2020 has brought one of the worst pandemics for a very long time – Coronavirus. The virus is closing down a lot of events over a certain size; NBA, NHL, NASCAR are amongst the many that have shut their metaphorical doors and inevitably wrestling has taken that hit too and it’s taking a toll on the industry.
Up until the beginning of this week, everything was normal but then things started worsening rapidly. Quickly, uncertainty flew around as to what would happen with wrestling events and then announcements of international flights being cancelled and large events had to be postponed/cancelled. So what does this exactly mean for professional wrestling?
Largely, there’s a heap of uncertainty. WWE is currently still putting on shows but at the moment to an empty arena at the Performance Center in Florida, Friday had a unique episode of SmackDown with Triple H on commentary ribbing on commentator Michael Cole. It was light-hearted and excellent two-hour escapism, but the biggest question is – what’s going to happen for WrestleMania? The logical answer is cancellation or postponement, it would be the first time in 36 years that WrestleMania could potentially be cancelled. The way Coronavirus is escalating around the world, it would be extremely dangerous for WrestleMania to occur, the event is happening in the Raymond James Center which can hold up to 75,000 people and all it takes is one sick person to worsen things even more.
But it’s not just WWE that this affecting. Multiple companies have had to stop shows in order to reduce spread, a large majority of companies have had to cancel shows during the week of WrestleMania including LGBTQ company Uncanny Attractions which was going to be doing it’s first out of New York show. These cancellations are financially paralysing for companies as they have to refund tickets also wrestlers also lose out on being paid for shows and people buying merch and meet and greets. Just this weekend, Ring Of Honor had to cancel their 18th-anniversary show and their Past vs Present show, at the moment their other shows for April are still going ahead but soon those two could be cancelled as America is making attempts to contain Coronavirus.
All Elite Wrestling is also having to cancel and reschedule shows, with this Wednesdays show taking place with no audience. Wrestling companies in Japan are taking a hit too; from NJPW stopping shows, Stardom performing in empty venues to Pro-Wrestling Noah performing to masked spectators. Stories like this are reflected around the world as lockdowns are happening and panic is rising.
There’s no clue when all of this will end all people can do is hope that it will end soon and end well.
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