- WrestleMania 34, New Orleans: ‘Man, that big Mardi Gras mask on stage, taht was the “aha! moment when it came together as the flavour of New Orleans.’
- WrestleMania 24, Orlando: ‘The South Beach hotel set. There was literally nothing in that stadium space, it was completely open at the end, so we build a 10-story art deco set.’
- WrestleMania 33, Orlando: ‘There was that moment when I said, “We’re going to make a theme park”, and everybody went, “You’re going to do that?” And we did.’
- WrestleMania 29, New York: ‘The Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, and the Empire State Building. When we first walked into MetLife Stadium I said, “I’ve got a great idea. Let’s put the Brooklyn Bridge right here”. I think everybody went, “you’re nuts.” And then we did the design, everybody saw it and went, “That’s it. You’ve got it.
Robinson says his favorite part of the design process is the night before the show of shows.
My favourite part of the whole design process is the night before WrestleMania. When it’s all quiet, we’ve taken months and months to design and fabricate the set. ‘I’ve done many site surveys and hours of planning. It’s 1am in the morning, all the rehearsals are complete, the stadium is quiet. ‘The lighting guys still have all the lights on and the programming is finished, and we get to quietly look around at the final design before going on air the next day.
Promises some big surprises for this year’s show, which will be the first large gathering since the COVID-19 outbreak.
A lot of sports fans around the world have just seen the stadium. So they know what it looks like. ‘Now it’s our turn. We’re going in there to do something different. ‘I don’t think it matters whether fans are seeing it again after the Super Bowl or for the first time with WWE, they are going to love what they see.
Check out the full interview here.