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The World Wrestling Entertainment production shoot in Naples, Florida over the weekend, which saw a large portion of the main roster present, was for new TV show openings in shot in High-Definition. Beyond the video footage, additional photo shoots for material that will be used specifically for inclusion in future HD-TV broadcasts by WWE also took place.
World Wrestling Entertainment has been testing the implementation of high-definition broadcasting for well over a year, dating back to a September 2006 live event in Uncasville, CT that was taped specifically in the format as a test show, complete with backstage promos and vignettes.
This past May, during the annual stockholders meeting, Vince McMahon was asked about the company moving into High-Definition broadcasting and predicted they would do so within the year, commenting at the time that the product "looks amazing under that format" but that they didn't want to be too far ahead of the curve, "because that costs you money, while being too far behind gives the impression you aren't on the cutting edge."
The company has not announced when they will be moving all of their programming to High-Definition, but Smackdown will move to HD format by January 2008 according to announcements made by WWE and the CW Network. By 2009, all television broadcasts will be migrated to a digital format.
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