2 Attachment(s)
WWE Superstars & Staff Test Positive For COVID-19
Various WWE superstars and staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. When the World Health Organization officially declared the coronavirus a pandemic on March 11, the world seemingly shutdown. Only recently has the NBA put a plan in place to resume their season, and shows like The Witcher have set a date to resume filming. However, throughout all this time, Vince McMahon’s WWE never pushed pause and continued production on shows, including their big event WrestleMania, from their Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
WWE’s desire to continue amidst the pandemic and when various other businesses were forced to shut down proved controversial, especially when the company released a host of stars, and talent like Roman Reigns opted out of WrestleMania because of the virus. Also, last month it came out that the WWE was only doing temperature checks and not official COVID-19 testing, whereas the owner of rival promotion AEW, Tony Khan, has confirmed they test people who work backstage and in the ring, at the beginning of every week they are doing a show. Last week, WWE had to cancel a SmackDown taping due to a positive COVID test, and now, it seems WWE’s risky tactics are continuing to catch up with them.
Pro Wrestling Sheet reported yesterday that “multiple people in WWE who have been at the Performance Center tested positive for COVID-19 this week, including in-ring talent.” The report mentions that “at least three people” at the Performance Center tested positive this week, and that more testing will be done before TV production to ensure the virus has not spread to other employees. Pro Wrestling Sheet also shared a statement from WWE where they said they “will continue COVID-19 testing of its talent, production crew and employees in advance of TV Productions for the foreseeable future.”
The one small positive from the news is that WWE will continue doing actual COVID-19 tests moving forward, but it still begs the question, why weren't they doing tests before this? Despite limiting their team to “essential personnel,” with all the talent and crew consistently working in one building, it’s now been proven that all it takes is one positive test to jeopardize everyone’s health and WWE’s production schedule. Although no names have been reported, it appears WWE’s commentator Renee Young is one of the positive tests, as she tweeted today that she has the virus. Her positive test seems to have had a knock-on effect on AEW as well, as her husband, Jon Moxley, will not be taking part in an upcoming AEW show due to being exposed to the virus.
Although creatively WWE has had some high points during these last few months, such as the cinematic Boneyard Match, these string of positive tests is alarming, to say the least. It’s also likely these positive tests could affect storylines, with in-ring talent now testing positive as well. Considering the report also mentions the news that Florida has had a spike in coronavirus cases recently, the place WWE is currently operating out of, it may be a good time for the company to press pause, at least for a short while, so more WWE workers are not put at risk.
