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I can actually answer some of that! The pyrotechnic products are triggered by electronic matches plugged into PyroDigital FM-A modules, sequenced digitally by the FC-A controller. When they receive a strong electrical charge on those terminals, it ignites and fires the effect instantly. The aforementioned modules however are only turned on and able to receive power when the key at the Field Controller is armed (when the green outputs on it are flashing in the bottom right). You'll also notice the control technician is holding a deadman switch that requires both a thumb and index finger to trigger each effect; so if he's not intentionally firing an effect, the controller will never send a fire command to the module network. So all in all, there are numerous safety measures in place, and it is a fascinating system to study!

@@StageExploration thanks for that info! I knew there would be countless fail safes. It's just so impressive! Thanks again.

At this show, I think they were all the same model of concussion, but some sound a bit louder if you haven't heard one for a bit. Some of the shows I've seen, they have like two models of concussion, one are these classic white flash ones, and the other are a reddish darker one. That can be seen clearly in live footage of the early 2023 weekly opening pyro, where it switches from the reddish ones to the white ones about halfway through at the same spot in the data table each week they did that display.

I think it's more so that they're focused on the product and especially in the pyro/laser crew's case, everyone's safety. When it wasn't time for a pyro display, they were all laughing and joking with each other, but you could tell when a wrestler with pyro was about to enter because they would immediately get focused and "in the zone".

Its highly regulated. The risk is minimal.

@@notabelas3987 apparently you didn't see the female Latino singer killed by a misplaced pyro on stage yrs ago

@@rongamble9884 Was this in the US? When I say regulations I mean US Laws. Ever since the The Station nightclub fire in 2003 a lot of regulation happened. WWE can't use pyro until the local fire department reviews and okays its safety every show for example.

Yeah, the that’s not a station type venue!!

@@michaelgiaquinto3295 I just watched that documentary the guest list on the station fire that whole situation was all on the owners of the club not great white they got a really bad rap for that one

Thanks! Not sure I fully understand the question, but to me, and this might be because this was my second event with pyro and I might be getting more used to it, but it didn't seem as loud as the first time when I was sitting behind the technicians at stage right in my other video. At that first event, it was like the loudest thing I had ever heard. The cool thing is I could feel the heat and pressure off the mortars sometimes from back here at this second show!

It was like a two minutes between when they put the pyro on the stage and the opening vid; they did it right after the commentators had passed the stage in their entrance. The boards themselves were already loaded with the pyro when the audience entered the arena.

Yeah! Sadly they haven't had opening pyro for any weekly shows since April really. They seem to have cycles of doing opening for a few years, then cutting budget back and not doing it for a few years. I think the cost benefit of opening pyro is well worth it to get the live crowd instantly hyped for the show.

Yeah! @TheRealVisionary also has a great video of it from an angle more into the corner of its curtain. th-cam.com/video/j26G4dScGXA/w-d-xo.html I've been trying to figure out why sometimes, like at his show, the concussions are redder and nearly smokeless at first, but turn to their classic bright white with regular smoke near the end. Audio wise, they seem to sound exactly the same from what I can hear. I've also noticed from looking at different footage that the change is at the same point in that display each night as well. Curious!

@@StageExploration Very interesting. Do they hang them or shoot them from the floor?

​@@chrisnorthcott2724 It seems to be a stage deck/platform with the mortars on it that is hung with chain hoists in the air, with the whole assembly surrounded by that drape that goes to the floor. I've been trying to find a photo/video of the platform before it's draped/raised for years to no avail, other than a grainy picture from an old WWE.com article here www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/23/exclusives/pyromania I feel like the stage build timelapses are the best bet, but I have yet to spot it in those... I assume they have a PyroDigital XLR line going up to it from the floor. Judging from the view from my other channel, they're only using three outputs on the PyroDigital console, so I'm guessing they have maybe one line going to splitters for the stage right/stage left floor, one line going to the overhead truss and sides, and one line going to the concussions...and maybe they plug in another line that goes to the ring for things like Lashley's pyro...

Yup! I have a video hopefully coming soon from the Minneapolis show this week of the concussion mortars. I specifically got seats behind the stage to be able to film it well, though it's shrouded by the curtain they surround it with. I am still trying to find, film or obtain a photo of the mortar rack before it is curtained/raised, so if anyone has any leads that would be awesome. The only pic I've seen is a pretty low res one from like 2008 on WWEs site. I'm tempted to reach out to the pyro company StrictlyFX and ask. I tried waiting after the show for the house lights and maybe the lowering of that curtain if they do that first, but was asked to leave too early to see that.

AEW does do concussions (you can see them on the right side of the stage) however yeah they are much smaller then the ones WWE uses so it isn't nearly as loud.

@@notabelas3987 Ohhh

Exactly…there r concussion mortars 50 feet hanging in the air in a cage that are synced with every detonation to mimick and explosion sound…99% Pyro is silent

Nice! Did Mooch work with Zenith? I've been trying to figure out what happened to Zenith when StrictlyFX took over for WWE; I'm not sure if Strictly bought Zenith at some point, but I know there was some sort of legal dispute between Ron Bleggi and Strictly recently...

@@StageExploration I know last time (2011) I worked with him he was working with Pyrotechnica(Forget the spelling) he got us some new stuff cheap to use for Dead Man's Party at Great Adventure.

@@anthonykrutis490Who controls the graphics put on the screen

@clarkwill7393 Probably a third party .All bands tend to use third-party for effects.

Yup! He's right there on the bottom right with the glasses. The "red button" is the trigger he picks up at 0:50, and he has to have it it in his right hand for the actual firing since it has a deadman switch. It's called a PyroDigital FC-A Field Controller, and it talks to the FM-A field modules on the stage over XLR cable, which trigger the e-matches in each pyrotechnic at the proper times. You can see the FC-A with the green lights flash white as well as it sends each command. Here is a closeup that the pyro company actually posted, and the guy from my show was watching on his right in this one: instagram.com/p/CmHzv-QuGUA/

@@StageExploration Thank you for the reply. I wasn't looking at him at that point in time, but I can see now that he had that trigger that looks like a Wii Nunchuck that he swapped to his left hand when the pyro was over that seems to be what you're referring to. That Field Controller I went and Googled to know which of the boards you were talking about. It was the one to his immediate left, and I saw that flicker. I think one of my errors was that I expected that it was the guy right in front of you that was who controlled that. Not sure what he's in charge of, but thank you for the reply and letting me know. Greater appreciation to how much work goes into making these shows go off flawlessly week after week.

Ah yeah the guy on the left with the laptop is in charge of the lasers on the stage; those are also handled by the pyro company believe it or not since they can be dangerous if they shoot into someone's eyes. I've seen another clip where they actually switch roles which is interesting

Yeah definitely! I'm thinking of trying to get a seat behind the lighting guys next time, though they had a lot of that part tarped off at my arena if I recall, since that's where the main camera is.

@@StageExploration Depending on how the venue is selling, they sometimes (very often actually) release those seats the day of the show or the day before. They are called production kills, and are opened up once production has been finalized and they can officially put the seats up for sale.

Haha yeah! For me the airbursts at the start of the display were loud, and those didn't even have concussion mortars with them since they make their own noise, then when the concussions hit for the rest of the display, I was like "OH MY" since it was like 5 times louder than the airbursts

they are still better than nothing, like vince wanted to do due to "budget cuts" triple h did bring pyro back

@@JPX64ChannelVince brought them back in 2020 remember?

They look unhappy

The best heel faction currently

Very loud...I've watched pyro videos for years on YT but this is my first time in person, and I still jumped even when I was expecting it. The first blast is the most startling because the pyro is like 10x louder than everything else in the arena, but then you're used to the volume for the rest of the display.

Yeah, although one thing to keep in mind is the pyro on the stage isn't putting out a whole lot of energy. The pyro on stage only makes a tiny inaudible pop noise wise and some quick sparks, and there's much more powerful pyro hidden behind the stage called concussion mortars that make the actual sound. Looks like the Ultratec Mines which I believe they use have an effect radius of 1.8 meters, so as long as theyre that distance away they should be safe. One cool example of how quiet it is without the concussions is this video, where the concussions interestingly seem to have went out near the end, before they cut back on for the final blast: th-cam.com/video/nsMDovUVh-8/w-d-xo.html

@@StageExploration even better video to show what it sounds like without the concussions is when they literally failed th-cam.com/video/-CYzbOi1eCU/w-d-xo.html

Or you can just watch AEW to see how quiet pyro is without concussion blasts, or watch Shawn Michaels entrance from around 2006, there were times when the ring announcer was do Shawn’s introduction while the pyro was going off & you could clearly hear the ring announcer.

This thread is great. I think this video would be the best one. This one was WM pyro testing in Georgia Dome. th-cam.com/video/lnpp4gB8sb8/w-d-xo.html

Try being me at Wrestlemania 32, Kane's flames were actually hot, even with me being on the other side of the area.

Just an artistic decision; helps the pyro show up better for one, and also generates excitement for the crowd when all the lights cut on and move after the pyro (kind of like how you get excited at a movie theater when the lights go out after the trailers)

@@StageExploration Sounds good to me.

Yeah! As someone who is super interested in their production tech, I was so happy when I realized you could get seats that close to the technicians. The funny thing is technically they're "obstructed view" seats, so they're actually the cheapest ones in the arena!

As it was in high school, “All hail stage crew!”

Fr

❤❤❤ THANK YALL production crew!!!!

Me too

I like the 2006 Raw ramp entrance design better than current one

I agree. There's no "artistry" this stage, and I much prefer basically any of the stages from pre-COVID. This new stage isn't made of conventional stage platforms like the old 3ft stages, which I think is somewhat underwhelming. I think there might be a cost/speed of assembly reason as to this change as well, considering this stage (other than the classic lighting ring) is basically just an LED wall and a few trusses held by chain motors.

It is controlled primarily by a PyroDigital FC-A Field Controller, which is the console with the flashing green lights with the technician on the right. It's preprogrammed with the desired pattern by a computer, and talks to the modules on the stage digitally via XLR cables. The flame effects (for Seth Rollins), as well as the haze machines, are controlled separately via the large GrandMA2 lighting console on the right via DMX.

@@StageExploration Thanks, I've always wondered

@@StageExploration make more videos your knowledge is interesting to people would love to see more better/informative content

I will check it out 😁

Amazing? Have a you seen a RAW is WAR pyro?